The NFL is hopeful the game will be delayed by mere days, believing Monday or Tuesday are viableGETTY IMAGES
The NFL has postponed Sunday’s Steelers-Titans game as officials continue to gauge the spread of COVID-19 within the Titans organization. The league remains hopeful the game will be delayed by just a day or two, believing Monday or Tuesday are viable options. The NFL stated that the game “will be rescheduled to allow additional time for further daily COVID-19 testing and to ensure the health and safety of players, coaches and game day personnel." There was just one additional positive test today within the Titans' organization and none with the Vikings, which played the Titans last Sunday. However, that new positive pushes the timeframe back to be certain the outbreak has been fully identified and contained. The incubation period for coronavirus means that additional positives could still be discovered tomorrow or Friday. CBS has not said how it will adjust to the loss of Steelers-Titans. It is a regional broadcast in the 1:00pm ET window; four other regional games are in that window (Ben Fischer, THE DAILY).
POSITIVES NOT A SURPRISE: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in a memo to team presidents and execs stated that the COVID-19 development "doesn't come as a surprise," since it was predicted to happen by NFL Chief Medical Officer Allen Sills. Goodell said that the league is "reviewing contact tracing data from the Titans-Vikings game and has isolated the players and staff who tested positive." The NFL "will have follow-up tests with others involved in the game." In Houston, Aaron Wilson notes public health officials and CDC guidelines "suggest it can take between five and seven days for infections to manifest in a positive test." Increased monitoring for eight days is "required by NFL and NFL Players Association protocols for anyone who's come into close contact with someone who's tested positive." The league had a "low positive rate leading up to the season and had no incidents in the first three weeks" with the exception of Falcons CB A.J. Terrell, who missed last Sunday's game against the Bears and was on the COVID-19/reserve list (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 9/30).
NOT EVERYTHING WILL BE FAIR: In L.A., Sam Farmer writes this announcement was "code red for a league that had enjoyed three uninterrupted weeks of football." Shifting Steelers-Titans to either Monday or Tuesday could "impinge on the following week of preparation" for both teams (L.A. TIMES, 9/30). But ESPN's Graziano notes an "expectation of fairness this year, consistent fairness, especially in matters like these, is unrealistic" this season. He said "The issue is not whether 'fair' is a loose term. The issue is whether it’s as relevant a term as it has grown accustomed to it being in the NFL, and the answer is no. In 2020, the answer is no. It’s either this, or it’s no season at all. That’s where the NFL has landed and they’re asking players, coaches, team owners and fans to understand that” (“Get Up,” ESPN, 9/30). YAHOO SPORTS' Charles Robinson wrote the NFL and its teams signed up for a season of "unfairness where teams do the best they can from one week to the next and hope their feet touch the floor the next day, all while praying they aren't the franchise that somehow tripped into the testing abyss" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 9/29).
DOSE OF REALITY: In N.Y., Ben Shpigel notes the Titans' outbreak "reflects how a bundle of positive tests can jeopardize the viability of a season" (N.Y. TIMES, 9/30). In Nashville, Gentry Estes writes this is a "painful reminder" about the "cloud under which this NFL season is being played." The specter of COVID-19 "hadn't disappeared, though it seemed that way because the NFL had done such a good job against it to this point" (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 9/30). In Minneapolis, Michael Rand writes this "underscores the challenge of playing an NFL season in a pandemic without a bubble." Rand: "This sure feels like one of those situations the NFL hoped would never happen and won't be able to make a perfect plan to mitigate" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 9/30). In Philadelphia, David Murphy writes this whirlwind of events was a "humbling reminder of the reality in which all of us are currently living." Murphy: "The reality is that bad things happen." From everything seen thus far, the NFL has "created an environment where everyone in its atmosphere is better equipped to weather COVID than they would be out here with the rest of us." The NFL has always been "well ahead of the curve in its understanding of the state of play in this country." The league has "made all the right moves so far" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 9/30).
INEVITABLE OUTCOME: SI.com's Michael Rosenberg wrote an outbreak at an NFL facility was "inevitable." This was the game the NFL "chose to play when it opted to stage a season with no bubble." The NFL has "acted extremely confident about its protocols, because it's the NFL and the league always thinks it has a better way" (SI.com, 9/29). USA TODAY's Nancy Armour writes that the NFL had made it this far without an outbreak "was impressive, a testament to how seriously everyone involved has taken both the disease and the protocols to guard against its spread." But the outbreak was, "in many ways, inevitable." If it wasn't the Titans, it "would have been another team," but that "doesn't mean the Titans outbreak has to be the beginning of an abrupt end to the NFL season." The NFL "cannot afford many more outbreaks without throwing its competitive balance too far out of whack," which means it "will have to double down on its protocols" (USA TODAY, 9/30).
NEXT ACTIONS ARE CRUCIAL: SI.com's Conor Orr noted the NFL's handling of the Titans outbreak "will be significant moving forward, not only for the individual health of the eight employees but for the rest of the league looking on." Orr: "Take it seriously and the rest of the league will take it seriously, too. Nervously shuffle everything under the desk and plow ahead despite the obvious safety concerns, and the rest of the league will plow ahead despite the obvious safety concerns, too" (SI.com, 9/29). YAHOO SPORTS' Terez Paylor wrote observers will now "get to see how equipped the league is to contain the spread." There also will be a sense whether the NFL "can pull off a full season in the midst of a pandemic ... or whether it has always been a pipe dream." In the event additional positive tests emerge, the NFL "will make a decision that helps it achieve the only two things it cares about this season." The first is "doing whatever is necessary to play every scheduled game, all so it can fulfill television contracts and ensure that everybody, from the players to the teams, gets paid a significant chunk of what they're supposed to make." The second priority is "making sure no team employee gets critically sick." If that happened, it "could rightfully complicate the ability to do the former" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 9/29).
