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2020 NFL season
The 2020 NFL season is the ongoing 101st season of the National Football League (NFL). The regular season started with the NFL Kickoff Game on September 10, in which defending Super Bowl LIV champion Kansas City defeated Houston. The season is scheduled to conclude with Super Bowl LV, the league's championship game at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida on February 7, 2021.

The Oakland Raiders relocated to Las Vegas for the 2020 season, now playing at Allegiant Stadium as the Las Vegas Raiders. The Los Angeles Chargers and Rams also played their inaugural season at the newly-completed SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. After a decades-long controversy, the Washington Redskins retired the use of their name and logo and adopted the temporary name "Washington Football Team" for this season

The season has been impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic; the most prominent changes were the cancellation of all preseason games and the 2021 Pro Bowl, the suspension of international games for the year, an allowance for players to opt out of playing the season without violating their contracts (66 players opted out), the playing of games with either a greatly reduced audience or no fans at all, and the postponement and/or rescheduling of multiple games due to positive COVID-19 tests among players and staff. Despite the changes, all 256 regular season games were played within the originally-scheduled 115-day span, with no cancellations.

Player movement
The 2020 NFL league year and trading period began on March 18. On March 16, teams were allowed to exercise options for 2020 on players with option clauses in their contracts, submit qualifying offers to their pending restricted free agents, and submit a Minimum Salary Tender to retain exclusive negotiating rights to their players with expiring 2019 contracts and fewer than three accrued seasons of free agent credit. Teams were required to be under the salary cap using the "top 51" definition (in which the 51 highest paid-players on the team's payroll must have a combined salary cap). On March 16, clubs were allowed to contact and begin contract negotiations with the agents of players who were set to become unrestricted free agents.

Free agency
Free agency began on March 18. Notable players to change teams included:


 * Quarterbacks Tom Brady (New England to Tampa Bay), Teddy Bridgewater (New Orleans to Carolina), Andy Dalton (Cincinnati to Dallas), Cam Newton (Carolina to New England), Philip Rivers (Los Angeles Chargers to Indianapolis), and Jameis Winston (Tampa Bay to New Orleans)
 * Running backs Melvin Gordon (Los Angeles Chargers to Denver), Frank Gore (Buffalo to New York Jets), Todd Gurley (Los Angeles Rams to Atlanta), Jordan Howard (Philadelphia to Miami), Dion Lewis (Tennessee to New York Giants), and Adrian Peterson (Washington to Detroit)
 * Wide receivers Nelson Agholor (Philadelphia to Las Vegas), Robby Anderson (New York Jets to Carolina), Antonio Brown (New England to Tampa Bay), Dez Bryant (New Orleans to Baltimore), Randall Cobb (Dallas to Houston), Phillip Dorsett (New England to Seattle), Ted Ginn Jr. (New Orleans to Chicago), and Emmanuel Sanders (San Francisco to New Orleans)
 * Tight ends Eric Ebron (Indianapolis to Pittsburgh), Tyler Eifert (Cincinnati to Jacksonville), Jimmy Graham (Green Bay to Chicago), Austin Hooper (Atlanta to Cleveland), Jordan Reed (Washington to San Francisco), and Jason Witten (Dallas to Las Vegas)
 * Offensive linemen Bryan Bulaga (Green Bay to Los Angeles Chargers), Jack Conklin (Tennessee to Cleveland), Ereck Flowers (Washington to Miami), Graham Glasgow (Detroit to Denver), and Halapoulivaati Vaitai (Philadelphia to Detroit).
 * Defensive linemen Adrian Clayborn (Atlanta to Cleveland), Jadeveon Clowney (Seattle to Tennessee), Everson Griffen (Minnesota to Dallas), Linval Joseph (Minnesota to Los Angeles Chargers), Gerald McCoy (Carolina to Dallas), Emmanuel Ogbah (Kansas City to Miami), Dontari Poe (Carolina to Dallas), Robert Quinn (Dallas to Chicago), and Danny Shelton (New England to Detroit)
 * Linebackers Vic Beasley (Atlanta to Tennessee), Jamie Collins (New England to Detroit), Leonard Floyd (Chicago to Los Angeles Rams), Dante Fowler (Los Angeles Rams to Atlanta), Bruce Irvin (Carolina to Seattle), A. J. Klein (New Orleans to Buffalo), Nick Kwiatkoski (Chicago to Las Vegas), Cory Littleton (Los Angeles Rams to Las Vegas), Blake Martinez (Green Bay to New York Giants), Joe Schobert (Cleveland to Jacksonville), Kyle Van Noy (New England to Miami), and Nick Vigil (Cincinnati to Los Angeles Chargers)
 * Defensive backs Vonn Bell (New Orleans to Cincinnati), James Bradberry (Carolina to New York Giants), Ha Ha Clinton-Dix (Chicago to Dallas), Ronald Darby (Philadelphia to Washington), Kendall Fuller (Kansas City to Washington), Chris Harris Jr. (Denver to Los Angeles Chargers), Malcolm Jenkins (Philadelphia to New Orleans), Byron Jones (Dallas to Miami), Karl Joseph (Oakland to Cleveland), Xavier Rhodes (Minnesota to Indianapolis), Andrew Sendejo (Minnesota to Cleveland), and Desmond Trufant (Atlanta to Detroit)
 * Kickers Stephen Gostkowski (New England to Tennessee) and Greg Zuerlein (Los Angeles Rams to Dallas)
 * Punter Sam Martin (Detroit to Denver)

Trades
The following notable trades were made during the 2020 league year:


 * March 16: Baltimore traded TE Hayden Hurst and a 2020 fourth-round selection to Atlanta for 2020 second and fifth round selections
 * March 18: Houston traded WR DeAndre Hopkins and a 2020 fourth-round selection to Arizona for RB David Johnson, a 2020 second-round selection, and a 2021 fourth-round selection.
 * March 18: Jacksonville traded DE Calais Campbell to Baltimore for a 2020 fifth-round selection.
 * March 18: Minnesota traded WR Stefon Diggs and a 2020 seventh-round selection to Buffalo for 2020 first, fifth, and sixth round selection and a 2021 fourth-round selection.
 * March 18: Tennessee traded DT Jurrell Casey to Denver for a 2020 seventh-round selection.
 * March 18: San Francisco traded DT DeForest Buckner to Indianapolis for a 2020 first-round selection.
 * March 18: Jacksonville traded QB Nick Foles to Chicago for a 2020 fourth-round selection.
 * March 18: Carolina traded G Trai Turner to the Los Angeles Chargers for T Russell Okung.
 * March 18: Jacksonville traded CB A. J. Bouye to Denver for a 2020 fourth-round selection.
 * March 19: Detroit traded CB Darius Slay to Philadelphia for a 2020 third-round selection and 2020 a fifth-round selection.
 * April 9: The Los Angeles Rams traded WR Brandin Cooks and a 2022 fourth-round selection to Houston for a 2020 second-round selection.
 * April 21: New England traded TE Rob Gronkowski and a 2020 seventh-round selection to Tampa Bay in exchange for a fourth-round selection.
 * April 25: Washington traded OT Trent Williams to San Francisco for a 2020 fifth-round selection and a 2021 third-round selection.
 * July 25: The New York Jets traded S Jamal Adams and a 2022 fourth-round selection to Seattle for S Bradley McDougald, 2021 and 2022 first-round selections, and a 2021 third-round selection.
 * August 30: Jacksonville traded DE Yannick Ngakoue to Minnesota for a 2021 second-round selection and a conditional 2021 fifth-round selection.

Notable retirements
The following notable players retired prior to the 2020 season:


 * C Travis Frederick – Five-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro (one first-team, two-second-team). Played for Dallas during his entire seven-year career.
 * TE Antonio Gates – Eight-time Pro Bowler and five-time All-Pro (three first-team, two-second-team). Played for the San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers during his entire 16-year career.
 * LB Luke Kuechly – Seven-time Pro Bowler, seven-time All-Pro (five first-team, two-second-team), and 2013 Defensive Player of the Year. Played for Carolina during his entire eight-year career.
 * QB Eli Manning – Four-time Pro Bowler, two-time Super Bowl champion and Super Bowl MVP (XLII and XLVI), and first overall selection in the 2004 NFL Draft. Played for the New York Giants during his entire 16-year career.
 * RB Darren Sproles – Three-time Pro Bowler, two-time First-Team All-Pro and Super Bowl LII champion. Played for the San Diego Chargers, New Orleans, and Philadelphia during his 15-year career.
 * OT Joe Staley – Six-time Pro Bowler and three-time Second-Team All-Pro. Played for San Francisco during his entire 13-year career.
 * CB Aqib Talib – Five-time Pro Bowler, two-time All-Pro (one first-team, one second-team), and Super Bowl 50 champion. Played for Tampa Bay, New England, Denver, and the Los Angeles Rams during his 12-year career.
 * FS Eric Weddle – Six-time Pro Bowler and five-time All-Pro (two first-team, three-second-team). Played for the San Diego Chargers, Baltimore, and the Los Angeles Rams during his 13-year career.
 * G Marshal Yanda – Eight-time Pro Bowler, seven-time All-Pro (two first-team, five-second-team), and Super Bowl XLVII champion. Played for Baltimore during his entire 13-year career.

Other retirements

• Mike Adams

• Lorenzo Alexander

• Michael Bennett

• LeGarrette Blount

• Jatavis Brown

• Garrett Celek

• Vernon Davis

• James Develin

• Rhett Ellison

• Ramon Foster

• Rodney Gunter

• Christian Hackenberg

• Wes Horton

• Davon House

• Lamarr Houston

• Tom Johnson

• Jermaine Kearse

• Zach Line

• Kyle Long

• Spencer Long

• Johnny Manziel

• Ron Parker

• Ryan Shazier

• Dion Sims

• Jeremiah Sirles

• Benjamin Watson

• Dustin Woodard

Draft
The Draft took place on April 23–25, via videoconferencing; it was originally scheduled to take place in Paradise, Nevada, but was moved due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On April 5, the NFL announced that the draft would be held virtually with coaches and GMs conducting it via phone and internet from home due to team facilities also being closed. Goodell unveiled the first-round picks from his home in Bronxville, New York. Cincinnati, by virtue of having the worst record in 2019, held the first overall selection and selected QB Joe Burrow out of LSU.

Opt-outs
The NFL and the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) agreed on July 24 to allow players to opt out of playing the 2020 season. A total of 66 players opted out by the August 6 deadline. New England had eight players opt out, the most in the NFL; Atlanta, the Los Angeles Chargers, and Pittsburgh had no players opt out. Players who opted out were not paid for the 2020 season, but received a salary advance of $150,000 taken from their salary. Players who opted out due to medical conditions received a $350,000 stipend which was not taken from their 2021 salary. The following is a list of all players who have opted out:

Officiating changes
Referee Walt Anderson was promoted to NFL senior vice president in charge of the officiating training and development program, a newly created position that works independently from the league's head of officiating, Alberto Riveron. Land Clark was promoted to referee to replace Anderson. Clark previously served as a referee in the Pac-12 Conference before joining the NFL in 2018 as a field judge.

Former coach Perry Fewell was named NFL senior vice president of officiating administration. He oversees the day-to-day operations of the officiating department and is the primary contact for coaches' and general managers' officiating questions, among other duties.

