Steelers-Titans Postponed: Game Will Be Rescheduled Following Additional Positive Tests

The Tennessee Titans and Pittsburgh Steelers will not play in Week 4 as originally scheduled and the game will be re-scheduled for later this season. 

The NFL released a statement on Thursday announcing the postponement:

"The Pittsburgh-Tennessee game scheduled for Week 4 will be rescheduled to later this season after one additional Titans player and one personnel member tested positive for COVID-19 today. An announcement of the new game date will be made shortly.

The decision to postpone the game was made to ensure the health and safety of players, coaches and game day personnel. The Titans facility will remain closed and the team will continue to have no in-person activities until further notice."

NFL Media's Tom Pelissero notes that five players and six personnel tested positive for COVID-19 in total. ESPN's Adam Schefter clarifies that two of those positive tests were discovered this morning. A Titans coach had tested positive late last week as well.

The Titans and Vikings played in Minnesota Sunday. Upon news of positive COVID-19 tests with Tennessee, both teams suspended all in-person club activities beginning Tuesday. On Wednesday morning, the NFL announced that the Week 4 matchup would be postponed and reports emerged that the league hoped it would be re-scheduled for Monday or Tuesday; additional positive COVID-19 tests have rendered that impossible. The Vikings have not had any positive cases at this time, which is a positive considering the close proximity that players shared on the field.

The NFL and NFL Player's Association released a statement early this week acknowledging their decision to suspend football activities in two cities: 

"On Tuesday morning, the Titans COVID testing results returned three new player positives and five new personnel positives. The Titans will suspend in-person club activities starting today. Likewise, the Vikings, who played the Titans on Sunday, will also suspend in-person club activities. Both clubs are working closely with the NFL and the NFLPA, including our infectious disease experts, to evaluate close contacts, perform additional testing and monitor developments. All decisions will be made with health and safety as our primary consideration. We will continue to share updates as more information becomes available." 

Pittsburgh had improved to 3-0 on the young NFL season with a comeback win over the Texans Sunday. They are scheduled to play Sunday, Oct. 11 against Philadelphia. Tennessee is also 3-0 after narrowly defeating Minnesota. They are scheduled to play Buffalo Sunday, Oct. 11 but even that has to be questioned. The quarantine period is often referred to as a two-week period. If the Titans do not get the situation in order soon, it could affect future competition. 

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