PATS Game Moved Again...

[L.M.]

Superbowl 50 MVP Von Miller on February 7th, 2016

[Thors Hammer]

Right. As a result of moving the Denver at NE game to week six and calling week five the bye for both teams, the following has resulted:

~ Denver has four scheduling changes;

~ LA Chargers have four scheduling changes;

~ Miami has four scheduling changes;

~ NY Jets have two scheduling changes;

~ Jacksonville has two scheduling changes;

~ and, New England has one scheduling change consisting of moving their bye week from week six to week five.

If that is not a classic example of favoritism, don't know what is. Five other teams have multiple changes while the Pats move their bye weeks. Unbelievable.

So Tennessee has another member of the team (staff member) test positive today, yet they are still on schedule for Tuesday. This doesn't add up.

[samparnell]

So Tennessee has another member of the team (staff member) test positive today, yet they are still on schedule for Tuesday. This doesn't add up.

Doubt if the Bills want to play them. Tennessee has a serious problem. NFL says they are investigating. Titans may forfeit some games.

[jmag]

Just get the W. Cam doesn't do well against the Broncs. A win will be that much more sweet considering.

[Skylan]

As much as it sounds unfair, I don't think this is some grand conspiracy to help the Pats by only shifting their bye one week while altering a double digit number of games of other teams. The league's number one focus right now is not letting the virus derail the season, which it is threatening to do. If you look at the big picture, do you think the NFL would rather do the Pats a favor or have a successful season? Do you think the NFL thought the injury-decimated, Rypien-lead Broncos were going to beat the Newtonless, Gilmoreless Pats in NE anyways? Now, if Belicheck is putting out false info to gain a competitive advantage that's another story, but I don't think the NFL was giving them preferential treatment, I think it was just the only solution they could come up with.

Now that being said, I believe the NFL is being truly short-sighted here. It's only week 5. Now they've burned through the bye weeks of several teams, and that list is going to grow. If their solution to combating multiple positive tests by a team is to rearrange the schedule and shift bye weeks, well they're running out of ammunition for that plan on a weekly basis. What are they going to do now if the Broncos come down with the virus in week 7? We have no by week left to sacrifice, schedules will have less and less flexibility as time goes on. They should have just accepted the fact that games are going to need to be cancelled and playoff eligibility is going to be determined by a new factor: win percentage. Either that, or they're going to have to push the playoffs back and offer a 2-4 week period for makeup games.

The Broncos are getting the short end of the stick because they've just had their bye shifted and neutered as they're one of the first schedule changes this season. Once the NFL realizes this is going to be a season-long problem, they'll probably abandon the bye week musical chair approach and we'll unfortunately have been one of the few teams to have schedules affected by both approaches.

Let's be fair though, the current Broncos are not a playoff team this year. If we can get Lock back, turn off the injury geyser, and start to develop a chemistry and consistency that can be applied to next year.. it may turn out that all of the covid mess isn't really going to matter in the grand scheme of the Broncos 2020-2021 year.

[Broncos-R-Great]

Let's be fair though, the current Broncos are not a playoff team this year. If we can get Lock back, turn off the injury geyser, and start to develop a chemistry and consistency that can be applied to next year.. it may turn out that all of the covid mess isn't really going to matter in the grand scheme of the Broncos 2020-2021 year.

C’mon, you don’t know that. There are teams every year that turn around after a slow start and make the playoffs, the Titans last year the latest example, started 2-4 and made the playoffs. We’ve lost 3 games to teams with a combined record of 10-2, 2 of those could’ve been won with one or two more
plays.

Especially this year, With COVID and injuries, we have no idea what the NFL is going to look like come December. To say the Patriots are a playoff team while the Broncos aren’t, and the Broncos should get their games canceled, that’s some ridiculous East Coast bias.

[Skylan]

C’mon, you don’t know that. There are teams every year that turn around after a slow start and make the playoffs, the Titans last year the latest example, started 2-4 and made the playoffs. We’ve lost 3 games to teams with a combined record of 10-2, 2 of those could’ve been won with one or two more
plays.

Especially this year, With COVID and injuries, we have no idea what the NFL is going to look like come December. To say the Patriots are a playoff team while the Broncos aren’t, and the Broncos should get their games canceled, that’s some ridiculous East Coast bias.

Uh, where did I say that the Broncos should get their games cancelled? I'm saying the NFL will have to cancel games (or extend the season) when they run out of "bye-week shuffling" ammo as the weeks go on. No where in the post did I suggest the Broncos should have some sort of unique scheduling bias because they're not making the playoffs. Let's be real here, some years teams have turnarounds.. I'd be willing to be those turnarounds didn't happen with the amount of injuries the Broncos have already suffered. We beat the worst team in the league, barely... I'd suggest being a little more realistic about this season.

[Capt. Jack]

I hope we don't get infected by the Patriots

[Broncos-R-Great]

No new cases for the Patriots today, they should’ve just moved the game until tomorrow, had it start after the Titans/Bills. But no, they panicked instead and took a sledge hammer to the schedule....

[beastlyskronk]

What I don’t understand is, if the Patriots closed their facility and have been doing everything virtually, how did another person test positive 10 days after Newton/Gilmore? Is the testing really as thorough as the NFL claims? Were the patriots organizing secret meetings/walkthroughs away from the facility?

[Hadez]

What I don’t understand is, if the Patriots closed their facility and have been doing everything virtually, how did another person test positive 10 days after Newton/Gilmore? Is the testing really as thorough as the NFL claims? Were the patriots organizing secret meetings/walkthroughs away from the facility?

There is one report in the world of an incubation period over 20 days. This is considered at outlier (at best). Usually people who may even have been exposed are supposed to quarantine to 14 days. Obviously the NFL is pushing that timeline forward.

[beastlyskronk]

There is one report in the world of an incubation period over 20 days. This is considered at outlier (at best). Usually people who may even have been exposed are supposed to quarantine to 14 days. Obviously the NFL is pushing that timeline forward.

Which is why I doubt the league’s plan, it seems like it’s in place just so they can say they put something in place.

[beastlyskronk]

I will be very interested in watching Jeudy vs Gilmore. Gilmore is as good as advertised and the CB position but Jeudy has proved in the first month that he is an elite route runner. As long as Shurmur is smart about not letting Gilmore press Jeudy, we might see the rare occurrence of a rookie WR getting the best of an elite CB.

[Hadez]

Which is why I doubt the league’s plan, it seems like it’s in place just so they can say they put something in place.

The NFL had to put some kind of plan in place...and the NFLPA had to agree on it. In fact the NFLPA approved the NFL plan and the individual plan of all 32 teams.

[beastlyskronk]

The NFL had to put some kind of plan in place...and the NFLPA had to agree on it. In fact the NFLPA approved the NFL plan and the individual plan of all 32 teams.

Of course they had to have something in place, but it doesn’t mean it isn’t some crap they threw at a wall hoping it’d stick. It’s becoming more and more clear that this season is a cash grab, the NFL doesn’t care about the product being put out nor does the NFLPA. They all just want their cut of the pie.