It was to be expected. The NFL prepared for this eventuality. Playing an entire season outside of a bubble during a global pandemic was naturally going to lead to games being postponed.
After no real issues during the first three weeks of the 2020 NFL season, things are taking a turn around the league. On Tuesday, it was reported that multiple Tennessee Titans players were among those within the organization to test positive for COVID-19. It led to the undefeated Titans closing their facilities ahead of a Week 4 matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Related: NFL Week 4 schedule, predictions
What many had speculated would happen has now come to fruition.
Steelers-Titans NFL Week 4 game postponed after COVID-19 outbreak
In the press release, the NFL noted that the game will likely take place on either Monday or Tuesday. The league’s safety protocols as it relates to COVID-19 and testing will be the determining factor. Up until now, said protocols have worked at nearly every turn.
Given the nature of the outbreak (a reported fourth positive test on Tuesday), it has to be considered good news that the NFL is still planning on playing this game on either Monday or Tuesday.
2020 NFL schedule and COVID-19
The current schedule does not necessarily factor in teams missing an entire week of action. That’s one of the biggest push backs the NFL has received since releasing its schedule.
However, there’s contingencies that can be put in place should an outbreak force multiple teams to miss an entire week of action. That includes playing a Week 18 in between the currently-scheduled season finales and the wild card round of the playoffs.
Either way, this news will be overblown by the media and some fans around the NFL world. Positive COVID-19 tests were always going to be the name of the game. We can question the NFL deciding to play its season outside of the bubble. But once that decision was made, Wednesday’s news became inevitable.