That's a Wrap: NFL Finishes Pandemic Regular Season

Courtesy of Eric Christian Smith

Rookie fill-in kicker Sam Sloman stunned the NFL stratosphere on Sunday after doinking a walk-off chip shot field goal attempt off the upright and in to clinch the Tennessee Titans their first AFC South title since 2008. Sloman's kick headlined a nail-biting Week 17 for the ages, and ensured that all 256 NFL regular seasons would be played, without a single cancellation all year. But Week 17 featured much more than the traditional drama of last-gasp playoff implications in 2020. 

The 2020 NFL regular season reached its merciful end on Sunday night, allowing Commissioner Roger Goodell and the NFL to collectively breathe one hefty sigh of relief. We did it. Overcoming dozens of volatile coronavirus outbreaks, playing games in empty and mildly populated stadiums, and juggling an ever-malleable schedule, the NFL delivered a full regular season. But it wasn't easy. 

The journey to the finish line has been anything but a yellowbrick road for the league. The COVID-19 pandemic has had its tolls across the globe, and the NFL was forced to improvise to put the players on the field every Sunday. Just as coordinators devise schemes to game plan for their opponents on a weekly basis, the league continually battled the novel virus all year long. 

Sometimes, the solutions were harmlessly innocent, like playing football every day of the week for the first time in league history. There were Monday night doubleheaders, and there was Tuesday Night Football and Wednesday Afternoon Football. But along the way, hundreds of league personnel contracted the novel coronavirus, generating post-virus complications for a number of players and coaches, and even forcing the 49ers to relocate 750 miles away from home for the holidays.

There were setbacks. A lot of them. 

The Spread of COVID-19

According to data the NFL published to the public, 222 players and 396 coaches plus team personnel tested positive for COVID-19 between Aug. 1 and Dec. 26. Some recovered quickly, and some did not suffer from any symptoms whatsoever. But others were notably symptomatic, and faced the wrath of COVID-19 and its long-term effects.

Former Denver Broncos Super Bowl MVP linebacker Von Miller tested positive for the virus in April. Miller is asthmatic, and needed a nebulizer to relax his breathing during and after contraction.

Cleveland Browns pass rusher Myles Garrett tested positive for COVID-19 in November. Garrett was symptomatic when he contracted the virus, and is still suffering from the after-effects of the shortness of breath. Garrett admitted that the effects are impacting his stamina on the field, and that he still undergoes 4 daily sessions of breathing therapy treatments to climb back to 100 percent health. 

Jacksonville Jaguars running back Ryquell Armstead was hospitalized multiple times midseason due to the coronavirus as well as respiratory issues. Armstead contracted the virus late in the summer and had not recovered until late September, and the extent of his recovery forced him to miss the season. 

Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Ed Donatell missed 6 games after contracting the coronavirus, and was hospitalized for 5 days a week following his positive test. Donatell is 63 years old, and could not return to the field over a month after the virus passed. 

Buffalo Bills tight end Tommy Sweeney developed myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart which ties to COVID-19 complications post-recovery. Sweeney was a close contact to a Bills teammate who tested positive for the virus, and was diagnosed with the heart condition in a league-mandated checkup. Sweeney has not played since Week 6.

Courtesy of Maddie Meyer

Players and coaches across the league admitted they are living separately from their families to protect them from the virus. New England Patriots quarterback Cam Newton reminded the media that he has not seen his kids all season. Significant others of players have expressed their own struggles living without their husbands, mitigating their own possible exposure to COVID-19, and the climbing impact of clinical depression among players and their families. 

The NFL season persevered through tremendous individual sacrifice. The discipline and sacrifice of the players for the price of entertaining the masses on Sundays cannot be understated, and deserves worldly praise and recognition. But as the NFL has shown us, even young professional athletes in pristine bodily conditions are not immune to the ferocity of COVID. While many walk away unscathed, others will never be the same. Nobody is invincible.

Remember the Titans 

The first major COVID-19 outbreak of the season originated in Nashville. Two days following a 31-30 road win over the Minnesota Vikings, the Tennessee Titans recorded 8 positive tests within the organization. An outbreak followed in which the Titans registered 24 positive cases between Sept. 24 and Oct. 11, including players, coaches, and team personnel. The league subsequently shut down the Titans practice facility indefinitely, and was forced to reschedule their Week 4 showdown with the Pittsburgh Steelers to Week 7, and their Week 5 clash with the Buffalo Bills from Sunday to Tuesday. Tennessee's Tuesday night affair with Buffalo marked just the third Tuesday game in the last 84 years.

Week 4 was designated as Tennessee's and Pittsburgh's bye week by default. The Steelers could not play their game against the Titans that weekend despite a full week of practice and preparation, and subsequently saw their bye week taken away.