The NFL and the NFL Referees Association agreed on August 9 to allow officials to opt out of working the 2020 season. Officials who opted out received a $30,000 stipend and guaranteed job protection for 2021. Five on-field officials – line judge Jeff Bergman, back judge Steve Freeman, field judge Greg Gautreaux, field judge Joe Larrew, and back judge Tony Steratore –  opted out for the season by the August 13 deadline.

Permanent changes announced prior to season
The following rule changes for the 2020 season were approved at the NFL Owners' Meeting in May 2020:
 * Extend defenseless player protection to a punt/kick returner who possesses the ball but has not had time to avoid or ward off impending contact with an opponent.
 * Make permanent the expansion of automatic replay reviews to include scoring plays and turnovers negated by a foul, and any successful or unsuccessful try attempt.
 * Prevent teams from committing multiple dead-ball fouls in the fourth quarter or in overtime while the clock is running in an attempt to manipulate the game clock. The clock now starts on the snap following a dead-ball foul.  This has been referred to as the "Bill Belichick Rule" for his use of this tactic.
 * Teams may bring three players back from injured reserve after missing eight games, up from two players.
 * The temporary rule change for allowing for the review of pass interference was not renewed.

Temporary rules for 2020 season
The following temporary rule changes were made on September 9 and will only be in place for 2020 and possibly 2021 if COVID-19 protocols remain in place:


 * A player on injured reserve is allowed to return after missing three games, down from eight.
 * Teams may return an unlimited number of players from injured reserve throughout the year, instead of the normal limit of three.
 * Practice squads may include up to 16 players from each team, up from 12.
 * After 4:00 p.m. ET on the Tuesday of a game week, a team may designate up to four practice squad players as "protected," meaning they are not allowed to sign with another team until after their current team plays its next game.
 * The NFL instituted a reserve/COVID-19 list for players who either test positive for COVID-19 or have been exposed to someone who has it. There is no minimum amount of time a player must remain on this list, only until he is medically cleared to play.
 * The NFL administers COVID-19 tests to all players and other essential employees every day of the regular season and postseason except game days.
 * Any player who is on a team's Week 1 roster will earn an accrued season toward free agency as long as he is on full-pay status for at least one regular-season game, down from the normal minimum of six.

Prior to the season, the league announced that every person at field level must wear a face covering except players actively involved in the game or warming up on the sideline and referees while announcing penalties or other rulings. On October 9, the league announced that coaches who approached officials with their faces uncovered could be penalized 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame

 * Herb Adderley: Adderley, a cornerback, spent 12 years in the NFL with the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys from 1960 to 1972. He was inducted into the Hall in 1980 and died on October 30, age 81.
 * Willie Davis: Davis, a defensive end, spent 12 years in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns and the Green Bay Packers from 1958 to 1969. He also served as a color commentator for NBC in the early 1970s and was inducted into the Hall in 1981. He also started All-Pro Broadcasting, which owns several stations in Los Angeles and Milwaukee. Davis died on April 15, age 85.
 * Fred Dean: Dean, a defensive end, spent 11 years with the San Diego Chargers and San Francisco 49ers from 1975 to 1985. He was inducted into the Hall in 2008 and died on October 14, age 68.
 * Chris Doleman: Doleman, a defensive end, spent 15 years in the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings, Atlanta Falcons, and San Francisco 49ers. He was inducted into the Hall in 2012 and died January 28, age 58.
 * Kevin Greene: Greene, a linebacker, played 15 years in the NFL, spending time with the Los Angeles Rams, Pittsburgh Steelers, Carolina Panthers, and San Francisco 49ers. He was inducted into the Hall in 2016 and died December 21, age 58.
 * Paul Hornung: Hornung, a running back and placekicker, played ten seasons with the Green Bay Packers, and was an inaugural member of the New Orleans Saints roster but never played due to injury. He was inducted into the Hall in 1986 and died November 13, age 84.
 * Floyd Little: Little, a former first-round pick and running back, spent his nine-season entire career with the Denver Broncos. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2010, and died on January 1, 2021, age 78.
 * Bobby Mitchell: Mitchell, a halfback, spent 11 years in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns and Washington Redskins; he was the first black player on Washington's roster, ending owner George Preston Marshall's 30-year color barrier on the team. He served as an executive with the Redskins for decades after his playing career ended and was inducted into the Hall in 1983. Mitchell died on April 5, age 84.
 * Gale Sayers: Sayers, a running back, spent his entire seven-year career with the Chicago Bears. He was inducted into the Hall in 1977 at the age of 34, the youngest player ever inducted. He died September 23, age 77.
 * Don Shula: Shula was head coach of the Baltimore Colts and Miami Dolphins for a combined 33 years; he holds the record for both the most regular season wins by a head coach in NFL history (328) and the most total wins including the playoffs (347). Shula was inducted into the Hall in 1997. He died May 4, age 90.
 * Willie Wood: Wood, a safety who spent his entire 12-year career with the Green Bay Packers, was inducted into the Hall in 1989. He died February 3, age 83.
 * Larry Wilson: Wilson spent 43 seasons in the NFL, all with the St. Louis, Phoenix and Arizona Cardinals, between 1960 and 2002: 13 as a player and 30 as a front office executive. As a player, Wilson, a free safety, appeared in eight Pro Bowls but never reached the playoffs (excluding one Bert Bell Benefit Bowl appearance). Wilson, a member of the Hall's class of 1978, died September 17, age 82.

Preseason
Training camps were held from late July through August. By league order, all training camps were held at teams' regular practice facilities.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame Game was scheduled for August 6 between Dallas and Pittsburgh, but was canceled on June 25 due to the pandemic. On July 3, the NFLPA voted to cancel the preseason, which was agreed to by the league later that month.

Regular season
The NFL released its regular season schedule on May 7. The season was played over a 17-week schedule beginning on September 10. Each of the league's 32 teams played a 16-game schedule, with one bye week for each team. The regular season concluded with a full slate of 16 games on January 3, 2021, all of which were intra-division matchups, as it had been since.

The NFL suspended its international games for the season due to travel restrictions imposed because of the pandemic; the league had previously announced that Jacksonville would host two games at Wembley Stadium in London, Atlanta and Miami would each host a game at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, and Arizona would host a game at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. These games were moved back to the teams' respective home stadiums.

Using contingencies similar to those built into the 2011 schedule in the event that season's lockout lasted into September, the 2020 schedule was designed to allow for the possibility that the season could be delayed and shortened in the event that conditions were unsafe to begin play as scheduled. Every game in Week 2 featured teams which share the same bye week later in the season, which would have allowed these games to be made up on the teams' original byes. Weeks 3 and 4 were set up so that there were no divisional games and that every team at home in Week 3 was away in Week 4 and vice versa. This would have allowed the NFL to cancel these two weeks without eliminating any divisional games and keeping each team's home and away games balanced. These scheduling changes, along with eliminating the week off before the Super Bowl and moving the Super Bowl back three weeks, would have allowed the NFL to play a 14-game schedule beginning October 29 while still having the Super Bowl in February.

Scheduling formula
Under the NFL scheduling formula, each team plays the other three teams in its own division twice. In addition, a team plays against all four teams in one division from each conference. The remaining two games on a team's schedule are against the two remaining teams in the same conference that finished in the same position in their respective divisions the previous season (e.g., the team that finished fourth in its division will play all three other teams in the conference that also finished fourth). The division pairings for 2020 are as follows:

Highlights of the 2020 season included:
 * NFL Kickoff Game: The 2020 season began with the Kickoff Game on Thursday, September 10. Defending Super Bowl LIV champion Kansas City hosted and defeated Houston.
 * Thanksgiving: Two games were played on Thursday, November 26, featuring Houston at Detroit and Washington at Dallas, with Houston and Washington winning. Baltimore was scheduled to play at Pittsburgh in the primetime game, but it was postponed to December 2, due to several Ravens players and staff testing positive for COVID-19. This postponement reduced the Thanksgiving slate to two games for the first time since.
 * Christmas: As Christmas Eve fell on a Thursday, that week's Thursday Night Football game between Minnesota and New Orleans was moved to a 4:30 p.m. ET start on Christmas Day, with New Orleans winning. This was the NFL's first Friday game since, which was also a Christmas game.

With the final round of the 2020 Masters Tournament (whose rights are held by CBS) rescheduled from its normal April date to November 15, CBS was not given any 1:00 p.m. ET games that day, which fell during Week 10. CBS was given three games in the 4:05 p.m. ET slot, while Fox was given eight Sunday games, including three AFC-away games which generally air on CBS.

Saturday flexible scheduling
When the entire season schedule was released on May 7, the league announced that in Weeks 15 and 16, two or three of five designated games would be moved to Saturday. A total of four games were broadcast by the NFL Network and one was broadcast by Amazon Prime Video.

Week 15

On November 24, the NFL announced that two games will be moved to Saturday, December 19: Buffalo–Denver at 4:30 p.m. ET and Carolina–Green Bay at 8:15 p.m. ET. The three other games that the NFL had the option of scheduling on Saturday (Detroit–Tennessee, Houston–Indianapolis, and New York Jets–Los Angeles Rams) remained on December 20.

Week 16

On November 30, the NFL announced that three games will be moved to Saturday, December 26: Tampa Bay–Detroit at 1:00 p.m ET, San Francisco–Arizona at 4:30 p.m, and Miami–Las Vegas at 8:15 p.m. The San Francisco–Arizona game was assigned to Amazon. The two other games the NFL had the option of scheduling on Saturday (Cleveland–New York Jets and Denver–Los Angeles Chargers) remained on December 27.

