Rochesterfan

They are doing everything they can to get games in. Does it suck - maybe, but other options screw other teams. I am trying to look at the big picture and recognize - the NFL has a protocol in place that obviously works when followed. You have 1 team (one less than in baseball) that decided not to follow the protocol. The league is looking for every option they can - the fairest thing is to get the game in, but in doing that it screws the Bills. Not playing the game this week potentially screws the Bills later and a forfeit screws other teams (and doubly the Chiefs).

This is total Bull. The NFL has been fine - ONE TEAM did not follow protocol and specific directives. The only thing embarrassing to me is these constant takes.

The NBA and NHL also only had to do it for essentially the playoffs. The players in both sports said they would not have agreed for a longer period. It was also noted that some players/teams just wanted out and they purposely “tanked” to get away from the bubble. I can’t imagine trying to do an NFL season (and say you are the Jets) and your season is over after week 3 or 4, but you still have 14 more bubble weeks - it would have been a nightmare. I think the NFL recognized this, but there are so few other options to try and bubble. Division bubbles in an area where you could play 2 games - the logistics of even just players, staff, trainers - would have been over 1000 people and you get no contact with family. Even if you then break things up to give people time to see family and then re-quarantine you are either extending the season by several weeks or cutting the schedule both of which impact TV deals and players pay.

I believe the plan that the NFL proposed was each team would individually bubble. The team would rent a hotel, bus and their stadium and the players would stay within the hotel similar to the NBA in Disney. The NFL plan was to allow immediate family to be in the bubble (wife, kids), but they would of needed to tested and stay within the bubble. Basically the hotel becomes the de facto compound for the team and staff - probably 600 - 1000 people - with strict guidelines for hotel staff and food service. The players would shuttle to the stadium, airport, and other stadium - staying strictly in their pods to minimize contact. They had no logistical plans to be able to have hub cities with multiple teams because the size of each group was to big. Some teams - like the Cowboys did this during training camp. I believe the Bills met with the players and immediate family to talk about the protocol and how important safety was. The problem always was the size of the bubble and who to include as several players take care of not only their family, but elderly parents and others and being locked in a bubble that was logistically impossible. It also meant kids could attend school - had to be remote or out of the bubble - so you might not see you family for months. Therefore - the NFLPA rejected it and it was always a non starter in negotiations or the year.

Thanks - it is close - tough to tell the exact point it leaves the field of play. I don’t think it matters where he is down anymore - it is now marked at the spot the bill leaves the field of play when nothing else the touches inbound. So it would be someplace in the jump prior to where he lands out of bounds. Probably around the 15 maybe 14.5 yard line. I thought it was much closer than they gave him credit for - god what an effort by JA and Diggs on that play. Years ago - that would of been a first down because it was where they landed, but they changed that up - thanks SyHaung for the exact wording of the rule.

Has their been an image showing anything other than him going out of bounds. I thought they marked him a little short of where he was, but I have not seen a view that showed the ball in the field of play and across the marker.

Yes the tie has me flummoxed because NE/Tennessee do not play. So you are creating a game on the schedule that does not exist and not just moving the Broncos game forward, but then having the Bills play them a second time totally outside of the schedule. So since both the Bills and Broncos were traveling- someone suggested a neutral site game and then keeping the later game on the road. Okay, but it becomes more difficult because Refs are not assigned based upon teams, but location - so we most likely have to find an open stadium around either NE or Tennessee as those Refs have been assigned. I also did not understand why NE is being punished- they had positives, but appear to be following protocol. They went so far as to split the team from close contacts on a separate plane and bus there and back. If they are doing the right thing they should not be saddled if the issues created by the Titans.

Actually - the NFL planned for this and have already made an agreement with the city and the stadium for every Sunday in February- giving them up to and additional 4 weeks of fall back dates if needed. The limited Fans they were planning to allow and limited press made it significantly easier this year to do that.

