NFL forced to postpone 3 games because of Coronavirus outbreaks

The NFL modified its Coronavirus protocols on Thursday, but those changes did not come early enough to save three games to be postponed this weekend. As was announced by the league on Friday afternoon, the games between the Las Vegas Raiders and Cleveland Browns, Washington Football Team and Philadelphia Eagles, and Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks will not be played in their original slots.

Instead, the three games will be moved to next week:

• Las Vegas Raiders at Cleveland Browns: Monday, Dec. 20, 5:00 p.m. ET (NFL Network)
• Washington Football Team at Philadelphia Eagles: Tuesday, Dec. 21, 7:00 p.m. ET (FOX)
• Seattle Seahawks at Los Angeles Rams: Tuesday, Dec. 21, 7:00 p.m. ET (FOX)

The Raiders’ game in Cleveland was originally scheduled to be played on Saturday, but a Covid-19 outbreak among the Browns organization forced it to be postponed. The same is true for Washington and Los Angeles: the two teams are also struggling to contain the virus, losing numerous players to the Coronavirus reserve list.

The NFL released the following statement in regards to the postponements:

We have made these schedule changes based on medical advice and after discussion with the NFLPA as we are seeing a new, highly transmissible form of the virus this week resulting in a substantial increase in cases across the league.

We continue to make decisions in consultation with medical experts to ensure the health and safety of the NFL community.

As a result of Raiders at Browns being moved to Monday, only one game will be played on Saturday this week: the New England Patriots’ matchup with the Indianapolis Colts, which is set to be kicked off at 8:15 p.m. ET.