In-season scheduling changes

 * Week 4:
 * The Pittsburgh–Tennessee game, originally scheduled for October 4 at 1:00 p.m. ET, was postponed to October 25 at 1:00 p.m. ET due to several Tennessee players testing positive for COVID-19.
 * The New England–Kansas City game, originally scheduled for Sunday at 4:25 p.m. ET, was postponed to Monday at 7:05 p.m. ET due to one positive COVID-19 test on each team, remaining on CBS.
 * The scheduled Monday Night Football game, Atlanta–Green Bay, was delayed from 8:15 p.m. ET to 9:00 p.m. ET, remaining on ESPN.
 * The Indianapolis–Chicago game was moved from 1:00 p.m. ET to 4:25 p.m., remaining on CBS.
 * Week 5:
 * The Denver–New England game, which was originally scheduled for Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET on CBS, was moved to 4:25 p.m. as part of the NFL's flex scheduling. The game was later postponed to Monday at 5:00 p.m. ET after multiple New England players tested positive for COVID-19. This game was again postponed to October 18 at 1:00 p.m. ET when another New England player tested positive. The game remained on CBS.
 * The Buffalo–Tennessee game, originally scheduled for Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET was postponed to Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. ET due to several positive COVID-19 tests for Tennessee, remaining on CBS.
 * Week 6:
 * The Kansas City–Buffalo game, originally scheduled for Thursday at 8:20 p.m. ET was moved to Monday at 5:00 p.m. ET, remaining on Fox and NFL Network, to avoid a situation in which the Bills would play games two days apart.
 * The New York Jets–Los Angeles Chargers game, originally scheduled for 4:05 p.m. ET was moved to November 22 at 4:05 p.m. ET, remaining on CBS, to accommodate the Week 5 Denver–New England game.
 * The Miami–Denver game, originally scheduled for 4:05 p.m. ET, was moved to November 22 at 4:05 p.m. ET, remaining on CBS, to accommodate Denver–New England.
 * Week 7:
 * The Pittsburgh–Baltimore game, originally scheduled for October 25 at 1:00 p.m. ET was rescheduled for November 1 at 1:00 p.m. ET, remaining on CBS, to accommodate the Pittsburgh–Tennessee game from Week 4.
 * The Los Angeles Chargers–Miami game, originally scheduled for Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET was moved to November 15 at 4:05 p.m. ET, remaining on CBS, to accommodate the Denver–New England game from Week 5.
 * The Tampa Bay–Las Vegas game, originally scheduled for Sunday Night Football, was moved to 4:05 p.m. ET on Fox, due to Las Vegas having multiple positive COVID-19 tests and to ensure a SNF game was available in case this game needed to postponed to a later date. The Seattle–Arizona game, originally scheduled for 4:05 p.m. ET on Fox, was moved to SNF.
 * Week 8:
 * The Jacksonville–Los Angeles Chargers game, originally scheduled for Sunday at 4:05 p.m. ET was rescheduled for October 25 at 4:25 p.m. ET, remaining on CBS, to accommodate the Denver–New England game from Week 5.
 * Week 10:
 * The New York Jets–Miami game originally scheduled for Sunday at 4:05 p.m. ET was rescheduled for October 18 at 4:05 p.m. ET, remaining on CBS, to accommodate the Denver–New England game from Week 5. This also eliminated an unusual quirk in the schedule that would have had Miami and New York play each other in consecutive games, separated by their bye week.
 * The Cincinnati–Pittsburgh game originally scheduled for Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET was rescheduled for 4:25 p.m. ET, remaining on Fox.
 * Week 11:
 * The Los Angeles Chargers–Denver game, originally scheduled for Sunday at 4:05 p.m. ET was moved to November 1 at 4:05 p.m. ET to accommodate the Denver–New England game from Week 5.
 * The Green Bay–Indianapolis game, originally scheduled for Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET, was moved to 4:25 p.m. ET, remaining on Fox.
 * Week 12:
 * The Baltimore–Pittsburgh game, originally scheduled for Thursday at 8:20 p.m. ET, was postponed three times, ultimately to Wednesday at 3:40 p.m. ET, remaining on NBC, due to several Ravens players and staff testing positive for COVID-19.
 * Week 13:
 * To accommodate the postponed Week 12 Baltimore–Pittsburgh game, the Washington–Pittsburgh game, originally scheduled for Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET, was postponed to Monday at 5:00 p.m. ET, and the Dallas–Baltimore game, originally scheduled for Thursday at 8:20 p.m. ET, was postponed to Tuesday at 8:15 p.m. ET, with both games remaining on Fox.
 * Week 14:
 * The Green Bay–Detroit game, originally scheduled for Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET, was moved to 4:25 p.m. ET, remaining on Fox.
 * Week 15:
 * The Cleveland–New York Giants game, originally scheduled for Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET on CBS, was moved to Sunday Night Football on NBC at 8:20 p.m. ET replacing the originally scheduled San Francisco–Dallas game which was moved to 1:00 p.m. ET on CBS.
 * Week 16:
 * The Cincinnati–Houston game, originally scheduled at 1:00 p.m. ET on CBS, was cross-flexed to Fox, remaining at 1:00.
 * The Chicago–Jacksonville game, originally scheduled at 1:00 p.m. ET on Fox, was cross-flexed to CBS, remaining at 1:00.
 * The Los Angeles Rams–Seattle game, originally scheduled at 4:05 p.m. ET on CBS, was cross-flexed to 4:25 p.m. ET on Fox.
 * The Carolina–Washington game, originally scheduled at 1:00 p.m. ET on CBS, was moved to 4:05 p.m. ET, remaining on CBS.
 * Week 17:
 * The Washington–Philadelphia game, originally scheduled for 1:00 p.m. ET on Fox, was selected as the final 8:20 p.m. ET NBC Sunday Night Football game of the season.
 * The Tennessee–Houston and Jacksonville–Indianapolis games, originally scheduled at 1:00 p.m. ET on CBS, were moved to 4:25 p.m. ET, remaining on CBS.
 * The New Orleans–Carolina and Green Bay–Chicago games, originally scheduled at 1:00 p.m. ET on Fox, were moved to 4:25 p.m. ET, remaining on Fox.
 * The Los Angeles Chargers–Kansas City game, originally scheduled at 1:00 p.m. ET on CBS, was cross-flexed to 4:25 p.m. ET on Fox.
 * The Arizona–Los Angeles Rams game was cross-flexed to CBS, remaining at 4:25 p.m. ET.

Postseason
The 2020 playoffs began on the weekend of January 9–10, 2021 with the Wild Card Round. Under the new NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), the playoffs expanded to 14 teams. There are three Wild Card teams per conference, and only the top seed in each conference received a first-round bye. Three games were played each day.

In the Divisional Round scheduled for January 16–17, the top seed in the conference will host the lowest remaining seed, and the other two remaining teams will play each other, with the higher seed hosting. The winners of those games will advance to the Conference Championships scheduled for January 24. Super Bowl LV is scheduled for February 7 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.

In case a COVID-19 outbreak forces the postponements of playoff games, the bye week after the Conference Championships could be eliminated and the Super Bowl could be moved back as far as February 28.

The 2021 Pro Bowl was originally scheduled for January 31 at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada. However, on October 14, the game was canceled due to COVID-19 concerns. Pro Bowl rosters for the 2020 season were released on December 21, and the league plans to hold a virtual event to honor the players chosen. Players selected will be used in a broadcast playthrough in the video game Madden NFL 21 instead. This will mark the first time since the season in which a Pro Bowl is not held.

New Collective Bargaining Agreement
In March 2020, the NFL and the NFLPA agreed to a new CBA that will run through 2030. The previous CBA, signed in, would have expired after this season.

Major changes in the new CBA include:
 * Expanding the playoffs from 12 to 14 teams beginning this season.
 * Allowing the league to expand the regular season from 16 to 17 games beginning in 2021 at the earliest, along with a corresponding reduction of the preseason from four games to three.
 * Increasing the players' share of the league's overall revenue from 47% to 48% starting in 2021. This will increase to 48.8% if the regular season expands to 17 games.
 * Increasing team rosters from 53 to 55 players and game day rosters from 46 to 48 players, with a minimum of eight offensive linemen. Practice squads increased from 10 to 12 players in 2020 and will increase to 14 players in 2022.
 * Allowing players to become eligible for pensions after three accrued seasons, down from four previously.
 * Fully guaranteeing fifth-year options for first round picks if picked up by the team. In addition, the fifth year option salary can rise based on the player's performance in his first three seasons. Previously, it was only tied to when he was selected in the draft.
 * Shortening the drug test window from four months to two weeks at the start of training camp and eliminating automatic suspensions solely based on positive tests.
 * Establishing a "neutral decision-maker" to replace the NFL Commissioner on ruling most discipline cases.
 * Improving teams' training facilities and establishing a network of hospitals in teams' home cities with free healthcare for current and former players.

Washington Redskins' name change
On July 1, following renewed attention to racial justice in wake of the George Floyd protests, a letter signed by 87 shareholders and investors was sent to sponsors of the then-Washington Redskins and NFL including Nike, FedEx, and Pepsi urging them to cut ties unless the team name was changed. Around the same time, several retail companies began to remove Redskins merchandise from their stores. In response, the team underwent a review of its name and logo. On July 23, the team announced that it would retire its name and logo. The team is playing as the "Washington Football Team" until a permanent name is chosen sometime after the 2020 season.

Shooting of Jacob Blake
In response to the shooting of Jacob Blake, Detroit canceled its scheduled practice on August 25. Nine other teams canceled their scheduled practices on August 27. Several teams that did not cancel practice issued statements about unity. The Jacksonville Jaguars canceled their scheduled afternoon activities.

COVID-19 outbreaks

 * On September 30, it was reported that ten Tennessee players and staff members tested positive for COVID-19. Tennessee closed its practice facility through October 3 as the team continued testing and contact tracing. Tennessee's most recent opponent, Minnesota, also closed their facility as a precaution until they received more test results. The league postponed Tennessee's October 4 game against Pittsburgh to October 25 and later postponed their October 11 game against Buffalo to October 13.
 * On October 3, it was reported that New England QB Cam Newton and Kansas City practice squad QB Jordan Ta'amu tested positive for COVID-19. The October 4 New England-Kansas City game was postponed to October 5 in order to determine if there were any additional positive tests on either team, which there were not. New England CB Stephon Gilmore tested positive for COVID-19 after this game, resulting in New England's October 11 game against Denver to be postponed initially to October 12, to allow for additional testing and tracing of New England players and staff. After another Patriots player tested positive, the game was postponed again to October 18. This required the league to reschedule six games across multiple weeks affecting Denver, New England, and four other teams.
 * On October 21, it was reported that Las Vegas OT Trent Brown tested positive for COVID-19. Five other players, who were close contacts of Brown, were also placed on the COVID-19 reserve list.  Las Vegas' game against Tampa Bay was moved out of that week's Sunday Night Football game to ensure another game could be played in this timeslot.
 * On October 24, Buffalo tight end Dawson Knox tested positive for the virus. He and three other players, including all of the team's tight ends except Tyler Kroft, were placed on the COVID-19 reserve list. Buffalo played its game against the New York Jets as scheduled, with fullback Reggie Gilliam serving as a backup tight end.
 * On November 23, Baltimore running backs Mark Ingram Jr. and J. K. Dobbins both tested positive for COVID-19. Through the rest of the week and into the next week, a total of 18 players either tested positive or had COVID exposures, making them ineligible to play. The Ravens' Thanksgiving night game was delayed, first to Sunday afternoon then to Tuesday night, December 1, and then Wednesday afternoon December 2. Others to test positive were QB Lamar Jackson, OL Patrick Mekari, C Matt Skura, FB Patrick Ricard, LS Morgan Cox, TE Mark Andrews, WR Willie Snead, DE Calais Campbell, and NT Brandon Williams.
 * On November 28, Denver quarterbacks Drew Lock, Brett Rypien, and Blake Bortles were ruled ineligible to play for the Broncos Week 12 game against New Orleans after coming into close contact with Jeff Driskel who had tested positive for the virus; the team was also unable to sign a replacement free agent quarterback due to inability to clear testing protocols in time. This led to the Broncos elevating wide receiver Kendall Hinton from the practice squad to play quarterback. Hinton went 1/9 with 13 passing yards and two interceptions.

Records, milestones, and notable statistics
Week 1
 * Drew Brees broke the career record for pass attempts with his 10,170th attempt. The previous record of 10,169 attempts was held by Brett Favre.
 * Tom Brady became the third player to attempt 10,000 passes, joining Brees and Favre.
 * Frank Gore broke the NFL record for the most regular season games played by a running back, with 227. The previous record of 226 was held by Emmitt Smith.
 * Russell Wilson became the second player to pass for at least 30,000 yards and rush for over 4,000 yards in his career, joining Steve Young.
 * The Baltimore Ravens set an NFL record by winning their third consecutive season-opener by 30+ points.

