Arians calls Buccaneers' 2019 schedule 'ridiculous'

The Buccaneers will go seven consecutive weeks without a game in Tampa Bay and head coach Bruce Arians is none too pleased about it.

When the 2019 NFL schedule was released last week, the Bucs learned they'll hit the road in Weeks 4 and 5, travel to London in Week 6, and after a bye in Week 7, head back on a road trip for Weeks 8 and 9. They won't play in front of their home fans again until Week 10.

"Am I happy about it? Hell no," Arians said to reporters, including ESPN's Jenna Laine, on Tuesday.

"I think it's ridiculous, and I voiced my opinion to the people (at the NFL head office) in New York."

It's an arduous journey, and even the league's senior director of broadcast planning and scheduling recently admitted he'd like a "redo."

"If we had to do-over, if we had a redo, I'd love to take another shot at that Tampa Bay schedule," Mike North said last week. "I'm not sure that's really fair to their fans. I'm hopeful that we didn't do something to the Buccaneers that they feel like was really unfair."

It's the second time in three years that the Bucs will be faced with a scheduling quirk. In 2017, their season opener against the Miami Dolphins had to be postponed due to a hurricane. It was rescheduled to their bye week, meaning both teams played 16 straight weeks.

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