The main and most favorite sport in the United States, American football, is going through difficult times due to the coronavirus pandemic, and the new season of the elite league for this sport — the NFL, is not going as smoothly as we would like.
If in the old days the schedule of playing weeks in the NFL was almost a sacred rule, and teams played regardless of weather conditions and staffing status, now, as in other sports, the main enemy of humanity in recent months has a significant influence on matches — coronavirus COVID-19.
The disease could not fail to get to the players and coaches of NFL clubs, no matter how they tried to comply with all safety requirements. And as a result, the matches are already actively postponed from one week to the next, the schedule is being adjusted, and the league leadership is ready for drastic steps. Such as an additional game week after the planned 17, as well as the transfer of the sacred event for all sports fans in the United States — the Super Bowl, to a later date.
The league does not forget about the tightening of sanctions for violation of safety rules and the «coronavirus protocol.» For example, according to BetonMobile, four coaches of NFL teams and their clubs have already been fined more than a million dollars for lack of protective masks during matches.
Unfortunately, masks and penalties do not help to avoid another negative trend of the new NFL season — a lot of injuries. The most recent such tragic incident was the injury to Dallas Cowboys all-star quarterback Duck Prescott against the New York Giants. The player broke his right ankle and will definitely not help his team in the current season. And given such a huge loss, bookmakers began to massively raise quotes not only for the overall success of the Cowboys in the 2020 campaign, but also for victories in each individual match.
For example, the odds for the victory of Dallas in the next match against Arizona on the line of BC Leon have already increased to 2.07, although before Prescott's injury the Cowboys were the favorites of this confrontation.
No one is predicting the outcome of the current NFL season, either in terms of the number of stars injured in lineups, or whether the campaign can be completed at all and whether it will be interrupted by the coronavirus. But one thing is clear for sure — this season is unique and not like all the previous ones. Indeed, the opponents of players, coaches and managers are not only opponents from competing teams, but also one big main enemy in the face of a terrible sore that annoys everyone equally.