Week 2
 * Joe Burrow broke the record for most completions in a game by a rookie with 37. The previous record of 36 was shared by Marc Bulger, Chris Weinke, and Carson Wentz.
 * Drew Brees became the first player to record 550 career passing touchdowns.
 * Tom Brady became the second player to pass for over 75,000 career yards, joining Brees.
 * Brady also became the first starting quarterback to win 250 career games (regular season and playoffs).
 * Dak Prescott became the first quarterback to pass for 400 yards and rush for three touchdowns in a game.
 * The Atlanta Falcons became the first team to lose a game in which it scored 39+ points without recording a turnover. Teams had previously been 440–0 in these games since turnovers were officially recorded in.

Week 3
 * Ryan Fitzpatrick became the first quarterback to defeat the same opponent as a member of six different teams after leading Miami to a win over Jacksonville. Fitzpatrick also defeated Jacksonville as a starting quarterback for Cincinnati, Buffalo, Tennessee, Houston, and the New York Jets.
 * Philip Rivers became the sixth player to pass for 60,000 career yards.
 * Rivers also became the sixth player to record 400 career passing touchdowns.
 * Russell Wilson set a record for the most touchdown passes in his team's first three games with 14. The previous record of 13 was held by Patrick Mahomes.
 * Wilson also became the fifth player in NFL history to throw for at least five touchdown passes in consecutive games.
 * Mike Evans became the third player in NFL history to finish a game with two catches for two yards and two touchdowns.
 * Patrick Mahomes became the fastest player to reach 10,000 career passing yards, doing so in 34 games. The previous record of 36 was held by Kurt Warner.
 * The Atlanta Falcons became the first NFL team to lose two games in a season after leading by at least 15 points entering the fourth quarter.
 * The Chicago Bears became the first NFL team to win two games in the same season after trailing by at least 16 points in the fourth quarter.

Week 4
 * Tom Brady became the second player to pass for 550 career touchdowns, joining Drew Brees.
 * Brady also became the oldest player to throw five touchdown passes in a game at 43 years, 62 days. The record was previously held by Warren Moon who did so at 40 years, 342 days of age.
 * Dak Prescott became the first player to record 450+ passing yards in three consecutive games.
 * Prescott also set the record for the most passing yards in a two- and three-game stretch, with 974 and 1,424, respectively.
 * Lamar Jackson became the fastest quarterback to reach 5,000 career passing yards and 2,000 career rushing yards, doing so in 35 games. The previous record of 39 was held by Michael Vick.
 * Joe Burrow became the first rookie to record 300+ passing yards in three consecutive games.
 * Aaron Rodgers became the 11th player to complete 4,000 career passes.
 * Russell Wilson tied the record for the most touchdown passes in his team's first four games with 16. The record was previously set by Peyton Manning.

Week 5
 * Tom Brady became the second player to complete 6,500 career passes, joining Drew Brees.
 * Philip Rivers became the fifth player to complete 5,000 career passes.
 * Romeo Crennel became the oldest head coach in NFL history at 73 years, 113 days of age. The previous record of 72 years, 318 days was held by George Halas and had stood since.

Week 6
 * Ben Roethlisberger passed John Elway for fifth place for wins by a starting quarterback, with 149.

Week 7
 * Drew Brees became the first player to complete 7,000 career passes.
 * Ben Roethlisberger became the fifth quarterback to win 150 career starts.
 * Russell Wilson tied the record for the most touchdown passes in his team's first six games with 22. The record was previously set by Peyton Manning.
 * Wilson and Kyler Murray became the first opposing quarterbacks to each record 300 passing yards and 50 rushing yards in the same game.
 * The Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals combined for an NFL record five go-ahead touchdown passes in the fourth quarter of their game.

Week 9
 * Patrick Mahomes became the fastest player to reach 100 passing touchdowns, doing so in 40 games. The record was previously held by Dan Marino who did so in 44 games.
 * Lamar Jackson tied the record for quarterback win-loss record through 30 games started, at .830. The record was previously set by Marino.
 * The Tampa Bay Buccaneers broke the NFL record for the fewest rushing attempts in a game, with five. The previous record of six was shared by four teams.
 * The Baltimore Ravens broke the record for most consecutive games scoring 20 or more points, with 31, dating back to 2018. The previous record of 30 was held by the 2012–14 Denver Broncos.

Week 10
 * Philip Rivers passed Dan Marino for fifth place on the NFL's career passing yards list.
 * Kyler Murray became the first player to record a passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown in five consecutive games.
 * Cordarrelle Patterson tied the NFL record with career kickoff return for a touchdown, with eight. The record was previously set by Josh Cribbs and Leon Washington.

Week 12
 * Callie Brownson, the Cleveland Browns chief of staff, became the first woman to serve as a position coach in NFL history when she served as interim tight ends coach in the Browns' game.
 * Aaron Rodgers became the 11th player to pass for 50,000 career yards.

Week 13
 * Philip Rivers became the seventh player to attempt 8,000 passes.
 * Aaron Rodgers became the seventh player to pass for 400 touchdowns. He also became the fastest player to reach this mark, doing so in 193 games. The previous record of 205 games was set by Drew Brees.
 * Justin Houston tied the NFL record for most forced safeties, with four. This record was previously set by Jared Allen, Doug English and Ted Hendricks.
 * Cole Beasley set the record for most touchdown receptions by a person shorter than 5 ft for whom statistics are available with 33. The previous record of 32 was set by Darren Sproles.

Week 14
 * Alex Smith became the 25th starting quarterback to win 100 games (regular season and playoffs).
 * Jamal Adams set the single season record for most sacks by a defensive back with 8.5. The previous record of 8 was set by Adrian Wilson.
 * The Pittsburgh Steelers broke the record for most consecutive games with at least one recorded sack, with 70, dating back to 2016. The previous record of 69 was held by the 1999–2003 Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
 * The Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns tied the NFL record for most combined rushing touchdowns in a game with nine. The record was previously set by two games played in 1922 (Rock Island Independents vs. Evansville Crimson Giants and Racine Legion vs. Louisville Brecks).
 * Baker Mayfield became the first quarterback in NFL history to lose two games despite his team scoring 42 points.
 * Derrick Henry broke the record for most career games with at least 200 rushing yards and at least two touchdowns, with four. The previous record of three was shared by Jim Brown, Barry Sanders, and LaDainian Tomlinson.

Week 15
 * Aaron Rodgers became the first player to throw at least 40 touchdown passes in three separate seasons.
 * Matt Ryan passed Fran Tarkenton for 10th place on the all-time career passing touchdowns list.
 * Drew Brees passed Anthony Calvillo for most career passing yards in any professional football league, with 79,846. Calvillo passed for 79,816 yards in the Canadian Football League.
 * Ben Roethlisberger became the seventh player to pass for 60,000 career yards.
 * Roethlisberger also became the sixth player to complete 5,000 career passes.

Week 16
 * Drew Brees became the first player to pass for 80,000 career yards.
 * Alvin Kamara tied the record for most individual rushing touchdowns in a game, with six. The record was previously set by Ernie Nevers in 1929.
 * The Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints tied the NFL record for most combined rushing touchdowns in a game with nine. The record was previously set by two games played in 1922 (Rock Island Independents vs. Evansville Crimson Giants and Racine Legion vs. Louisville Brecks) and a 2020 contest between the Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns.
 * Tom Brady became the third quarterback to play in 300 games, joining George Blanda and Brett Favre.
 * Justin Herbert broke the record for most touchdown passes by a rookie, with 28. The previous record of 27 was held by Baker Mayfield.
 * Travis Kelce set the single season record for most receiving yards by a tight end. The previous record of 1,377 was held by George Kittle.
 * Frank Gore became the third player to rush for 16,000 career yards, joining Walter Payton and Emmitt Smith.

Week 17
 * Tom Brady set the record for most regular season starts by a quarterback, with 299. The previous record of 298 was held by Brett Favre.
 * Philip Rivers passed Dan Marino for fifth place on the all-time passing touchdowns list.
 * Lamar Jackson became the first quarterback to have 1,000 rushing yards in consecutive seasons.
 * Derrick Henry became the eighth player to have 2,000 rushing yards in a season.
 * Mike Evans became the first player to reach 1,000 receiving yards in each of his first seven seasons.
 * Matt Prater set the record for most career field goals of at least 50 yards, with 59. The previous record of 58 was held by Sebastian Janikowski.
 * The Washington Football Team tied the 2010 Seattle Seahawks' record for the worst winning percentage by a playoff-qualifying team (.430) and became the first team to reach the playoffs after starting the season with a 2–7 record. None of the 262 previous teams to start a season with a 2–7 record  qualified for the playoffs.
 * For the first time in NFL history, home teams had a losing record, finishing the year with a record of .490.
 * The Cleveland Browns qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2002, ending the NFL's longest active postseason drought at 17 seasons.

Wild Card Round
 * The Cleveland Browns tied the record for the most points in the first quarter of a playoff game, with 28. The record was previously set by the 1969 Oakland Raiders.
 * Ben Roethlisberger recorded the fourth 500-yard passing game of his career, extending his own record. He also became the second player with 500 passing yards a postseason game, joining Tom Brady.
 * Roethlisberger also set the record for most completions in a game (regular season or postseason), with 47. The previous record of 45 was shared by Drew Bledsoe and Jared Goff.
 * Tom Brady became the oldest player to throw a touchdown pass in a postseason game, at 43 years, 159 days.

All-Pro team
The following players were named First Team All-Pro by the Associated Press:

Players of the week/month
The following were named the top performers during the 2020 season:

Stadium changes

 * This is the first season that the Los Angeles Chargers and Los Angeles Rams share SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. The Rams had played at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum from 2016-2019 and the Chargers had played at Dignity Health Sports Park from 2017-2019. SoFi Stadium became the third stadium since the 1970 AFL–NFL merger to be shared by two teams (MetLife Stadium, which is shared by the New York Jets and New York Giants, is one of the other two).
 * The Las Vegas Raiders relocated from Oakland to the Las Vegas area and now play their home games at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada.
 * Prior to this season, the Buffalo Bills had a buyout window in their lease with their home stadium, allowing them to cancel it for a $29 million fee. The Bills were not expected to opt out of the lease, since plans for a future Buffalo Bills stadium are still in early preliminary discussions as of 2019 and conditions in the lease also prohibited the late founding owner Ralph Wilson and his estate from selling the franchise to anyone who would relocate the team out of Buffalo, which current owners Kim and Terry Pegula have no plans to do. On January 31, the team formally declined the buyout option. Since the Bills chose not to opt out, the team cannot exit the lease until it expires at the end of the 2022 season.
 * On July 15, New Era Cap Company canceled its naming rights agreement on the Bills' stadium due to overall financial struggles. The Bills intend to seek a new naming rights sponsor for the stadium, which is known as "Bills Stadium" until a new sponsor is found.
 * 2020 is the last season in which Mercedes-Benz will own the naming rights sponsor for the New Orleans Saints's Louisiana Superdome.
 * On November 19, the Seattle Seahawks' CenturyLink Field was renamed Lumen Field after CenturyLink rebranded to Lumen Technologies.

COVID-19 restrictions
The NFL is allowing teams to admit spectators to games if allowed under local health orders. As of October 26, 18 teams had confirmed plans to admit spectators at a reduced capacity for home games. The majority of teams played without spectators through September and into October. Most teams left open the possibility of spectators later in the season if conditions improve. Commissioner Roger Goodell and the league's competition committee assessed that having spectators did not create a competitive advantage despite some coaches and executives disagreeing.

