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The Pittsburgh Steelers players, coaches, and fans have every right to be mad at the NFL over what has become a total mess the past week as the league continues to botch its handling of the Ravens’ COVID-19 outbreak and the game these two rivals are supposed to play.
The latest move happened Monday afternoon when their Week 12 showdown, which was originally scheduled for Thanksgiving Day, was moved for a third time to Wednesday at 3:40 p.m. ET.
Making things worse for the Steelers is that they got that news the same way we all did — by seeing Adam Schefter’s tweet.
For real.
The league’s lone unbeaten team deserve a whole better than all this from the league.
This whole thing of trying to play any sport during a pandemic is proving to be extremely difficult and dangerous, as many of us thought it would be. The Ravens have had a serious outbreak and their health comes first. None of this is easy, for any of us.
But at some point the NFL has to realize what they’ve put the Steelers through since a week ago Monday when COVID-19 cases started popping up on the Ravens’ roster. First there was the late canceling of the Thursday game. Then Sunday’s game was moved to Tuesday. And then Tuesday’s game was moved to Wednesday.
The undefeated Steelers, meanwhile, have been able to follow their COVID-19 protocols correctly and have been ready to play. The Ravens haven’t done that and it’s getting to the point where something needs to be done besides just rescheduling the game. At this point a forfeit should have definitely been on the table here.
If the Broncos had to play without any of their quarterbacks last Sunday, how have the Ravens been able to skate through the past eight days or so and still have their game remain intact?
The Steelers had to deal with a similar situation earlier in the season when they had their bye week moved up to Week 4 because of an outbreak with the Titans. That meant the Steelers would have to play 13 games in a row before the playoffs and it ripped away a chance for players to have a true week off.
This whole situation has been rough for both the Ravens and the Steelers. The NFL could have done something about it and made things right for the Steelers, who will have to play Washington next Monday night.
Instead, the league has done the opposite and now we’ll have to see how things play out leading up to the weird Wednesday afternoon kickoff.
Quick hits: Hall of Fame bad beat on ‘MNF’… Key takes from NFL Week 12… Fantasy football advice… And more.
– There was an unbelievable bad beat at the end of Monday night’s Seahawks-Eagles game that included a Hail Mary and a meaningless two-point conversion.
– Steven Ruiz breaks down the key storylines from Week 12 and explains why the Chargers need Eric Bieniemy.
– Henry McKenna has nine players you should be looking at on your fantasy football waiver wires.
– NFL fans crushed Carson Wentz after his brutal INT in the fourth quarter Monday night.
– There’s a pretty cool hidden meaning behind the Cavaliers’ ugly new City Edition jerseys.