Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
The 2020 NFL season will be different. Very different. The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the league will become even more evident when teams finally step onto football fields across the country. Players already feel the difference with training camps being conducted very cautiously.
You've probably seen it already. Major League Baseball is playing sans fans in the stadium seats. The NBA looks...well...odd.
Sports leagues are adapting to the circumstances, and the NFL is trying to navigate its way toward a 2020 season. That, as is the case with other leagues, will likely mean an absence of fans, taking away that aspect of home-field advantage. At least the home teams won't have to
deal with the potential travel rules intended to protect players, staff, and the NFL's season.
San Francisco 49ers quarterback
Jimmy Garoppolo spoke with reporters today via a video conference call and was asked about his thoughts on playing in massive NFL venues without the roar from the crowd.
"It will be different. No silent count will be needed on the road," Garoppolo responded. "So, that's a luxury. I'm pretty excited about that one. It'll be different."
That also means players won't be able to feed off the home crowd or a hostile road environment. Instead, there will be silence. That might give the 49ers an advantage over some opponents, though.
"You'll have to bring your own juice," Garoppolo explained. "I'll tell you what, our team, that's one thing that we don't have a problem with, though. It's bringing the energy, we bring it every day in practice, and you see it out there during training camp already. The first walk-through basically felt like full speed.
"So, it's just one of those things I keep saying it, but we're just going to have to adapt to it and change on the fly, I guess. And I'm sure there'll be some hiccups along the way, but the better we can adapt, and the more quickly we can adapt, the better."
While no fans in the stadiums might give road-team offenses an edge, it doesn't do the same thing for defenses at home.
"I think no crowd gives an advantage to -- I would say gives it to the offense,"
defensive lineman Arik Armstead explained in July. "Defensively, we communicate, but we don't have to communicate as much. So, when the crowd is there, and they're loud and rowdy, it definitely affects the offense a bunch.
"But it's going to be a challenge for both, too. Defensively, you make a big play, and it's kind of quiet. Really, no momentum shift or anything like that. It could be a little weird."
The San Francisco 49ers won't host fans inside Levi's Stadium when they play the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday — air quality permitting. That could be seen as a negative when it comes to creating energy and a real home-field advantage. It might also be an advantage for aggressive defensive linemen who won't be distracted by the noise of a hostile environment and be able to react to the snap of the football more quickly.
Right tackle Mike McGlinchey sees some advantages to quieter NFL stadiums, though, correcting any perceived misconceptions that they might benefit
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo has a lot to prove this season. Not necessarily to his teammates or coaches but to his critics within the media. That includes his head coach's buddy, Chris Simms of NBC Sports.
Garoppolo endured much scrutiny this offseason after a fourth-quarter collapse in the Super Bowl eliminated a lead over the Kansas City Chiefs. That followed two playoff performances where head coach Kyle Shanahan relied more on his No. 2 ranked rushing attack than his franchise quarterback. Much more.
"I like Jimmy Garoppolo a lot. There's no doubt about it," Simms recently told Laura Britt of NBC Sports when questioned about
The Arizona Cardinals won just five games last season but played the San Francisco 49ers hard, losing by a combined 13 points between the two matchups. The Cardinals actually had a lead heading into the fourth quarter of the Week 11 matchup in Santa Clara and could have come away with a victory in either of the two games.
The 49ers had the No. 2 ranked rushing attack last season and dominated in two playoff games on the way to Super Bowl LIV. Fullback Kyle Juszczyk spoke with reporters on Friday and explained why the Cardinals might view the Niners differently than the rest of the league, though.
"Kyle (Shanahan) made a point of it today," Juszczyk said. "We went through a bunch of really impressive stats of what we did as a team running the ball last year. All