If spectators are admitted, they must wear face masks and may be required to sign a liability waiver. On-field entertainment is prohibited, including cheerleaders, mascots, marching bands, flag wavers, and end zone-to-end zone American flag displays. To reduce the proximity of spectators to the field, the league requires the first six to eight rows of seats to be blocked with tarps. Halftime shows may be held, but only off-site, or as done on Thanksgiving, pre-recorded before the game.

On May 13, California officials indicated that they might not allow the Los Angeles Chargers, Los Angeles Rams or San Francisco 49ers to play at their home stadiums. Las Vegas' Allegiant Stadium and Arizona's State Farm Stadium were listed as possible relocation sites for these teams. All three teams were ultimately allowed to begin the season at their home stadiums without spectators; however, the 49ers were forced to move their final three home games to State Farm Stadium after Santa Clara County, where the 49ers' home stadium is located, banned all contact sports in response to a local rise of COVID-19 cases.

The NFL initially mandated the use of artificial crowd noise inside all stadiums with attendance below 10,000, consisting of non-dynamic ambience that would play at 70 decibels. The audio is monitored by the league and teams may face sanctions if they are found to have manipulated it (such as by changing its volume). On September 25, these rules were adjusted, allowing the ambiance to be played at up to 80 decibels. The volume must be determined before the game and remain consistent through the entire game. The minimum attendance required to turn off the crowd noise was reduced to 2,500. As part of Microsoft's sponsorship of the NFL, a "Fan Mosaic" feature powered by Microsoft Teams will be featured on stadium video boards during select games.

Uniform changes
Eight teams unveiled uniform changes, ranging from minor adjustments to full rebrands.


 * Atlanta: On April 8, the Falcons unveiled new uniforms, featuring a matte shell helmet, a larger helmet logo, silver facemasks, new fonts for the numbers, and a prominent "ATL" placed above the numbers. The team returned to black as the primary jersey color. A new alternate jersey features a red gradient.
 * Cleveland: On April 15, the Browns revealed new uniforms that reverted to the design used prior to 2015. Some elements of the 2015 style were retained, including the brighter shade of orange, the modernized version of block numbers, and brown facemasks.
 * Indianapolis: On April 13, the Colts announced that serifs were added to their jersey numbers similar to the design used in the 1950s and 1960s and revealed a new modernized wordmark and secondary logo that features the outline of Indiana carved out of a "C". They also introduced a new color, anvil black.
 * Los Angeles Chargers: On March 24, the Chargers announced that they would eliminate navy blue from their official branding, building on their 2019 change of the primary jersey color to powder blue. They also debuted a modified logo and a new wordmark to reflect this. On April 21, the Chargers revealed new uniforms, which use elements from previous sets, including numbers on the helmets and the addition of a navy blue alternate set.
 * Los Angeles Rams: On March 23, the Rams unveiled new logos and color scheme. The new colors are brighter shades of the royal blue and gold used on their 1999 throwback jerseys, dubbed "Rams Royal" and "Sol" by the team, respectively. The team's new logo features a stylized "LA" with a ram's horn spiraling out from the top of the "A". The team unveiled new uniforms on May 13. Notable features include the addition of an off-white "Bone" away jersey, team wordmark logo patches on the right side of the chest and a unique fabric for the numbers. The helmet also has a metallic "Rams Royal" colored shell and a new ram horn design to match the logos.
 * New England: The Patriots former all-blue alternate design became the primary home uniform set, with updated block letters and numbers and blue/red/white socks. A corresponding white jersey was also unveiled and will also be paired with the blue pants. Both uniforms feature truncated shoulder striping as a nod to the "Pat Patriot" uniforms.
 * Tampa Bay: On April 7, the Buccaneers unveiled new uniforms resembling the ones used from 1997 to 2013, including that design's block numbers, black masks, pewter pants, and all-white road set. Some elements of the previous design remain, including the enlarged flag-and-crossed-swords logo and the secondary ship logo on the sleeves. The team also unveiled an all-pewter alternate uniform.
 * Washington: On July 23, the franchise announced it would play the season as the "Washington Football Team" and dropped the Redskins logo while retaining the color scheme. The team's uniforms essentially remained the same, but without the helmet stripe and with the logo being replaced by the player's jersey number in gold, as well as a "Washington" wordmark on the chest replacing "Redskins." In December the team began wearing white jerseys over white pants on the road for the first time since 2009.

Patches

 * Arizona: A patch to commemorate the death of Hall of Famer Larry Wilson, with his number 8 enclosed in either a black circle (red and white jersey) or white circle (black jersey).
 * Dallas: An "Established in 1960" patch to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the team's inception.
 * Las Vegas: A patch to commemorate the team's inaugural season in Las Vegas.
 * Miami: A patch to commemorate the death of Hall of Fame head coach Don Shula, featuring his name and the number 347 to signify his NFL record career victories.
 * New York Jets: A patch to commemorate the death of philanthropist Betty Wold Johnson — the mother of Jets CEO Christopher Johnson.
 * Washington: A patch to commemorate the death of Hall of Famer Bobby Mitchell, with his number 49 enclosed in a black circle.

Television
This was the seventh year under the current broadcast contracts with CBS, ESPN, Fox, and NBC. This includes "cross-flexing" (switching) Sunday afternoon games between CBS and Fox before or during the season, regardless of the conference of the visiting team. NBC continues to air Sunday Night Football and the Kickoff Game. ESPN continued to air Monday Night Football and a Wild Card Game, with the latter being simulcast on ABC. ESPN and ABC were also scheduled to air the 2021 Pro Bowl, but the game was canceled. Fox continues to air Thursday Night Football alongside NFL Network. CBS and NBC acquired rights to the two new Wild Card Round games, with each paying around $70 million for the additional game.

CBS will televise Super Bowl LV. NBC was originally scheduled to broadcast the game under the current rotation. However, NBC traded the game to CBS in exchange for Super Bowl LVI, which will fall during the 2022 Winter Olympics, the first to be scheduled during an ongoing Olympic Games (NBC also holds the U.S. broadcast rights to the Olympics).

To coincide with the 50th anniversary of Monday Night Football, ESPN simulcast the Week 2 New Orleans–Las Vegas game as an ESPN Megacast on ABC (simulcasting the main ESPN broadcast as its first regular season contest since ) and ESPN2 airing an alternate broadcast with various guests joining throughout the game. On November 27, it was reported that two more MNF games would be simulcast on ABC on December 7 and 28.

As of the 2019 season, local stations in markets with NFL teams have been allowed on to air another NFL game opposite the game involving that city's home team on a limited basis. Cities were initially limited to two such games per season. This was expanded to four in 2020.

Although ESPN's current MNF deal expires in 2021 and the contracts with CBS, Fox, and NBC end in 2022, the NFL may begin negotiations on new broadcast deals in 2020. Prior to this season, the league had the option to cancel DirecTV's exclusive contract to air NFL Sunday Ticket, the league's out-of-market sports package. However, the NFL did not opt out.

In the United Kingdom, Sky Sports renewed its broadcast rights to the NFL under a five-year deal, marking its 25th season of coverage. It also announced that it would devote its multiplex channel Sky Sports Action exclusively to NFL programming and coverage during the season, temporarily rebranding it as Sky Sports NFL. It marks the first time that the NFL has partnered on a league-oriented channel in an international market. ViacomCBS-owned free-to-air channel Channel 5 also acquired rights to air Monday Night Football, marking the league's return to the network for the first time since 2009, with a Los Angeles-based studio show featuring Maurice Jones-Drew, and a weekly magazine show, NFL End Zone, hosted by Cori Yarckin.

Digital
On April 29, Amazon renewed its digital rights to Thursday Night Football through the 2022 season, maintaining the existing arrangement to simulcast the 11 games aired by Fox on Prime Video and for free on Twitch, and offer alternative broadcasts of the games on the two services. It also added exclusive worldwide rights to one late-season game per-season, which was produced by CBS and simulcast on over-the-air stations in the two teams' home markets. Amazon also acquired rights to simulcast one NFC Wild Card game assigned to CBS.

This season, the TNF games included a new "Scout's Feed" broadcast featuring extended play analysis by Bucky Brooks and Daniel Jeremiah, and a new "NFL Next Live" feed on Twitch hosted by Cari Champion and Andrew Hawkins which featured viewer interactivity. The British English broadcasts were dropped this season. For supplemental content, Amazon is expanding its Tuesday-night studio program NFL Next, and introducing two new interactive programs on Twitch — the Hawkins and Kyle Long-hosted NFL Comment Box, and the Chad Johnson and Kyle Long-hosted The NFL Machine, which features presentations of content from the NFL Films archives.

Personnel
Tony Romo, CBS' lead color commentator, renewed his contract in a long-term, $17 million per-year deal, the most lucrative contract for a commentator in NFL history.

CBS parted ways with #2 commentator Dan Fouts and replaced him with Fox's #2 commentator Charles Davis. Fox utilized Daryl Johnston in this spot.

To reduce his workload and travel, NBC Sunday Night Football lead commentator Al Michaels will take several games off in favor of Mike Tirico.

ESPN replaced its former Monday Night Football commentator team of Joe Tessitore and Booger McFarland with Steve Levy, Brian Griese, and Louis Riddick. Levy and Griese had been a broadcast team for ESPN's college football coverage prior to their Monday Night Football assignment, Levy also served as ESPN's lead XFL play-by-play voice. Fellow college football announcing duo Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit called the first game of the Week 1 MNF doubleheader. Herbstreit also worked the ESPN2 Monday Night Megacast broadcast with Rece Davis during the Week 2 MNF game.

After using a homophobic slur during a Cincinnati Reds game, Thom Brennaman was removed from Fox's NFL broadcasts for 2020. Brennaman, who also worked for the Reds, was suspended from doing games "until further notice". He later resigned from that role. Kevin Kugler replaced Brennaman.

This was the final season for Chris Spielman at Fox, as before Week 14, he left Fox to take a front office position with the Lions, effective immediately. #6 co-analyst Brock Huard, who was a new addition to Fox's Sunday commentator roster, along with Adam Amin, Jonathan Vilma, and Greg Jennings, would move up to the #5 slot with Kevin Kugler to replace Spielman.

Impact of COVID-19 on production
Broadcasters are allowed up to 46 staff members at each game. Sideline reporters are not allowed on the field. CBS, Fox, and NBC have commentators on-site, but some production is conducted remotely from the networks' headquarters. The NFL requires personnel returning from outside of the United States to quarantine for 14 days before returning to work; Fox commentator Kenny Albert missed the first two weeks of the season due to this requirement. He previously was in Canada working NBC's coverage of the National Hockey League playoffs through September 10.

The league is providing an enhanced artificial crowd noise track to be used by its broadcasters, separate from the crowd noise that is used at stadiums below 2,500 in attendance. The soundtrack uses crowd audio collected by NFL Films from past games involving the home team, including general ambience, team-specific chants, and contextual reactions. It is mixed by a local sound engineer at the stadium in synchronization with the game. Fox had explored the possibility of masking empty stands with CGI crowds. Fox introduced such a system on-air for its Major League Baseball broadcasts, and later announced that it planned to employ the technology for selected NFL games.

NBC ruled out virtual fans, citing the large number of camera angles that would have to be configured for it. The network added a 180-degree 8K resolution camera to the Skycam unit for "intimate" overhead views, supplanting wide-angle shots that would expose stands with little to no spectators. At games played with no spectators, CBS plans to allow its Skycam to be in positions over the stands that are not usually allowed in order to provide new angles.