Why? There has not been once known case transmitted on the field. The individual positive tests in NE, KC, and Atl - the players were isolated and they identified close contacts and in NE - Gilmore became positive - now he is isolated and they will trace him. The Raiders did not follow protocol and were lucky to have no positives from their gaffe. The one positive has been identified and tracing is working that. The Titans had multiple breaches of protocol and they have the monster cases. What I see is that following the protocol is of utmost importance. Just like in MLB where it was identified that the Cardinals and Marlins broke protocol and cause all of the issues. I have seen nothing that suggests at this point the NFL is in trouble. The protocol was created to identify and trace and play on. The teams that do not follow protocol should be punished and the teams that are should be able to move forward. A positive test does not mean anyone broke protocol - the NFL was adamant that then knew there would be positives. This was bound to happen when the NFLPA did not want to bubble, but if the teams are doing it right - you can contain and isolate and keep games moving forward.

This was discussed - to add additional bye weeks or changes to the length of the season had to be agreed to by the players. That along with the Bubble was a no go for the NFLPA. The NFL/NFLPA has contingency plans and agreement to make minor adjustments as needed, but it was never allowed to automatically extend the season. My understanding from different reports is that the NFL has scheduled the Stadium for the Super Bowl for the entire month of February (and this was confirmed on One Bills Live earlier today). That gives them an addition 3 weeks - plus the scheduled week in between to adjust the schedule if needed. They have no plans to pause the season because the thought is this is going to get worse as we move along. They also have shown that the protocol works - individual players may flag, but you can isolate and work around. There has not been a case yet to be shown of transmission on the field. The problem is the Titans and Raiders did not follow protocol and the Titans are seeing the full effect of that.

So what you are suggesting is the Bills play the Broncos twice this year and not Tennessee and that instead of the Broncos - NE skips the week and gets a tie with Tennessee. I can not imagine the league will go for a major change to the schedule. They will adjust and play the games.

No the two teams are not on each other’s schedules. The Bills play the Titans and NE plays Houston. If you give the Pats/Tenn a tie they will both have 17 games. You can only give them both a tie if you adjust the Bills/Pats schedules and move Tenn to play NE and the Bills play Houston. Then you still need to figure out where that game fits in the schedule - as this would become a bye week this week for us

And remote tomorrow also - they seem to be following protocol as best they can - unlike Tennessee. I could see this game get shifted to Monday or Tuesday if no more pats test positive (or even 1 more from the initial contact with Cam).

For the hundredth time - NE/Tenn do not play this year. NE plays Houston and Tenn plays Buffalo. The only way to make that work would be switch Houston and Tennessee on the schedules and now you have to figure out where they would fit. Moving 1 game - like trying to get the Bills/Broncos this weekend - would most likely mean the NFL would have to determine and shift a minimum of 6 or 7 additional games at minimum and still does not open a spot for Bills/Titans as the Titans bye week is passed. You basically would need to switch the Bills/Pats scheduled AFC south games and then rearrange a bunch of schedules to find where Bill/Houston fits and how NE/Denver has a new location.

it isn’t about positive tests - it is about protocol. The Pats, Falcons, and Chiefs have positives - they followed protocol and as long as they manage properly- they should be able to use PS players and play. The Raiders did not follow protocol and had an unmasked gathering - they should lose money via fines and draft picks. If those players start to test positive - they may need to forfeit, but at this point they should be ok. The Titans - they have already showed to have not followed protocol. They brought in a FA without all of the proper days and test results, they had a coach conduct a meeting with no mask, they had several players not wearing the tracking device and lacked data for contract tracing, and now we are hearing that players only got together to practice when they were supposed to be apart and quarantined. That to me points to a clear violation and they should forfeit rather than screw things up further. The initial game against Pittsburgh- could have gone fine with following protocol, but they didn’t and now they have been shut down for over a week and are still having positives.

So you play the Bills/Broncos. Now the Bills have a second open week, but the Titans don’t. So this means the Bills/Broncos play now. The Bills have potentially 2 bye weeks later in the season, but then has to play in a created bye week after the season and before the playoffs because the Titans have no other openings. Plus now you have to shoe horn in a Broncos/Pats game that at this point has no reason to be postponed. This is the exact reason the PS was expanded. They should be testing the Pats and if they are following protocol. The team practices Friday/Sat with the Covid players inactive and the game goes on. The Pats at this point are very different from the Titans.

Pats and Titans don’t play. Why should they get a tie?

