Most expensive stadium ever built could finish NFL season without hosting a fan

The big picture: This season was set up to be one of the league's biggest, with a glut of marketable stars, two new stadiums (L.A.; Vegas) that put the term "state-of-the-art" to shame and a 2019 ratings spike that portended good things to come. Then, the coronavirus hit.

• While the pandemic — or the fact that stadiums are still mostly empty — is certainly not the league's fault, its bungled response along the way has only highlighted the contrast between those sky-high expectations and the reality of this season unlike any other.
• And tonight's game, a Super Bowl LIII rematch between the rallying Patriots and first-place Rams that doubles as SoFi's final primetime game of the year, serves as yet another stark reminder of just how good we could have had it if things had broken right.

Yes, but: For all the challenges and missteps along the way, here we are just four weeks shy of the playoffs with 32 teams who've completed their full slate of games.

The bottom line: You may not be able to visit this breathtaking stadium in person yet, but that video board still looks pretty incredible on TV (8:20pm ET, Fox).

Go deeper: The end of COVID’s grip on sports may be in sight