The pandemic has also affected pre-game shows: ESPN's Monday Night Countdown and NFL Network's NFL GameDay were broadcast from their respective networks' studios, rather than traveling to game sites. Fox NFL Sunday panelist Jimmy Johnson is contributing from his home in Florida, rather than join the rest of the panel at the Fox studio in Los Angeles. As a precautionary measure for unspecified circumstances, the normal panels for Fox NFL Kickoff and Fox NFL Sunday did not appear in-studio for Week 11, with Chris Myers, Reggie Bush, and Charles Woodson replacing them, and the affected personnel appearing remotely.

Two commentators were unable to pass their network's COVID-19 protocols and each had to miss one game: Al Michaels for NBC in Week 15 and Tony Romo for CBS in Week 17.

Most watched regular season games
*Note — Late DH matchups listed in table are the matchups that were shown to the largest percentage of the market. 1. TB/NO was shown in 91% of the markets during the late doubleheader time slot of Fox coverage.
 * DH = doubleheader; SNF = Sunday Night Football; MNF = Monday Night Football; TNF = Thursday Night Football

2. GB/IND was shown in 83% of the markets during the late doubleheader time slot of Fox coverage.

3. KC/TB was shown in 100% of the markets during the late doubleheader time slot of CBS coverage.

4. GB/CHI was shown in 76% of the markets during the late doubleheader time slot of Fox coverage.

5. KC/NO was shown in 100% of the markets during the late doubleheader time slot of CBS coverage.

6. SF/NE was shown in 50% of the markets during the late doubleheader time slot of CBS coverage.

7. NYG/DAL was shown in 86% of the markets during the late doubleheader time slot of CBS coverage.

8. DAL/SEA was shown in 72% of the markets during the late doubleheader time slot of Fox coverage.

2020 Kansas City Chiefs season
The 2020 season is the Kansas City Chiefs' 51st in the National Football League (NFL), their 61st season overall and their eighth under head coach Andy Reid. The Chiefs, who won Super Bowl LIV the previous season, will attempt to be the first team to repeat as Super Bowl champions since the New England Patriots won Super Bowl XXXVIII and Super Bowl XXXIX, and the eighth team overall to repeat. The Chiefs qualified for the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season, tying a franchise record set from 1990 to 1995 and won the division for the fifth consecutive year. They finished with a best in franchise history and best in the league for the season 14–2 record.

Season summary
In the offseason, the Chiefs released their longest tenured player in franchise history, punter Dustin Colquitt, who had been with the team since 2005. Colquitt was later signed to the Chiefs practice squad shortly before the playoffs.

On August 17, 2020, the Chiefs announced that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, their stadium will be filled at about 22% capacity, or about 16,000 fans. Additionally, fans in attendance will be required to wear a face covering when they are not actively eating or drinking. Season tickets were not sold, however, season ticket holders from 2019 that have not cancelled season tickets already, will still have the option to buy season tickets in 2021.

After a 34–20 Week 3 win over the Baltimore Ravens, the Chiefs set a franchise record for consecutive wins including the playoffs with 12. The streak was snapped two weeks later at 13 with a Week 5 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. Following a Week 4 victory over the New England Patriots, the Chiefs became the first team in NFL history to open their season 4–0 in four consecutive seasons. The Chiefs clinched their fifth consecutive AFC West title after defeating the Miami Dolphins in Week 14. The victory also gave the Chiefs their first 12–1 record in franchise history. A Week 16 victory over the Atlanta Falcons gave the Chiefs their franchise record 14th win. It also clinched home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. The Chiefs finished the season undefeated on the road for the first time in franchise history and with a 14–2 overall record, the best in the NFL during the season.

NFL Top 100
The Chiefs had six players named to the Top 100. Tight end Travis Kelce is the only player who was ranked higher than the previous season. Defending Super Bowl MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes was the highest rated Chiefs player on the list at fourth. Mahomes selection of fourth drew criticism from multiple NFL analysts and fans. SB Nation’s Chiefs site Arrowhead Pride said they will no longer report on the top 100 following Mahomes being selected fourth.

Coaching staff changes

 * Mike Kafka will continue serving in his role as quarterbacks coach, but will have additional duties as passing game coordinator

Players added
Below are players signed following the conclusion of the 2019 season, some of the players signed spent a portion of the 2019 NFL season on the practice squad and/or active roster.


 * Indicates player finished the previous season on the Chiefs' practice squad

Players lost
Below are players who were on the roster at the end of the 2019 season, but were either released or did not re-sign after their contract expired.

Draft
Trades
 * The Chiefs traded linebacker Dee Ford to the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for their 2nd round draft pick (63rd overall).
 * The Chiefs traded their 2nd round selection (64th overall), in addition to 2019 draft picks, to the Seattle Seahawks in exchange for defensive end Frank Clark and a 2019 draft pick.
 * The Chiefs traded their 6th round selection (211th overall) to the New York Jets in exchange for linebacker Darron Lee
 * The Chiefs traded their 7th round selection (246th overall) to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for safety Jordan Lucas.
 * The Chiefs traded their 6th round pick in 2021 NFL Draft to the Tennessee Titans in exchange for their 237th pick in the 2020 draft.

Signed and released in the offseason
Below are players who were signed and released in the offseason before playing a game for the Chiefs in the 2020 season. These players were not a part of the final roster cut downs prior to the start of the regular season.

COVID-19 opt-outs
On July 24, 2020, NFL owners and the NFL Players Association approved giving players the option to opt out of playing during the entire 2020 season as precaution due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The players listed below opted-out before the August 6 deadline and did not play.

Final roster cutdown
The following players were released to bring the roster to the league mandated 53 players before week 1. In addition to the following 24 players being released, the Chiefs also placed two players on the reserve/suspended list and placed one player on the PUP list.

In-season transactions
All transactions listed in this section occurred after the Chiefs released their initial 53 player roster.

Suspensions served
The players listed below served a suspension at some point during the season. The length, reason, and weeks served are all listed below.

Cuts

 * Signed to practice squad after release

Injured reserve returns
The following players spent a portion of the season on injured reserve and were eventually activated off of it.

Preseason cancellation
The Chiefs' preseason schedule was announced on May 7, but was later cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Schedule
As the defending Super Bowl champions, the Chiefs earned the right to host the NFL Kickoff Game, which occurred on September 10. The Chiefs' 2020 schedule was announced on May 7.

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Week 1: vs. Houston Texans
NFL Kickoff Game

Week 5: vs. Las Vegas Raiders
In what turned into a high-scoring affair, Derek Carr and the Las Vegas Raiders outdueled Mahomes and the Chiefs to hand Kansas City its first loss of 2020. The stunning upset dropped the Chiefs to 4-1 on the season and snapped Kansas City's franchise-record 13 game winning streak.

2020-21 NFL Playoffs
The 2020–21 NFL playoffs is the playoff tournament for the 2020 season. It began on January 9, 2021 and will conclude with Super Bowl LV on February 7 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.

The league expanded its playoff system from a 12-team to a 14-team tournament, adding a third wild card team for each conference for the first time since the 2001 season, and only awarding each conference's top seed a first round bye. The Wild Card round was thus extended from two to three games per day.

The playoffs may be affected by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. In case of an outbreak, postseason rounds could be delayed, the bye week before the Super Bowl could be eliminated and the game itself could be postponed to as late as February 28. On November 10, 2020, NFL owners approved a plan to implement a 16-team playoff format, with no teams getting a bye, should the virus force the cancellation of "meaningful" regular season games. However, this did not occur, and the 14-team playoff format ultimately went ahead as expected.

Schedule
In the case of a COVID-19 outbreak, playoff games or entire postseason rounds could be postponed, the bye week after the Conference Championships could be eliminated, and the Super Bowl could be moved up to three weeks later to February 28.

AFC: Buffalo Bills 27, Indianapolis Colts 24
Buffalo built up a 24–10 second half lead and held off an Indianapolis fourth quarter rally to earn their first playoff win since the 1995 season.

In the first quarter, Colts quarterback Philip Rivers' completions to T. Y. Hilton and Michael Pittman Jr. for gains for 23 and 22 yards set up the first score on a 30-yard field goal by Rodrigo Blankenship. Buffalo responded with an 8-play, 85-yard drive, featuring a 36-yard completion from Josh Allen to Stefon Diggs. Allen finished the drive with a 3-yard touchdown pass to tight end Dawson Knox, giving the Bills a 7–3 lead with less than 2 minutes left in the quarter.

On a second quarter drive, Rivers completed a 32-yard pass to Pittman, while running back Jonathan Taylor caught a 6-yard pass and rushed four times for 17 yards, the last carry a 1-yard touchdown run to put the Colts up 10–7. Then after a punt, Indianapolis drove to a first and goal from the Bills 4-yard line; after a 2-yard pass and a 1-yard run, Taylor was tackled for a 3-yard loss by Tre'Davious White and Taron Johnson. Deciding to attempt a fourth-down conversion, Indianapolis turned the ball over as Rivers' pass to Pittman Jr. was incomplete. Taking the ball back with 1:46 left in the half, Allen completed passes to Gabriel Davis for gains of 37 and 19 yards, while also picking up 16 yards on a scramble as he led the team 96 yards in 10 plays to score on a 5-yard touchdown run with 20 seconds left before halftime, giving Buffalo a 14–10 lead.

Buffalo took the second half kickoff and drove 44 yards in 9 plays, with Allen completing two passes to Cole Beasley for 23 yards and a 16-yard pass to Diggs. Tyler Bass finished the possession with a 46-yard field goal, that increased the team's lead to 17–10. Indianapolis responded with a drive to the Bills' 15-yard line, only to have Blankenship miss a 33-yard field goal attempt. Buffalo then drove 77 yards in 9 plays to go up 24–10 on Allen's 35-yard touchdown completion to Diggs, with 14:17 left.

On the second play of the Colts' next possession, Nyheim Hines took off for a 29-yard run, and then Taylor rushed for 20 yards. The Colts were on the move and did not stop until Rivers finished the drive with a 9-yard touchdown pass to tight end Zach Pascal, making the score 24–16. After a Bills penalty moved the ball to the 1-yard line on the extra point attempt, the Colts decided to try a 2-point conversion. Linebacker Matt Milano broke up the play by getting through the line and dropping Taylor for a 1-yard loss. Buffalo then responded with a pair of 16-yard receptions by Diggs and Beasley that set up Bass' 54-yard field goal, increasing the Bills' lead to 27–16 with just over 8 minutes left. Faced with 3rd and 7 on their ensuing drive, the Colts fooled Buffalo's defense with a draw play, in which Hines took a delayed handoff and ran 33 yards to the Bills' 27-yard line. On the next play, Rivers completed a 27-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jack Doyle; Rivers threw the ball to Doyle again on a 2-point conversion, making the score 27–24.

Buffalo took the ball back and drove to the Colts' 34-yard line, but Colts defensive end Denico Autry sacked Allen and forced a fumble. Bills tackle Daryl Williams recovered the ball, but the team lost 18 yards and ended up having to punt with 2:38 left, giving the Colts a chance to drive for a winning or tying score. The Colts proceeded to drive to the Buffalo 46-yard line, converting two fourth downs along the way. On the second one, Pascal made a diving catch for 17 yards on fourth and 10, then appeared to fumble the ball as he got up, which Buffalo recovered. However, officials ruled him down by contact after making the catch, and this was upheld by replay review. Still, Buffalo's defense managed to hang on after this, forcing a 1-yard loss and three straight incompletions, and ultimately ran out the clock to win the game.

