The NFL announced a decision to postpone three games this week due to COVID-19 outbreaks, but the Bears-Vikings game on Monday Night Football wasn’t one of them.
The Bears have experienced one of the worst outbreaks in the league over the past week, with 13 players currently on the reserve/COVID-19 list and all three coordinators in protocols as well. But with the game being played on Monday night, as opposed to Saturday or Sunday, the league may simply be waiting to see if things improve before making a decision to postpone the game later this week.
While postponement is a possibility if the outbreak worsens, it’s unlikely that the game will be canceled, forcing the Bears to forfeit. According to a league memo shared by Tom Pelissero, the NFL will only force a team to forfeit if the league can’t find a “suitable date” to reschedule the game sometime within the 18 weeks of the regular season, and the original postponement was caused by an outbreak among unvaccinated players.
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So far, the NFL has moved Saturday’s game between the Browns and the Raiders to Monday afternoon, and Sunday’s games between the Football and Eagles, and Seahawks and Rams, to Tuesday evening.