Tim Benz: Steelers-Ravens slog shows NFL needs to streamline Covid-19 contingency plans

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Steelers fans across the country are wondering the same thing right now.

How long can Thanksgiving leftovers be safe to eat? Can they stay until Tuesday night?

Or, uh, week 18? It would be a week after New Years Day. You might want to freeze them now if so.

At this point, the whole NFL will be happy if the impending coronavirus-cursed Steelers game against the Baltimore Ravens is finally played on Tuesday, whether or not there is the Thanksgiving fanfare. And nothing says “lack of fanfare” like a twice delayed NFL game on a Tuesday night.

What?! Steelers-Ravens on NBC vs. “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” on CBS ?! By the way, Rudy, I hear that a red nose is a symptom of covid-19. You better take a swab test. We can’t have an escape to the North Pole this close to Christmas Eve.

Hopefully, reindeer are less susceptible to spread than crows. At least those in Baltimore, anyway.

Eighteen players were added to the Ravens’ reserve / covid-19 roster this week. Tight end Mark Andrews and wide receiver Willie Snead were added on Sunday. Here’s the full Sunday night list.

That’s to say nothing of the Steelers’ covid-related absences for this game, including running back James Conner and defensive lineman Stephon Tuitt. Or the Denver Broncos who must play a game on Sunday without any of the quarterbacks on their lineup.

When it comes to avoiding a covid crisis, the NFL has danced through the raindrops up to this point. But this borrowed time seems to expire. Especially if we are to believe all the horrible predictions of what will happen when Thanksgiving travelers are reintroduced into the general population this week.

With no league-wide bubble, these NFL players cannot avoid being exposed for so long.

Commissioner Roger Goodell and the owners must therefore determine what the real goal is. Is the league trying to get every game played? Or is the goal simply to end the season in a representative way?

Does the NFL try to keep all players and coaches “safe”? Or is he trying to keep them “as safe as possible” under the circumstances?

Because, at the moment, the league begins to slide on all fronts. If the goal was to protect against the virus, the league should have created a bubble format in August. Or it should have canceled the season.

Do you want safety? It’s certain. Sorry. But this is the only way to do it “safely” in 2020. Hide in your home until a vaccine is available.

But now that the NFL is three months down that road, it’s going to be determined to finish the season. To do this, he must finally develop a real plan to find the best way to deal with the reality of his situation. Because as the weeks off start to wane and delays and scheduling manipulations start to return, the league will start to run out of magically created options on Thursday and Tuesday, just like the schedule. arrives at its most crucial competitions.

The NFL needs a clearer plan. Guidelines. Contingencies. And they must be public.

With all the covid-related issues the league has gone through this year, there is very little evidence to suggest that players are likely to spread covid on the opposite side of the line of scrimmage.

That doesn’t mean it’s impossible. That is, many of the players, who tested negative one match day but positive the next day or two, do not seem to pass along a strand that has incubated in the players of the other team.

Like when the Vikings faced off against the Tennessee Titans earlier this year. Or when JuJu Smith-Schuster and the Steelers receivers were guarded by Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey. Or Stephon Gilmore’s contact with Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City receivers during a Chiefs game against his New England Patriots. Or Steelers tight end Vance McDonald playing in Dallas.

So if the opposing roster can field a team with players who haven’t tested positive, they should play the game. As if they should have played for the Steelers-Ravens on Thursday. That’s what I think.

That’s what college players do. Pitt played without 16 guys a few weeks ago when they beat Virginia Tech. And these guys don’t even get paid. There is no collective agreement to protect them.

Because how much longer are they going to end the Steelers-Ravens situation if the game still can’t be played on Tuesday? And if they had played Thursday, it would be the Ravens-Cowboys (initially scheduled for Thursday, December 3) who would rather be in full swing.

If the NFL doesn’t want such a straightforward standard, it needs to answer a few questions. At once. So each team knows the answers.

• What is the exact threshold for administering a plan? Is that a total number of players on the covid-19 roster? Is this a percentage of the list / staff infected?

• What will it take to set up a buffer week (or week 18) at the end of the season? We heard over and over again that this was a possibility. What will make him sweat?

• What will happen if a Steelers-Ravens situation develops during a playoff week? Will the playoff games be moved?

• Why are some teams forced to play in extremely tense roster conditions? Why are some getting their dates rescheduled?

• Who can decide when the facilities will or will not be closed, as we saw in Baltimore this week?

• How will things work for the playoffs and draft order if teams finish with unbalanced records?

• Is it time to start negotiating bubble plans with the NFLPA? If so, go ahead now. Otherwise, I wonder if the Super Bowl is going to start to clash with MLB’s opening day.

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin often talks about “having a plan in place, while being light on the feet.” Tomlin has turned this phrase in many different situations over the years. But he’s used it often in 2020 given this year’s murky covid-19 quagmire.

Goodell would be wise to fully embrace this credo. He has the “light on his feet” part. However, having the plan in place seems to be the part they’re missing.

Tim Benz is a writer for Tribune-Review. You can contact Tim at [email protected] or via Twitter. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication, unless otherwise specified.

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Sports | Steelers / NFL | Breakfast with Benz



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