Allen finished the game 26-for-35 for 324 yards and two touchdowns, while also leading the Bills in rushing with 11 carries for 54 yards and a touchdown. Diggs caught 6 passes for 128 yards and a touchdown. Rivers was 27-for-46 for 309 yards and two touchdowns. Taylor was the top rusher for the game with 21 carries for 76 yards and a touchdown, while Hines had 75 yards on 6 rushes and Pittman caught 5 passes for 90 yards. Colts linebacker Shaquille Leonard had 9 solo tackles and 3 assists. The Bills won despite being outgained in total yards 472 to 397.

NFC: Los Angeles Rams 30, Seattle Seahawks 20
Rams starting quarterback Jared Goff came into this game as a backup to John Wolford – due to a broken thumb on his throwing hand suffered in week 16 – but a neck injury suffered by Wolford on the Rams' second possession resulted in Goff returning to the starting lineup. Though Goff completed less than half his passes, he led the Rams to victory, with running back Cam Akers accumulating 176 scrimmage yards.

Wolford was knocked out of the game on the Rams' second possession, but only after completing a pair of passes to Cooper Kupp for gains of 15 and 13 yards that set up Matt Gay's 40-yard field goal, giving the team a 3–0 lead. In the second quarter, Michael Dickson's 48-yard punt pinned the Rams back on their own 5-yard line. Following a three-and-out, Johnny Hekker's 44-yard punt gave Seattle good field position on their own 49-yard line, where they proceeded to drive 19 yards and tie the game on a 50-yard field goal by Jason Myers. Los Angeles struck back with Goff's 44-yard completion to Kupp setting up Gay's second field goal, a 39-yard kick. Then they increased their lead to 13–3 when Darious Williams intercepted a pass from Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson and returned it 42 yards for a touchdown. Wilson quickly recovered, leading the team 79 yards in five plays and scoring on a 51-yard touchdown pass to DK Metcalf. On Los Angeles' next possession, Akers had a 44-yard reception and a 20-yard carry before taking the ball into the end zone on a 5-yard run, giving the Rams a 20–10 lead with 2 minutes left in the half.

Seattle cornerback D. J. Reed returned the second half kickoff 58 yards to Los Angeles' 41-yard line, setting up a 52-yard field goal by Myers that cut the score to 20–13. After six consecutive drives resulted in punts, Goff's 20-yard completion to Robert Woods started up a 9-play, 52-yard drive that ended on a 36-yard field goal from Gay, giving the Rams a 23–13 lead with 11:37 remaining. Then after a punt from each team, Rams linebacker Samson Ebukam forced a fumble from Reed on a punt return, which Micah Kiser recovered for Los Angeles on the Seahawks' 36-yard line, where the Rams went on to a 30–13 lead on Goff's 15-yard touchdown pass to Woods. Wilson responded with a 23-yard scramble and a 28-yard completion to Freddie Swain before throwing a 12-yard touchdown completion to Metcalf, with 2:34 left.

Goff was 9-for-19 for 155 yards and a touchdown, while defensive tackle Aaron Donald had two sacks, despite having to leave the game with a rib injury. Wilson was held to 11-for-27 for 174 yards, with two touchdowns – both to Metcalf, who had five receptions for 96 yards – and an interception, as well as 50 yards on 4 carries; linebacker Bobby Wagner had 11 solo tackles, 5 assists, and 1 sack.

NFC: Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31, Washington Football Team 23
Tampa Bay racked up 507 yards of offense, 3 sacks, and forced 2 turnovers as they earned their first postseason victory since winning Super Bowl XXXVII.

Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady completed a 30-yard pass to Mike Evans and a 17-yard throw to Chris Godwin as he led the team to a 29-yard Ryan Succop field goal on the game's opening drive. Then after a punt from each team, Tampa Bay defensive back Sean Murphy-Bunting intercepted a pass from Taylor Heinicke, on the Buccaneers' 42-yard line. Tampa Bay then drove 58 yards in six plays to score on Brady's 36-yard touchdown pass to Antonio Brown, giving the team a 9–0 lead after Succop's extra point was blocked by Jeremy Reaves. But Heinicke started the next drive with completions to Logan Thomas and Terry McLaurin for gains of 24 and 18 yards, respectively, before J. D. McKissic finished it off with a 2-yard touchdown run, making the score 9–7 with 12:58 left in the half. Dustin Hopkins' short kickoff gave the Buccaneers a first down on their own 39-yard line. On the next play, Brown took a pitch on an end-around and ran for a 22-yard gain. Three plays later, Brady threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Godwin, giving the Buccaneers a 15–7 lead after their two point conversion attempt failed. Then after a punt, Brady completed 3-of-5 passes for 65 yards on an 82-yard drive that ended with Succop's 23-yard field goal, giving Tampa Bay an 18–7 lead at halftime.

Washington cut their deficit to 18–10 with the opening drive of the third quarter, converting Heinicke's 29-yard completion to Thomas into a 36-yard Hopkins field goal. Later in the period, Washington defensive tackle Daron Payne forced a fumble from Ke'Shawn Vaughn that Jon Bostic recovered for Washington on their 39-yard line. Heinicke then completed a 19-yard pass to Cam Sims and rushed for a 13-yard gain before taking the ball into the end zone himself on an 8-yard touchdown run, cutting the deficit to 18–16 after an unsuccessful 2-point try. Tampa Bay responded with a 9-play, 55-yard drive, the longest a 23-yard catch by tight end Cameron Brate. Succop finished it off with a 38-yard field goal, giving the Buccaneers a 21–16 lead with 13:38 left. Following a Washington punt, Brady completed passes to Evans for gains of 20 and 19 yards, while Leonard Fournette rushed three times for 22 yards, the last carry a 3-yard touchdown run that put his team up 28–16. On Washington's next drive, Heinicke completed 8-of-10 passes for 71 yards and finishing the drive with an 11-yard touchdown completion to Sims. With the score now 28–23 and 4:57 left, Brady completed passes of 35 yards to Evans and 16 yards to Godwin, setting up Succop's 37-yard field goal with 2:49 left. Washington then drove across midfield, but after two incompletions and an 11-yard sack by Lavonte David, Heinicke's 4th down pass was incomplete, enabling Tampa Bay to run out the rest of the game clock.

Brady completed 22-for-40 passes for 381 yards and two touchdowns, Fournette rushed for 93 yards and a touchdown, while also catching 4 passes for 39 yards. Evans caught 6 passes for 119 yards, and David had 8 solo tackles and a sack. In his second NFL start, Heinicke completed 26-for-44 passes for 306 yards with a touchdown and an interception, and he was also Washington's leading rusher with 6 carries for 46 yards and a touchdown. Sims had 7 receptions for 104 yards, and Reaves blocked an extra point and had 9 solo tackles.

AFC: Baltimore Ravens 20, Tennessee Titans 13
In a game between the two teams with the most rushing yards during the 2020 season, Baltimore came out on top, outgaining the Titans in total yards 401–209, and holding them to just 51 yards on the ground. Tennessee running back Derrick Henry, the NFL's leading rusher in 2020, was held to just 40 yards on 18 carries.

Tennessee opened up the scoring on their second possession with a 10-play, 75-yard drive, featuring a 28-yard completion from Ryan Tannehill to A. J. Brown, before Brown's 10-yard touchdown catch made the score 7–0. Then on Baltimore's next drive, Tennessee defensive back Malcolm Butler intercepted a pass from Lamar Jackson on the Tennessee 28-yard line. Tannehill went on to complete a 35-yard pass to Anthony Firkser that set up Stephen Gostkowski's 45-yard field goal giving the Titans a 10–0 first quarter lead. Baltimore responded by moving the ball 65 yards in 12 plays, including a 28-yard completion from Jackson to receiver Marquise Brown. Justin Tucker finished the drive with a 33-yard field goal, that made the score 10–3 five minutes into the second quarter. Then after a punt by the Titans, the Ravens tied the score at 10–10 with Jackson's 48-yard touchdown run.

Baltimore took a 17–10 lead with their opening drive of the second half, with Jackson completing 4-of-4 passes for 30 yards and rushing four times for 34 yards, on the way to J. K. Dobbins' 4-yard touchdown run. Following a pair of punts, a roughing the passer penalty against Baltimore defensive end Derek Wolfe turned A. J. Brown's 18-yard reception into a 33-yard gain. Tennessee went on to make the score 17–13 with Gostkowski's 25-yard field goal, on the last play of the third quarter. Baltimore responded with a drive to the Titans' 34-yard line, but Tucker missed a 52-yard field goal. Following a punt, Jackson completed 3-of-3 passes for 30 yards and rushed for 14 yards, setting up a successful 51-yard field goal for Tucker, giving the Ravens a 20–13 lead with 4:23 left. Marcus Peters ended Tennessee's next drive with an interception of Tannehill, enabling the Ravens' offense to run out the clock with four running plays, including a 33-yard run from Jackson.

Jackson completed 17-for-24 passes for 179 yards with an interception, and was the game's leading rusher with 16 carries for 136 yards and a touchdown. Marquise Brown was the game's leading receiver with 7 catches for 109 yards. Tannehill finished the day 18-for-26 for 165 yards, a touchdown, and an interception; Tennessee linebacker Harold Landry had 8 tackles, 2 assists, and 2 sacks.

NFC: New Orleans Saints 21, Chicago Bears 9
New Orleans held Chicago to just 239 yards and a single field goal until the closing seconds of the fourth quarter as they progressed to the Divisional round.

In the first quarter, Saints receiver Deonte Harris returned a punt 7 yards to the New Orleans 45-yard line, before he caught a 17-yard pass as his team drove 50 yards on 8 plays to score on Drew Brees's 11-yard touchdown throw to Michael Thomas. Chicago seemed primed to respond, as Mitchell Trubisky completed a 28-yard pass to Javon Wims, on the Saints' 40-yard line. On the next play, the Bears ran a trick play in which running back David Montgomery took the snap out of the wildcat formation and gave the ball to Cordarrelle Patterson, who then pitched the ball to Trubisky. The play initially worked perfectly, as Trubisky threw the ball to a wide open Wims in the end zone, only to see him drop the pass. This turned out to be crucial as the drive ended in a turnover on downs on the Saints' 34-yard line. New Orleans then drove to the Bears' 32-yard line, but Wil Lutz missed a 52-yard field goal attempt. In the second quarter, Bears safety Tashaun Gipson forced a fumble from Taysom Hill that John Jenkins recovered for Chicago, on the Saints' 24-yard line. This led to Cairo Santos' 36-yard field goal that made the score 7–3; the next four drives ended in punts, with no additional scoring to the half.

After the Bears punted on the first drive of the third quarter, Brees completed 6-of-7 passes for 72 yards, the longest being a 38-yard throw to Thomas. He finished the drive with a 6-yard touchdown completion to running back Latavius Murray, giving the Saints a 14–3 lead. The Bears had to punt again after three plays, and Harris returned it 11 yards to New Orleans' 36-yard line. From there, the Saints drove 64 yards in 15 plays to go up 21–3 on Alvin Kamara's 3-yard touchdown run with 8:50 left. Following another Bears punt, New Orleans drove all the way to the Chicago 1-yard line, but ended up turning the ball over on downs. In the final 2:19 of the game, the Bears drove 99 yards in 11 plays and scored on the final play of the game, with Trubisky's 19-yard touchdown pass to Jimmy Graham.

