The Denver Broncos’ game vs. the Patriots is once again in jeopardy.
The Denver Broncos’ game against the New England Patriots, which has already been rescheduled three times, is once again in jeopardy.
The Patriots canceled practice on Friday after someone else in the organization tested positive for COVID-19.
If the game could not be played Sunday, the NFL would be presented with its toughest scheduling challenge to date. Both teams, the Patriots and Broncos, had their byes last weekend and bye flexibility is gone. https://t.co/HMCsLPbd8l
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 16, 2020
This has got to be infuriating for both the Patriots and the Denver Broncos, who are simply dealing with the rules that have been put in place by the league at this point.
Before training camps opened, everyone had the opportunity to opt-out of the 2020 season if this was something they weren’t willing to risk. The players and coaches making up NFL organizations right now all accepted the inherent risks involved with coming into this season, but they also are at the mercy of an NFL office that is really figuring this thing out as we go along.
The unfortunate aspect of it is, the Denver Broncos have had no positive tests in the last two months, and by all accounts, they have been adhering to the protocol as well as any team in the NFL.
Vic Fangio noted when the game was postponed on Monday that every NFL team, though they compete against each other on the field, is really in this whole thing together. There is no question about it that every situation is different and to a certain degree out of the control of the team, but at this point, the Broncos are being indirectly punished.
Not only that, they are being punished for doing absolutely nothing wrong.
The NFL already nixed the Broncos’ bye week in 2020, originally scheduled for week eight. The Broncos were supposed to play the Patriots in week five, but after practicing the entire week and preparing for a game that was rescheduled from Sunday at 11:00 AM (MT) to 2:25 PM (MT) and then to Monday at 3:00 PM (MT), they were forced to skip their bye week, not play a game, and still travel to New England the following week to play an 11:00 game.
As of the time this post is being written, the NFL has not changed anything about the game, but it seems only a matter of time before that happens.
My proposal is to have the Patriots travel to Denver since the Broncos have already been bending over backward to make this game work.
The NFL may not need to punish the Patriots for simply having positive tests in their clubhouse, but the NFL should think about rewarding the Broncos for having to shift so much around at this point.
Even if that’s not likely, the idea that the NFL would keep the game as scheduled with a positive test as recently as Friday before a Sunday game feels like a long shot.
We’ll keep updates coming as they are revealed.