Tom Brady's Buccaneers hit with several big disadvantages on 2020 NFL schedule

The Buccaneers shouldn't be too happy with how their schedule turned out

After getting hit with one of the worst schedules in NFL history last year, things aren't looking much better for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020. Although Tampa was given five primetime games -- which mostly had to do with the arrival of Tom Brady -- the NFL didn't do the Bucs any other favors on the schedule. 

For one, the Buccaneers will be playing two teams this year that will be coming off a bye, which is tied for the most in the NFL. To put that in perspective, Tom Brady's former team in New England will have zero games in 2020 against teams that will be coming off a bye. The defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs will also have zero games against teams coming off a bye. 

As if that's not bad enough, the Buccaneers are also tied for the most short weeks in the NFL. Tampa Bay and Buffalo are the only two teams in league that will have to play four games coming off a short week, which means they won't be getting a full week of rest for 25% of their games. 

The bad news for the Buccaneers is that the short weeks all look difficult on paper. After a Week 4 home game against the Chargers, the Bucs have to travel to Chicago for a Thursday game in Week 5, which isn't easy because there's almost always some difficulty associated with hitting the road for a Thursday game.

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Another issue for the Bucs is that two of their other short-week games will be coming in high-profile situations. Before their Week 9 showdown with the Saints, the Bucs have a Monday night game on the road against the Giants, which means they have to travel home before starting practice for the short week turnaround against New Orleans the following Sunday. 

The Bucs face the same issue in late November. Before their Sunday showdown with the Chiefs in Week 12, the Bucs have to play on Monday night in Week 11, which means they'll be getting a short week to prep for one of the NFL's best offenses. Tampa's other short week game would come in Week 16, although that's not locked in yet. The Bucs are scheduled to play at Detroit in a game that could be played on Saturday or Sunday (the date won't be announced until four weeks before). With Tom Brady involved, there's a good chance the Bucs will end up getting one of the three Saturday slots scheduled for that week. If that happens, the Bucs will once again have to make a road trip on a short week. 

Finally, the Buccaneers will have the most games of any team in 2020 where they'll be getting less rest than their opponent. They'll be playing six games this year where they'll have less rest. The only teams that will even play five games with less rest than their opponents are the Patriots, Bengals and Seahawks. 

Overall, the Buccaneers will be getting eight less net rest days than their opponents, which is tied for the third-worst in the NFL (only the Bengals and Broncos have it worse). 

Last year, the Buccaneers' schedule was so bad that Bruce Arians called it ridiculous -- that was when they went 49 days without playing a game in Tampa -- and after he gets a chance to go through the details on this year's schedule, he's probably not going to be a happy camper, either.