Will the road begin in the familiar surroundings of Raymond James Stadium? Or will the on-ramp be in Atlanta, Baltimore or the nation's capital? Could the beginning even be on the far side of the U.S.?
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be handed the road map to their upcoming travels on Tuesday evening, when the full 2010 NFL schedule is revealed. The announcement will take place at 7:00 p.m. ET and, for those scanning the television, will be first revealed on the NFL Network.
The most comprehensive Buccaneer-specific coverage of the schedule announcement, however, will be found right here on Buccaneers.com. Tampa Bay's long-awaited 2010 slate will be revealed on the team's official web site at precisely the same time, 7:00 p.m. ET.
The new schedule is always one of the NFL's most-anticipated announcements of the offseason, and this year it arrives just two days before the beginning of what could be a landmark event. Revelations of such items as the Thanksgiving games, the Monday night schedule and the dates of key intra-division matchups will bring excitement that will only build through the upcoming three days of the draft.
That is certainly true for the Buccaneers, as well. Tampa Bay has known its 16 opponents for the fall of 2010 since the end of last season, but there is no way to accurately anticipate when those games will take place. By 7:00 p.m., Buccaneers fans will know if the season opener is a home game or not, and who's headed to town if it is going to be in Raymond James Stadium. They'll also know where the road will end, and there are only three possible foes for the finale. Commissioner Roger Goodell announced on Tuesday that all 32 teams will play within their division in the final week.
Other questions that will soon be answered: Where on the schedule will the bye week fall, and will it be later in the season as is generally considered favorable? How backloaded will the team's NFC South portion of the schedule be, as it was last year with five intra-division games in the last seven weeks?
When will Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers make their first visit to Raymond James Stadium since they won Super Bowl XLIII there in January of 2009? If the Rams draft Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford with the first overall pick on Thursday, in what week will they bring him to Tampa for a matchup with his fellow former Big 12 passer, Josh Freeman? For that matter, when will the Freeman-Matthew Stafford competition take place? What weeks will bring the Bucs' two longest trips of the year, to San Francisco and Phoenix? When will the defending-champion New Orleans Saints visit and try to get revenge for last year's Week 16 defeat at the hands of the Buccaneers?
Buccaneers.com will answer these questions thoroughly, with both an extensive written piece and a video look at the schedule by Buccaneers Insider. Insider will bring fans the first reaction of General Manager Mark Dominik to the schedule as part of its report. Those who follow the Buccaneers through such social networking as Facebook and Twitter will also find frequent and thorough updates.
You've got questions. Buccaneers.com will have the answers. The 2010 NFL schedule is about to be revealed. Visit Buccaneers.com at 7:00 p.m. ET to see how it unfolds.