The Titans organization did not walk away without retribution. The NFL fined the Titans $350,000 for reportedly violating protocols which spurred the league's first major outbreak. Reports suggest the NFL concluded that the Titans failed to wear masks at all times in the team facilities. The team also continued to hold informal practice sessions while the Titans facility was closed by the league, and after the league directly told the Titans not to hold in-person activities until further notice.

Outbreak in Baltimore

No roster was more depleted by the coronavirus than the Baltimore Ravens. The NFL discovered that 4 unique genetic strains of SARS-CoV-2 infiltrated the Ravens organization, one of which was "highly contagious," causing an uncontrollable outbreak within the team. The Ravens returned at least one positive test for 10 consecutive days, and placed an apex of 23 players on the reserve/COVID-19 list. Quarterback and reigning MVP Lamar Jackson tested positive for the virus on Thanksgiving night, the originally scheduled night for Baltimore's Thanksgiving showdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The game was postponed to Sunday, then to Monday, then to Tuesday, and was eventually played on Wednesday Dec. 2. Baltimore's Week 13 game against the Dallas Cowboys was subsequently postponed twice to accommodate a longer rest period for the Ravens.

They preach the "next man up" philosophy in the NFL, but the Ravens roster was completely decimated. In addition to Jackson, running backs J.K. Dobbins and Mark Ingram, wide receiver Willie Snead, tight end Mark Andrews, and pass rushers Calais Campbell and Matthew Judon were among the 23 players to test positive and be deactivated by the team. 

Ravens strength and conditioning coach Steve Saunders was the determined the genesis of the outbreak, and was disciplined. Saunders was suspended by the Ravens for reportedly failing to report his symptoms during the outbreak and inconsistently wearing his mask inside the Ravens facility. In addition, the NFL fined the Ravens $250,000 for noncompliance with COVID-19 protocols within the organization.

Mile High Crisis

Backup quarterback Jeff Driskel returned a positive test for COVID-19 four days before their scheduled Week 13 game against the New Orleans Saints. Shortly following Driskel's test results, the NFL deemed quarterbacks Drew Lock, Brett Rypien, and Blake Bortles each to be "high-risk" close contacts, after it was revealed none of them wore masks the last time they were with Driskel. This enacts a mandatory 5-day isolation period from the latest day of exposure, deeming Denver's entire quarterback depth chart ineligible to play Sunday. The team had less than 24 hours to devise a solution with kickoff looming.

Courtesy of Aaron Ontiveroz

The Broncos lobbied the NFL to postpone the game out of competitive imbalance. The Broncos even filed a request to the NFL to activate assistant coach Rob Calabrese to fill in at the position, a request which the league denied. As a result, the Broncos activated undrafted practice squad wide receiver Kendall Hinton to play emergency quarterback. The former Wake Forest quarterback completed 1 of 9 pass attempts for 13 yards and 2 interceptions in a 31-3 loss to the Saints. Hilton's valiant efforts delivered a predictable outcome, but the Broncos were backed against the wall. 

Broncos head coach Vic Fangio fined his quarterbacks in the aftermath of the loss for letting the team down, but the amount has been undisclosed. Lock, Denver's starter, apologized publicly on social media and accepted responsibility for the error.

San Francisco 49ers of Glendale, Arizona

The San Francisco 49ers were the only team in the league uprooted from home by the pandemic. Prior to Week 13, Santa Clara County in California banned all contact sports for 3 weeks following a local rise of positive COVID-19 cases. The county later extended the ban to January 8, ending San Francisco's season at Levi's Stadium. The 49ers closed the season playing 3 remaining home games at StateFarm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, the home of the Cardinals, 750 miles away from San Francisco. The decision to evict the 49ers displaced the team into Maricopa County in Arizona, where COVID-19 positivity rate is over twice as high as Santa Clara County.

During the final month of the season, the 49ers operated in a quasi-bubble format. The players were confined to their hotel rooms to essentially isolate, where they could not interact with teammates or coaches. Other than virtual film sessions and padded practices, the players, coaches, and team personnel persevered in solitude.

The Ripple Effects

Commissioner Goodell admitted the competitive fabric of the season would be compromised in 2020 as a result of the pandemic. He understood completing a full 256-game regular season was going to be challenging, and maintaining competitive balance would make it virtually impossible. Goodell stated "competitive inequities" could become a reality for NFL teams this season, which certainly panned out as such for a number of teams.

