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The NFL’s new COVID-19 protocols took effect Monday as the league works to limit the number of players and coaches exposed to the new Omicron variant. The agreement by the NFL and NFLPA came as a result of over 100 players testing positive and caused the NFL to reschedule three games.
Kansas City Chiefs TE Travis Kelce was the first big name to have been reported as testing positive and would be placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list, placing his status vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers in jeopardy. Under the new protocols agreed to by the NFL and NFLPA, since Kelce is vaccinated, he would be eligible to return provided he has two negative tests and is asymptomatic.
Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker and CB Charvarius Ward were also placed on the list, potentially placing the Chiefs in a position where they could be facing the Steelers without three starters as of Monday night. They were among the 47 players placed on the list Monday with the new testing protocols, all as the result of a positive test, the most the NFL has experienced in a single day.
However, the Chiefs situation did not stop there, as Adam Schefter broke the news earlier today that WR Tyreek Hill, CB Rashad Fenton and TE Blake Bell would also be placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list. Schefter also ended his tweet on an ominous note that the Chiefs’ problems may not be quite over with:
Sure enough, within in few hours, the Chiefs list expanded to include OT Lucas Niang, OT Kyle Long, SS Armani Watts and LB Nick Bolton. Total, the Chiefs currently have 16 players on the list, counting practice squad and those who went on the list the previous week, but are expected to be back in the lineup vs. the Steelers: LB Willie Gay Jr., DE Chris Jones and WR Josh Gordon.
Chiefs fans have already taken to Twitter and begun petitioning for the game to be rescheduled, citing competitive imbalance and the precedent set of moving games, among other motivations like giving extra time for CB L’Jarius Sneed to return from injury so Diontae Johnson doesn’t run unchecked through the secondary or risk Patrick Mahomes facing a fierce rush from Cam Heyward and T.J. Watt without his top two targets come to mind.
Steelers fans are well versed in other side of making concessions to their schedule resulting from other teams COVID related outbreaks and found it did not work out well for them to have their schedule disrupted when they effectively lost their 2020 bye week. They lost their bye week and extra days rest after a Thursday game and were forced into playing on very short turnaround, decimating their roster and ruining their 2020 season.
As a result, this Steeler fan does not have empathy for the Chiefs, who weren’t complaining when they did not have to face Aaron Rodgers, while the Steelers are still feeling the effects of missing Ben Roethlisberger and the 8th win on the season that would be so crucial in this extremely competitive playoff landscape.
It’s hard to imagine the NFL not already investigating other potential avenues, but at this point it’s impossible to know anything for sure. Will the game be played as scheduled? If so, who will play? Could it be moved? Postponed? Will the teams be forced to just move forward with things?
With news rapidly changing and the potential for many players to participate, the only thing that will be certain about the scheduled headline game of CBS double-header will be uncertainty.
#SteelerNation
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Kansas City Chiefs TE Travis Kelce was the first big name to have been reported as testing positive and would be placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list, placing his status vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers in jeopardy. Under the new protocols agreed to by the NFL and NFLPA, since Kelce is vaccinated, he would be eligible to return provided he has two negative tests and is asymptomatic.
Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker and CB Charvarius Ward were also placed on the list, potentially placing the Chiefs in a position where they could be facing the Steelers without three starters as of Monday night. They were among the 47 players placed on the list Monday with the new testing protocols, all as the result of a positive test, the most the NFL has experienced in a single day.
However, the Chiefs situation did not stop there, as Adam Schefter broke the news earlier today that WR Tyreek Hill, CB Rashad Fenton and TE Blake Bell would also be placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list. Schefter also ended his tweet on an ominous note that the Chiefs’ problems may not be quite over with:
Sure enough, within in few hours, the Chiefs list expanded to include OT Lucas Niang, OT Kyle Long, SS Armani Watts and LB Nick Bolton. Total, the Chiefs currently have 16 players on the list, counting practice squad and those who went on the list the previous week, but are expected to be back in the lineup vs. the Steelers: LB Willie Gay Jr., DE Chris Jones and WR Josh Gordon.
Chiefs fans have already taken to Twitter and begun petitioning for the game to be rescheduled, citing competitive imbalance and the precedent set of moving games, among other motivations like giving extra time for CB L’Jarius Sneed to return from injury so Diontae Johnson doesn’t run unchecked through the secondary or risk Patrick Mahomes facing a fierce rush from Cam Heyward and T.J. Watt without his top two targets come to mind.
Steelers fans are well versed in other side of making concessions to their schedule resulting from other teams COVID related outbreaks and found it did not work out well for them to have their schedule disrupted when they effectively lost their 2020 bye week. They lost their bye week and extra days rest after a Thursday game and were forced into playing on very short turnaround, decimating their roster and ruining their 2020 season.
As a result, this Steeler fan does not have empathy for the Chiefs, who weren’t complaining when they did not have to face Aaron Rodgers, while the Steelers are still feeling the effects of missing Ben Roethlisberger and the 8th win on the season that would be so crucial in this extremely competitive playoff landscape.
It’s hard to imagine the NFL not already investigating other potential avenues, but at this point it’s impossible to know anything for sure. Will the game be played as scheduled? If so, who will play? Could it be moved? Postponed? Will the teams be forced to just move forward with things?
With news rapidly changing and the potential for many players to participate, the only thing that will be certain about the scheduled headline game of CBS double-header will be uncertainty.
#SteelerNation
Support SteelerNation by clicking here to read the story..
Commish, Your letter in September to all League owners, GMs, HC and staffs specifically stated games would not be postponed because of position or player unavailability. The new practice squad roster mechanism was to aid all teams in fielding a competitive roster weekly.
