Ongoing COVID-19 Impact

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
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So here's my question: The Pats had one positive test and had to have a game postponed a full week. Now there have been a few more teams with positive Covid cases, and the NFL is just plowing ahead with the games on schedule. Baltimore has way more positive tests than the Pats had, but one was enough to derail a Patriots game. But not now.

So other than the NFL being the NFL...what's changed such that they're just moving forward with games in the midst of these positive tests?
 

johnmd20

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So here's my question: The Pats had one positive test and had to have a game postponed a full week. Now there have been a few more teams with positive Covid cases, and the NFL is just plowing ahead with the games on schedule. Baltimore has way more positive tests than the Pats had, but one was enough to derail a Patriots game. But not now.

So other than the NFL being the NFL...what's changed such that they're just moving forward with games in the midst of these positive tests?
Other than plowing ahead, which is probably the most important thing, the league has put every team on a much more stringent protocol during the week. So the hope is even if a few players catch it from living their lives, they won't spread it to too many other people during the week.

This could be pie in the sky and the need to just get the games played. The numbers aren't good, I think it's something like 150 players have tested positive in the past three weeks, after only 100 positive tests the first 8 weeks of the season. Note, those numbers might not be perfect, I heard it on a podcast. But basically, there have been more positives in a few weeks than there was in two months.
 

pappymojo

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It's late in the season and there's less wiggle room to move around bye weeks and such.
 

Mooch

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More Ravens testing positive this am. I can’t imagine this game getting played at this point.
 

bsj

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Side note but it would be nice it the Pats could figure out a pathway to 8 wins. Moved games increase the chance of a 16 team playoff, and 8-8 could actually sneak in under that scenario
 

Gunfighter 09

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Side note but it would be nice it the Pats could figure out a pathway to 8 wins. Moved games increase the chance of a 16 team playoff, and 8-8 could actually sneak in under that scenario
The way I read it, if this game gets cancelled, the 16 team playoff becomes highly likely.

If that happens, it would continue the trend of COVID completely screwing over one of the league office's favorite teams in Pittsburgh. They lost their regular season bye, and considering how easy their schedule is relative to the Chiefs, there is a decent chance the 8 team playoff would steal the post season bye they are likely to earn. Of course, that might just play right into the hands of one of the best coaches in football getting his team to play with a ton of "us against the world" intensity.
 

Silverdude2167

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The way I read it, if this game gets cancelled, the 16 team playoff becomes highly likely.

If that happens, it would continue the trend of COVID completely screwing over one of the league office's favorite teams in Pittsburgh. They lost their regular season bye, and considering how easy their schedule is relative to the Chiefs, there is a decent chance the 8 team playoff would steal the post season bye they are likely to earn. Of course, that might just play right into the hands of one of the best coaches in football getting his team to play with a ton of "us against the world" intensity.
Um, what? You cannot be talking about Mike Tomlin.
 

axx

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Lamar Jackson tested positive for Covid per RapSheet
How many players are positive now? If the coach is the source of the outbreak there might be several more. Plus the Ravens are (were?) scheduled to play the Cowboys on TNF the following week so everyone who tested positive won't be playing in that game either.
 

swiftaw

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Interestingly the Pit-Bal game has been removed from my weekly fantasy pickem (Yahoo) but as far as I know it hasn’t been cancelled.
 

Rudy's Curve

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Um, what? You cannot be talking about Mike Tomlin.
I hate very few things in this world more than the Steelers but you can't be serious. Only one team has won more games since he started 13+ years ago and they still managed to win eight games last year despite absolutely horrific QB play. He's had problems overlooking bad teams and hasn't done a ton against the Pats (although who has?) but the overall results speak for themselves - he's an excellent coach.
 