Brees completed 28-for-39 passes for 265 yards and 2 touchdowns, Kamara had 23 carries for 99 yards and a touchdown, along with 2 receptions for 17 yards; Harris caught 7 passes for 83 yards and returned 3 punts for 22 yards. Trubisky finished the game 19-for-29 for 199 yards and a touchdown.

AFC: Cleveland Browns 48, Pittsburgh Steelers 37
Despite missing four players and five coaches – including head coach Kevin Stefanski – due to positive COVID-19 tests, Cleveland built up a 35–10 first half lead, forced five turnovers, and held on to earn their first playoff win since the 1994 season. This was also the Browns' first playoff appearance since 2002, their first road win against the Steelers since 2003, and their first road playoff win since 1969.

The Browns took a 7–0 lead on the first play from scrimmage when a high snap from Pittsburgh center Maurkice Pouncey sailed over quarterback Ben Roethlisberger's head and went into the end zone, where safety Karl Joseph recovered the ball for a touchdown. Then on Pittsburgh's next drive, cornerback M. J. Stewart intercepted a pass from Roethlisberger, giving the Browns the ball on the Steelers' 46-yard line. Two plays later, Baker Mayfield threw a short pass to Jarvis Landry in the middle of the field and he ran it 40 yards into the end zone to increase Cleveland's lead to 14–0. Pittsburgh then had to punt after three plays, and the Browns drove 65 yards in 6 plays, the longest a 20-yard run from Nick Chubb. Kareem Hunt finished the drive with an 11-yard touchdown run, to put the Browns up 21–0. Then, Roethlisberger threw another interception, this one to safety Sheldrick Redwine, who returned it 30 yards to the Steelers' 15-yard line. This set up Hunt's 8-yard touchdown run that gave the Browns a 28–0 first quarter lead – tying an NFL playoff record for points in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Roethlisberger threw his third interception to defensive end Porter Gustin, that gave the Browns the ball on their 47-yard line, but the Steelers' defense were able to force a punt. Pittsburgh then drove 89 yards in 13 plays, featuring a 27-yard completion from Roethlisberger to receiver James Washington. Running back James Conner also made some crucial plays, converting a 4th and 1 on the Browns' 2-yard line with a 1-yard run, and then running the ball into the end zone on the next play to make the score 28–7. D'Ernest Johnson returned the resulting kickoff 33 yards to the Browns' 36-yard line. Then, after Mayfield scrambled to convert a 3rd and 6, he completed a 21-yard pass to Chubb to the Steelers' 32-yard line. Three plays later, Mayfield finished the possession with a 7-yard touchdown pass to tight end Austin Hooper, giving the Browns a 35–7 lead with 37 seconds left in the half. Still, Pittsburgh managed to respond, driving 32 yards in five plays to score on Chris Boswell's 49-yard field goal, for a halftime score of 35–10.

In the third quarter, the Browns punted on their opening drive, and Roethlisberger completed eight consecutive passes for 84 yards, the last a 17-yard touchdown completion to tight end Eric Ebron, cutting the score to 35–16 after a failed 2-point conversion attempt. Following another Browns' punt, Roethlisberger completed passes to JuJu Smith-Schuster for gains of 15 and 27 yards as the team drove 68 yards in 12 plays. Faced with 4th and goal on the Browns' 5-yard line, Roethlisberger threw another pass to Smith-Schuster for a touchdown, cutting their deficit to 35–23.

After a Browns punt, the Steelers drove to a 4th and 1 on their 46-yard line in the closing seconds of the third quarter. From there, Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin decided to let the play clock run down to zero in an attempt to draw the Browns offside, and then punt the ball on 4th and 6. Tomlin later received criticism for declining to attempt a fourth down conversion. Cleveland got the ball seconds into the fourth quarter, and increased their lead to 42–23, with Mayfield completing passes to Landry for gains of 17 and 14 yards before finishing the drive with a 40-yard touchdown pass to Chubb. Roethlisberger completed four consecutive passes for 76 yards for the Steelers, the last a 29-yard touchdown pass to rookie receiver Chase Claypool. This made the score 42–29 with 6:39 left, following another failed 2-point try. The Browns stepped up to cut off any chance of a comeback; Johnson returned the kickoff 30 yards to the Browns' 35-yard line, sparking a 13-play, 59-yard drive that ended with Cody Parkey's 24-yard field goal that put the team up 45–29. Then, linebacker Sione Takitaki recorded Cleveland's fourth interception of the day, picking off a pass from Roethlisberger and returning it 23 yards to the Steelers' 25-yard line. This led to another Parkey field goal that gave the Browns a 48–29 lead with 2:54 left. Roethlisberger led the Steelers 77 yards in 8 plays, including his 33-yard completion to Smith-Schuster on 4th and 10, on the way to his 7-yard touchdown pass to Claypool. Then, his 2-point conversion pass to Connor made the score 48–37. The Browns recovered Pittsburgh's ensuing onside kick attempt and ran out the rest of the clock.

Mayfield finished his first career playoff game with 21-for-34 for 263 yards and three touchdowns. Landry was his top target with 5 catches for 92 yards and a touchdown. Chubb was the top rusher of the day with 18 carries for 76 yards, while also catching 4 passes for 69 yards and a touchdown. Stewart had 9 tackles (1 for loss) and an interception. Roethlisberger completed 47-of-68 passes for 501 yards and 4 touchdowns, with 4 interceptions. His 47 completions set an NFL record, his 68 passes set an NFL postseason record, and his 501 yards was the second highest total in postseason history. Smith-Schuster had 13 receptions for 157 yards and a touchdown, while Diontae Johnson added 11 receptions for 117 yards.

Television coverage
All playoff games will be televised nationally on network television.

CBS and NBC acquired the rights to the two new Wild Card Round games. The coverage of the rest of the Wild Card round essentially remains the same, with ESPN producing coverage of one Wild Card game and simulcasting it on ABC; and CBS, NBC, and Fox televising each of the other three remaining Wild Card games.

CBS aired an alternate broadcast for its new Wild Card game on sister network Nickelodeon, oriented toward a youth audience,  called by Noah Eagle (son of CBS commentator Ian Eagle) and Nate Burleson, joined by All That cast members Gabrielle Nevaeh Green and Lex Lumpkin as a booth analyst and sideline reporter respectively. It featured explanations of rules (with Iain Armitage, in character as Sheldon Cooper from CBS sitcom Young Sheldon, making appearances to explain penalties), customized on-air graphics, and augmented reality effects — including Nickelodeon's signature green slime on touchdowns. The telecast received critical praise from fans on social media and sportscasters, including those working for competing networks, on introducing children who otherwise may have never watched a football game before watching a game for the first time.

ESPN also carried additional Megacast broadcasts for its Wild Card game, including the "Film Room" on ESPN2 featuring extended analysis of plays, ESPN+ carrying "Between the Lines" (which included extended analysis from a sports betting perspective), and a "watch party" on Freeform (which featured appearances by entertainment and pop culture personalities, and a halftime performance by DJ Khaled from Miami). NBC additionally aired its Wild Card game on streaming service Peacock and in Spanish on Telemundo.

Fox has exclusive coverage of both NFC Divisional games and the NFC Championship Game. Coverage of the AFC Divisional games is split between CBS and NBC. CBS then has exclusive coverage of the AFC Championship Game and the Super Bowl.

Super Bowl LV (55)
Super Bowl LV, the 55th Super Bowl and the 51st modern-era National Football League (NFL) championship game, will decide the league champion for the 2020 NFL season. With pending developments on the COVID-19 pandemic and how it affects the 2020 season, the game is scheduled to be played on February 7, 2021, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. This will be the fifth Super Bowl hosted by the Tampa area and the third held at Raymond James Stadium. The game will be televised nationally by CBS. It will be the fourth time that the Super Bowl was in the same state in back-to-back years, since Super Bowl LIV took place at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.

Host city selection process
On May 19, 2015, the league announced the five finalists for hosting Super Bowl LIII in 2019 and Super Bowl LIV in 2020. NFL team owners voted on these cities on May 24 2016, with the first round of voting to determine the host for Super Bowl LIII, and the second round deciding the site for Super Bowl LIV. In a development not known in advance, a third round of voting was added to select a Super Bowl LV hosting site. Atlanta and Miami were awarded Super Bowls LIII and LIV respectively, removing them from the running for LV. Los Angeles was not eligible for Super Bowl LIII, as their stadium was under construction and would not yet be finished; it was eligible for LIV and LV, and opted to bid only on the latter.

The two candidates were:
 * Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida: Tampa has hosted four Super Bowls, the last being Super Bowl XLIII in 2009.
 * SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, California: Los Angeles has hosted the Super Bowl seven times, most recently in 1993 with Super Bowl XXVII; that game, along with the four prior Super Bowls in the area, was held at the Rose Bowl while the first two Super Bowls in the Los Angeles area were held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Los Angeles was originally chosen as the host site for Super Bowl LV in a vote on May 24, 2016. However, due to construction delays, authorities announced that the stadium would not be completed until the start of the 2020 NFL season. On May 23, 2017, NFL owners voted unanimously, with the Rams' approval, to move Super Bowl LV to Tampa. The City of Inglewood will instead host Super Bowl LVI in 2022.

Contingency plans for the COVID-19 pandemic
As of the start of the 2020 NFL season, the league had forbidden on-field entertainment, such as halftime shows and national anthem performances at games with spectators. These elements, which have historically been cornerstones of the Super Bowl entertainment, would be produced off-site if restrictions remain in place. On November 12, it was announced that The Weeknd was to perform at the halftime show.

The state of Florida removed capacity restrictions for sporting events in October, although the three Florida-based teams have voluntarily maintained 20-25% capacity limits. As of late October 2020, the NFL was planning a minimum attendance of 20% of capacity, in hopes that a larger capacity would be possible by game day.

United States
Super Bowl LV will be televised by CBS. Although NBC was to air this game under the current rotation, they traded the game to CBS in exchange for Super Bowl LVI, which falls during the 2022 Winter Olympics and is the first to be scheduled during an ongoing Olympic Games (this also upholds a gentleman's agreement between the NFL's broadcasters to not counterprogram the Super Bowl, as NBC also holds the U.S. broadcast rights to the Olympics). CBS will, to an extent, also benefit from holding rights to the Super Bowl in the same year that it holds rights to the NCAA Final Four, which is cycled with WarnerMedia Entertainment channels on a two-year cycle with TBS, as well as the AFC Championship Game in primetime, which contractually alternates between afternoon and primetime on a two-year cycle with the NFC Championship Game on Fox.

CBS is expected to introduce a rebranding of the CBS Sports division during Super Bowl LV, as part of a larger brand unification process between the network's main divisions.

For the third consecutive Super Bowl televised by CBS, ESPN Deportes will air a Spanish-language broadcast.

Lead-out programs
On December 3, 2020, CBS announced that its lead-out program will be the series premiere of The Equalizer.

International
In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the game will be televised on the free-to-air channel BBC One, and paid-subscription channels Sky Sports Mix and Sky Sports NFL.

In Germany, Austria and Switzerland, free-to-air channel ProSieben will broadcast the event through its ran format.

Subscription streaming platform DAZN will also stream the Super Bowl.

Halftime show
The Halftime show will be headlined by The Weeknd.