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NFL: Minimal Scheduling Overlap for Tom Brady's Bucs, Patriots 'Coincidental'

Charles Krupa/Associated Press

Sorry, conspiracy theorists. It is apparently just an accident that Tom Brady's Tampa Bay Buccaneers are playing at the same time as the New England Patriots just two times throughout the entire 2020 season.

"Putting together the 256-game schedule is very complex—it's a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma," league spokesman Brian McCarthy said, per Mike Reiss of ESPN. "The minimal conflicts here are coincidental."

As Reiss explained, the Patriots and Buccaneers don't play at the same time until Dec. 20, which is Week 15. Brady's old team faces the Miami Dolphins at 1 p.