Cellar-Door

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View: https://twitter.com/Dejan_Kovacevic/status/1332146058542133249


This tweet suggests the League (unsurprisingly) wants the game played.
I hate Harbaugh, but the idea that 12 players test positive through Thursday and you don't close the facilities for 4 days is just really an indication of the extent to which the league 100% doesn't give a shit if players get COVID as long as they can sweep it under the rug and keep the games going (much like how many guys have tested positive on results they get AFTER the game on Sunday from samples taken before the game.)

The NFL is in a tough spot. They shuffled byes earlier in the year for cases less severe than this one, now that we're past bye weeks what do they do, send out a half strength team that almost certainly has guys in the incubation period? Make a team forfeit even though they followed the rules? At least with the TEN potential forfeit it was because they broke the rules. This would basically just be saying.... oops sorry your guys caught a communicable disease that we aren't really trying that hard to prevent them from getting, you lose, your opponent wins, tough luck.
 

E5 Yaz

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This is a league that counted scab games toward a team's record ... as long as there's 22 guys healthy enough to play, they'll send them out there
 

Cellar-Door

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The S&C coach didn't...
Ah, I missed that, they had an actual rules violation. That gives it a bit more steady ground. (even if it looks like it was immaterial since it sure looks like Lamar is patient zero based on what they are saying on who tested positive, it's all guys in close contact with him).
 

E5 Yaz

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If they can keep it to one week worth they can just skip the week off before the Super Bowl
doesn't work like that for nfl playoffs ... unless, because one team is unable to play, you cancel the entire week's schedule.

first week
1 Bye
2 v 7
3 v 6
4 v 5

Let's say the 3 x 6 game has to be postponed, because 6 has covid issues

if they move it to tuesday, and 3 wins, that means 3 has to play another playoff game five days later, while their opponent gets a full week off

if they can't even play tuesday, then what do you do ... give 3 a forfeit win? ... and two weeks before playing its next game?

the week before the super bowl only works for the AFC/NFC championship games. you can't push a first week matchup into the second week and so forth
 

Cellar-Door

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doesn't work like that for nfl playoffs ... unless, because one team is unable to play, you cancel the entire week's schedule.

first week
1 Bye
2 v 7
3 v 6
4 v 5

Let's say the 3 x 6 game has to be postponed, because 6 has covid issues

if they move it to tuesday, and 3 wins, that means 3 has to play another playoff game five days later, while their opponent gets a full week off

if they can't even play tuesday, then what do you do ... give 3 a forfeit win? ... and two weeks before playing its next game?

the week before the super bowl only works for the AFC/NFC championship games. you can't push a first week matchup into the second week and so forth
Yeah, I assumed you would push the week as a whole.
 

axx

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What is the NFL going to do when a playoff game has to be postponed?
I imagine the threshold for postponment would be much higher for the playoffs. Like a team would be forced to sign guys off the street.

Wonder what the NFLPA thinks about having the players take the vaccine if the NFL is capable of acquiring doses.
 

Cellar-Door

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13 teams schedules out of whack because of 1, though?

And, even if they were to do that, how many times would they be willing to do so?
Only once is probably the answer, but there isn't much of an alternative. Look how hard they are working to not have a forfeit in the regular season, you really think they'll let a forfeit happen in the playoffs?
And it's only 13 if it happens week 1, once you get past that (and the NFL will finesse it like crazy to make sure they do) it's less games to move.
 

lexrageorge

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While the NFL would prefer to avoid the possibility, if they have to push the Super Bowl out a week or two, they will do it. It's happened before, and somehow the league survived.
 

Marciano490

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I imagine those games with 2-3 weeks off and limited practice will be sloppy, though on the other hand maybe longer rest is better at the end of the season. Doesn’t seem to be an issue with college bowl games, right?
 

Ale Xander

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Can't they push the Super Bowl back as many weeks as they want? So if we get a Super Bowl in March, is that necessarily bad?
 

E5 Yaz

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I imagine those games with 2-3 weeks off and limited practice will be sloppy, though on the other hand maybe longer rest is better at the end of the season. Doesn’t seem to be an issue with college bowl games, right?
Except for the final 4, those are one and done