PITTSBURGH _ One thing should be ascertained from what transpired this week when the NFL postponed the Steelers game with the Tennessee Titans until Oct. 25.
Do not feel sorry for the Steelers. Do not think they got a raw deal. Do not think they are being punished for something that happened with the Titans, not them.
Sure, the Steelers wanted to play Sunday. Of course they did. They are 3-0 and on an early-season roll, and no team wants to interrupt that. That's why they are disappointed _ Mike Tomlin's word _ the game was postponed. Plus, nobody wants a bye week just four weeks into a season, especially a team that has designs on playing into the postseason.
But the situation could have been a whole lot worse for everyone, including the Steelers. And the league.
If there is some good news in what happened with the positive COVID-19 tests that afflicted members of the Titans and forced the postponement, it is that it happened this early in the season, before the Steelers or any other team had their bye week. It gave the league the flexibility to use some open dates to manipulate the schedule.
Imagine if this would have happened after Dec. 7, which is the final Sunday for a bye? Of course, it still could. And then the NFL would have an even bigger problem on its hands. That's why the league has already discussed the possibility of tacking on an 18th week to the schedule to accommodate some of the problems that might arise from the pandemic.
Here's another thing:
By deciding to postpone the game on Thursday, the league avoided the one thing it really didn't want to happen: have the Steelers fly to Nashville, Tenn., as scheduled, on Saturday and then decide at the 11th hour the game had to be postponed. The Steelers would have wasted a whole week of practice, time, energy and even money for a game that was never played.
And one more thing: This idea the Steelers get cheated out of a bye week is being slightly exaggerated.
In a normal year, the Steelers would still practice during a bye week, using two days _ Tuesday and Wednesday _ to give their younger players a chance to work. This week wasn't much different. Once he knew the Titans game was postponed, coach Mike Tomlin moved up Thursday's practice, shortened it and worked a lot of the backup players. The players practiced two days _ Wednesday and Thursday _ then had the next three days off.
What's more, it wasn't as though they could leave town and return home or take a weekend getaway. Players still have to report to the South Side for their daily testing for the virus.
If you're looking for sympathy for the Steelers, don't expect it to come from the head coach. When asked what he thought about having to play 13 games in a row, and maybe more, without a break, Tomlin delivered the perfect answer that did not allow for any excuses, either from him, his players or the organization:
"We do not care."
None of this is to suggest the situation is ideal, But, as with so many other aspects of daily life in this pandemic-altered world, it is something to which the Steelers will adjust. They don't have much choice.