While the Pittsburgh Steelers did not suffer a significant outbreak of their own, the team dealt with the ripple effects of the outbreaks in Tennessee and Baltimore. The Steelers lost out on their bye week when Tennessee's COVID-19 outbreak forced the league to reschedule their Week 4 clash with the Titans after practicing all week long in the team facility. The NFL postponed Steelers-Titans from Week 4 to Week 7, Pittsburgh's originally scheduled bye. Pittsburgh's schedule was disrupted once again in Week 12 due to the COVID-19 breakout in Baltimore. The Steelers were scheduled to face the Ravens on Thanksgiving night, but the league repeatedly delayed the game from Thursday to the following Wednesday. Subsequently, the league rescheduled Pittsburgh's following game in Week 13 against the Washington Football from Sunday to Monday, allocating for extra rest for the Steelers. The constant flux in Pittsburgh's schedule had a visible effect on the team, and played a considerable role in the team's 3 game losing streak in December. The Steelers were fatigued, weary, and they looked broken. The lack of a bye week severely hurt the Steelers in the final quarter-season, and forced the team to play 17 consecutive weeks of football, plus the postseason. 

Courtesy of National Football Post

The Detroit Lions became the first team since 1978 to have three head coaches, the last attributable to the pandemic. Lions interim head coach Darrell Bevell was named a high risk close contact to someone outside the organization who tested positive for COVID-19 in Week 15, and was ineligible to coach the Lions against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Defensive coordinator Cory Undlin and three primary position coaches on defense were also ruled out to coach against the Buccaneers, leaving the Lions considerably starved of its coaching staff. Wide receivers coach Robert Prince filled in as temporary head coach, and quarterbacks coach Sean Ryan was named offensive playcaller, despite never calling plays in his career at any level. Head coach assistant Evan Rothstein served as temporary defensive playcaller. Bevell and the Lions discussed pushing the game back one day which would have allowed the abundance of the coaching staff to be present, but the NFL did not budge. Without them, the Lions lost 47-7, and the team allowed 588 yards of offense, the second-highest total in franchise history. 

COVID-19 exposure nearly cost the Cleveland Browns their first playoff berth in 18 years. The Browns placed their top 4 wide receivers on the reserve/COVID-19 list each designated as close contacts after coming into contact with a teammate who tested positive for the virus. The roster transaction came under 24 hours prior to Cleveland's Week 16 road tilt with the New York Jets, in which the Browns lost, 23-16. While an indication of an outbreak was debunked by the NFL, the shortage at the receiver position gravely cost the Browns in the AFC standings. Eight Browns players and coaches tested positive in the buildup to Week 17, forcing Cleveland to shut down its practice facility from Tuesday thru Thursday and again on Saturday, with a playoff berth hanging in the balance against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Browns ultimately overcame their coronavirus woes with a win in Week 17 to clinch a playoff berth. 

New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara tested positive for COVID-19 two days prior to a Week 17 battle with the Carolina Panthers. Following the league's contract tracing protocols, the entire Saints running back room was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list, all ineligible to play in Week 17. Running backs Latavius Murray and Dwayne Washington as well as fullback Michael Burton and positional coach Joel Thomas were deemed as high risk close contacts. The Saints utilized wide receiver Ty Montgomery as a running back, given his experience at halfback for the Green Bay Packers earlier in his career. Kamara must isolate for at least 10 days following his positive test, and is facing an uphill battle to be eligible for the Wild Card round. 

Mission Accomplished?

The 2020 regular season delivered moments of heroic athleticism, clutch performances, vintage NFL entertainment, and satisfying uplift. The table is set for the postseason, and the NFL remains on course to see the season out uninterrupted. But the league faced endless obstacles just to reach game day all year long, often sacrificing the integrity of the shield in the process. 

The fault does not lie entirely on Goodell's lap. Some of the league's wounds were self-inflicted, and can be attributed to individual irresponsibility. Drew Lock would have started for the Broncos in Week 13 if he and his teammates in the quarterback wore a mask consistently. The outbreak within the Ravens organization grew out of control because just one highly contagious conditioning coach was not wearing a mask. Tennessee's outbreak was controlled until individual Titans held unauthorized practices outside the facility, and more positive tests were returned as a result. As the nation is learning, moderate compliance with public health protocols is not sufficient. Everyone needs to buy in, social distance, wear a mask, and abide by the governing health bodies. 

Courtesy of Jamie Sabau

As desperate as the league's struggles were, the NFL ultimately met their bottom line: 256 regular season games. The league persevered for 17 weeks with tremendous buy-in from players, coaches, and owners. The players and coaches knew to expect the unexpected heading in, and that some teams would face steeper competitive disadvantages than others, often on short notice. The Broncos were thrown into the fire without a single quarterback, the Lions played without their interim head coach plus four defensive coaches, and the Browns saw their top 4 pass catchers deactivated, all within 24 hours before kickoff. But the games were played, without a single one cancelled.

It was far from a photo finish for the league, which stumbled falling over the finish line just to reach the end of a dystopian regular season. But at the beginning of the season, Commissioner Goodell set out to start and finish the season on time. They did. But just barely.

Follow Sam DeCoste on Twitter @thesamdecoste