If the Bills Deserve a Forfeit, So Do the Steelers
PITTSBURGH -- The NFL is currently investigating the Tennessee Titans' behavior over the last two weeks, in connection with their COVID-19 outbreak. The team now has 21 members of the organization, 11 players and 10 non-player personnel, who have contracted the virus since their initial positive test results last Tuesday.
The league has done as much as they can to handle the situation appropriately. It seems every day they're sending new protocols for teams to follow in the prevention of the spread, and have been in Nashville for days looking through the Titans' activity.
Everything has been dealt with in a proactive fashion, expect for the Steelers-Titans game.
"Of course, we got the short end of the stick," Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said. And no, he does not believe the NFL will right it's wrong and retroactively forfeit the Titans for Week 4.
But they should.
Within the league's investigation is a report that they will consider the Titans forfeiting their Week 5 game against the Buffalo Bills if they're unable to play.
The Steelers' Week 4 went as followed:
Monday - Day Off
Tuesday - NFL tells Steelers to continue preparing for Sunday
Wednesday - NFL postpones game to Monday or Tuesday
Thursday - Steelers find out the game is rescheduled an hour before practice. Chose to still practice.
Pittsburgh needed special permission from the NFL and NFLPA to overstep the league's CBA over a minimum of four days rest and return to practice on Monday as they normally would after a bye.
"It was a whirlwind," defensive captain Cam Heyward said on Wednesday. "You come in like a regular week, focused on your opponent. That's the selfish part in me, understanding that I got to be a little bit more flexible and adjusting to this. A lot of things happen on the fly. We're just trying to adapt to the situation ... I know the NFL and the NFLPA is trying to do right by the players and the coaches but there's only so much they can do. It's going to take discipline throughout each player and each team to help accommodate that."
That's the reality of the situation. Bud Dupree said his daily schedule is going to the Steelers practice facility and then going home. Steven Nelson said he goes right home to his family. Chase Claypool hasn't even met enough people in Pittsburgh to have options on places to go other than work and home.
It's an NFL season during a pandemic. There are way too many moving parts and people involved to put the league in a 'bubble.' Therefore, committing yourself to isolation until your season is over is the only way this season works.
"The thing we have to realize is, we're not shunned from the world. As a country and as a world, we're still dealing with this pandemic," Heyward said. "To think we weren't going to have positive tests is ludicrous. At the same time, what you're trying to eliminate is the amount of tests back-to-back and have a widespread throughout a community. We're trying to wear masks. We're trying to social distance ... I can only preach it to the young guys and the older guys as well, 'When you leave this facility, that has a lasting effect on our team.' Everybody's got to do their job."
Something happened in Tennessee. Whether it was a bad trip to the grocery store or going to hang out somewhere you probably shouldn't have hung out at, someone did something to bring COVID-19 into the Titans locker room.
The NFL has their hands full finding out how or what they've done since. If the Titans gathered for workouts after being told not to, it almost seems certain they'll hand the Bills a win in Week 5.
Suppose it comes back any further than that. For any reason, the NFL finds misconduct in the protocols or the guidelines, or discovers someone endangered their teammates and coaches by being too social, the league has to bring this back to Week 4.
The Steelers suffered for nothing. They've followed all the rules, have stayed healthy, and were misguided from the start on how to handle last week.
They shouldn't have to pay for another club being irresponsible.
Noah Strackbein is a Publisher with AllSteelers. Follow Noah on Twitter @NoahStrack, and AllSteelers @si_steelers.
