Titans, Steelers game delayed.
The NFL has decided to delay the Tennessee Titans home game against the Pittsburgh Steelers until Monday at the earliest.
Now, there are a lot of things we need to talk about here from fan experience to competitive advantage, but this decision was based on what the NFL believed was the safest decision for the Titans, Steelers, and the NFL as a whole.
With a team of doctors in place working with some of the foremost authorities, I have to defer to their decision and assume that it is the safest course of action that protects the players while also setting a precedent for how these issues might be treated in the future.
After saying all that, I want to get into what this means for the teams not only this week but next week as well.
Again, I do support the league’s plan here because I think the idea of switching bye weeks for the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers, just to accommodate the Tennessee Titans, feels clearly unfair to teams that weren’t involved directly in this issue.
No plan was perfect and I think this is the one that gives the Titans the best chance at a “fair” Week 4 matchup.
Pro: It helps both sides in Week 4
The Pittsburgh Steelers aren’t a banged-up team, but they do have one big injury concern that should get better with this extra time. That is Diontae Johnson‘s injury which still has him in the concussion protocol.
Despite 0 receptions in Week 3, he still remains the Steelers second-leading receiver with 14 catches. He is the team’s primary target on the outside while leading receiver Juju Smith-Schuester has been playing in his usual slot role.
For the Titans, this gives multiple players an increased chance to play. The biggest of those is Taylor Lewan who reportedly missed out on a major injury last week against the Minnesota Vikings and who might have been able to play on Sunday if necessary.
Now it seems like he is going to get at least 36 extra hours between the time to make that decision.
Derick Roberson is also another key player that could be back after nearly being able to play last week. He might not be a household name, but he is the only Titans player who can truly win with an elite burst off the EDGE that offensive tackles struggle to defend.
The big two and the long shots are Adoree Jackson and A.J. Brown. If I had to guess I would say that both players are still another week away, but if either were “close” to being able to start practice last week then both could be available for limited roles.
A.J. Brown could be used sparingly as he worked his way back into football shape as long as his knee is alright, and Adoree Jackson could be rotated in with Johnathan Joseph in situations where he might not have to play the run as often (even though that is a strength of his).
Con: The Titans have limited practice for two weeks.
At best, this is going to give the Titans two days of real practice on the field before the game on Monday or Tuesday.
If you look at everything in a vacuum and you focus on winning the season and not winning every game, it would probably be more advantageous for the Titans to do limited practice this week and then get back into full practice next week for the Buffalo Bills.
As it stands, the Titans are now going to cut into their Week 5 practices either way, and while the Titans should be pretty familiar with the Bills (since they have played them twice in two years and they have no major changes) it still means that they will have a surprise short week.
That could bleed into an issue of getting Adoree Jackson and A.J. Brown back into game shape and familiar with the game plan before the matchup since they would only have about 2 days of real practice in that scenario. Obviously that is if they don’t come back this week, but it could compound the issue.
Is two short weeks better than one really short week and one normal week? These games are going to matter in January when teams are figuring out playoff seeding so this is going to be a stretch that we all look back at one way or another.
Con: Fan experience
I talked about this yesterday, but man if you are a fan that has already shelled out thousands of dollars for tickets (see below quote) and a hotel room you have to be furious whether you are a Titans fan or a Steelers fan.
"Let’s say you were a fan who loves the Titans and decided that you were going to buy the cheapest tickets you could find. It seems like that would have ended up costing about $1,200 for two with all hidden costs/fees included. That isn’t all the expenses you probably needed to cover though. Assuming you live out of town you will also have had to book a hotel room, pay for gas, meals, etc. Before it is all said and done you are looking at a $2,000 trip based around these tickets and now you are stuck with no answers on what is going to happen on Sunday."
There isn’t anyone to blame, it is just an accident really but this was supposed to be the first time that the Titans or Steelers were going to get to play in front of any sort of a crowd this year and now the fans that were going to attend are going to have to spend more money in accommodations, scramble for refunds and change plans, or cancel their trips altogether.
This can’t be what the Titans had envisioned when they finally got the go-ahead to open up their doors after getting ghosted by the mayor for weeks on end.