What is the gymnastics- because the Titans still do not have another open date - so moving the Broncos game - still leaves us with no way to play the Titans and now you have to figure out the Broncos/Pats schedule.

How does this help? I really do not see how us playing the Broncos makes any sense as that still leaves no opening for the Bills Tennessee game and now you have to find a schedule for pats Broncos. This would cause a domino effect of needing to move a bunch of other games to make it work. I do not see the benefit - unlike the Pitts/Baltimore/Tennessee that could be moved with minimal impact. How does it help - you move one game, but still have to figure out what other games to fit in. It is not like the Titans and Pats play so you could reschedule them together. Present me the plan that shows me where our Titans game fits and where the Pats/Broncos game fits in later. There are a million moving parts and playing the Broncos does not eliminate issues - it creates more problems as we move forward.

What? This makes no sense whatsoever. The NFL wanted to bubble. The players did not want to bubble and refused that as part of the planning. Even now - In an interview after the Monday night game - Rodgers addressed that he would not have bubbled. This was not anything the NFL could do without the NFLPA being on board.

I hear what you are saying, but in year 1 after his injury and missing 3 games - Josh Allen got better - he had time to see and learn during his couple of weeks and that made him better upon his return. Kyle Allen is young and has already learned and played in this offense - with the limited off-season and no pre-season games - it is hard for any QB to learn a new offense and click with new players - maybe they recognize that he is struggling. To me this screams - we need to understand the issues. Haskins has not attacked the opponent-is he a checkdown specialist or is he having trouble understanding the route concepts. Maybe an experienced guy like Allen can show Haskins and the rest of the team - what we want to accomplish. If Allen blows and struggles - maybe it enhances the idea that they are devoid of offensive talent. Of course the final piece is the fact that the NFL east is so bad. With the 1 win they have the same number as the other teams and are only behind by the tie. Maybe Rivera sees a chance to win the division still and feels he owes it to the team to try. Rivera is not invested in Haskins - that was not his pick and maybe he is more concerned with winning than developing the former coaches pick. I am sure there are many reasons for this and some we just will never know, but it does set bad optics and ill will with Haskins as we move forward.

I agree his numbers and play looked ok against Baltimore, but he did not attack the team - it was almost all short checkdown completions which give you great stats with no real threat to win a game. I can understand this - maybe give Kyle Allen a chance to put some film together to show Haskins what they are looking for. I heard that they moved him to 3rd string with Alex Smith as the back-up. I don’t think this is the end of Haskins in Washington, but I am guessing that they are worried he has not picked up the nuances of the offense and with no pre-season - this gives him a chance to see someone more familiar with the offense run it. Plus it gives the coaches a chance to see what adjustments they need to make. Bad optics, but could be a good thing long term - of course if it makes Haskins shut off this staff it could also blow-up long term, by Rivera seems like a players coach to me and I think he can get long term buy-in.

Prior to the season - I believe it was Jerry Jones that talked on Sirius NFL Radio that the NFL had several contingency plans and would address them as needed. One included the fact that the NFL had the ability to in theory to push back the SuperBowl by a couple of weeks as the area did not have any additional large events - allowing them the ability to add weeks - even using the week before the Super Bowl if they don’t move it. They also acknowledged their may have to be forfeits or cancelled games and the season may not be fair for every team. They were going to cross each bridge as they came up. My guess is they are looking at every possibility and want to keep things as even as possible, but may face a reality that they cannot continue and need to address things immediately.

Except the Titan/Pats do not play this year - so are you now adding games?

Not sure how this helps a lot. The Bills would get a game in - although with limited prep time and no advanced film for either team. The bigger issue is NE and Tennessee don’t play so moving that game just means they would have to figure out how to move 5 or 6 other games to accommodate this move. I don’t have a simple answer, but at this point I see no reason why NE/Denver would not be played. The only major issue flows around the Titans and they no longer have a bye - so they either need to forfeit a game, cancel a game, or utilize the SuperBowl bye week and have an extra game at the end of the season. Baseball got away with it by switching games on teams that were going to play and then not having the same number of games at the end of the season and accepting that meant some teams with fewer games played made the playoffs because of games they missed.