NFL Season Kickoff: Bucs To Play Saints Sept. 13 In New Orleans

TAMPA, FL — Professional football returns after the Labor Day weekend, with all 32 National Football League teams kicking off play the week of Sept. 10-13, including the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Bucs will play their season opener on Sept. 13 against the New Orleans Saints at 4:25 p.m. at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs will officially kick off the NFL season on Thursday, Sept. 10 at home against the Houston Texans.

Find the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' full regular season schedule here.

The NFL is on track to become the first major professional sports league to start a season on time during the coronavirus pandemic. Popular off-season events such as the NFL Draft were held in virtual formats, and all preseason games were canceled to help prevent further spread of the virus.

That means the regular season will take off with a number of intriguing story lines, none greater than how two teams in particular will fare after a big shakeup.

Eyes will be on six-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Tom Brady as he takes his first snaps as a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after 20 seasons with the New England Patriots.The Patriots, and their own six-time Super Bowl winning head coach Bill Belichick, seek to add to their record of 11 consecutive division championships without Brady.

Opening week will feature four prime-time games, including the Texans-Chiefs. The Dallas Cowboys will visit the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday night, Sept. 13, and the first Monday night of the season will have two games scheduled: the Pittsburgh Steelers at the New York Giants and the Tennessee Titans at the Denver Broncos.

The most noticeable difference between the 2020 NFL season and years past, other than perhaps seeing Brady in a Buccaneer uniform, will be the absence of packed stadiums and loud crowds.

Some teams are allowing fans to enter the stadium at a certain capacity, but others, like the Atlanta Falcons and Chicago Bears, have made statements saying games will be played without fans for at least the first month of the season.

The Indianapolis Colts, Cleveland Browns and Miami Dolphins are among the teams planning to allow a small capacity of fans at home openers, according to ESPN.

The Bucs announced Wednesday that their first two home games, Sept. 20 against the Carolina Panthers and Oct. 4 against the Los Angeles Chargers will be played without fans.

"We have determined that it is not yet the right time to welcome fans back to Raymond James Stadium," said Brian Ford, Buccaneers chief operating officer. He said the decision is based on conversations with public health officials.

"Should current trends continue to improve, we plan to welcome fans back when we host the Green Bay Packers on Oct. 18," Ford said.

Regardless of whether fans are able to watch in person, NFL teams are still set to play a full set of 16 games in 2020, with an additional playoff game in both the National Football Conference and American Football Conference added to the schedule. The move to add a seventh playoff team in each conference, and thus another game, was approved by the league before the pandemic.