Kevin Sethre, staff writer

As the NFL season comes to a close, COVID-19 cases have been surging. There have been 18 games rescheduled due to positive cases according to Sports Illustrated.

The Baltimore Ravens had a massive outbreak with more than twenty players testing positive. Due to the positive tests, their Thanksgiving game against the Pittsburgh Steelers was postponed three times. Both teams had their future games postponed as a result so that players would have enough time to recover in between.

During the same weekend, the Denver Broncos were forced to play without a quarterback after one of their backups, Jeff Driskel, tested positive. Contract tracing revealed that the other quarterbacks on the roster had all been in close contact with him without masks on.  The team was forced to find a quarterback last minute so Kendall Hinton, a practice squad wide receiver who had never played in an NFL game, was forced to start. Hinton predictably struggled, and many asked why the NFL had postponed the Ravens game but not the Broncos game.

While they raise a valid point, the Ravens’ COVID outbreak was completely uncontained and they had positive tests every day for over a week.  On the other hand, the Broncos knew that only a few players had been exposed, so the league determined that it was safe to play the game.

As the playoffs approach quickly, it is more important than ever for NFL players to make smart decisions and teams to enforce measures to prevent the spread of the virus.