All Seahawks

Seahawks/Rams Week 15 Matchup Postponed to Tuesday Night

While Seattle objected the decision to postpone, the NFL has decided to move its Week 15 road game from Sunday afternoon to Tuesday, while two other games will be moved to a later date this weekend due to COVID-19 outbreaks.

Corbin K. Smith

With numerous teams dealing with COVID-related issues, the NFL has postponed three Week 15 games to Monday and Tuesday, including shifting the Seahawks road game against the Rams from Sunday afternoon to Tuesday.

According to Brady Henderson of ESPN, Seattle will now play Los Angeles at 4 PM PST on Tuesday afternoon. Philadelphia and Washington will also play on Tuesday, while Cleveland and Las Vegas will now face off on Monday.

Several teams have been hit hard by outbreaks this week with more than 100 players testing positive league-wide. The Rams have been hit harder than most, with several high-profile players such as cornerback Jalen Ramsey, defensive end Von Miller, and receiver Odell Beckham Jr. among 25 players currently on the reserve/COVID-19 list. Per reports, all of these players have been vaccinated.

As for the Seahawks, they weren't exempt from the league-wide COVID crisis, as receiver Tyler Lockett and running back Alex Collins were placed on the list on Thursday after testing positive.

Prior to the season, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell released a memo to all 32 teams indicating games would "not be postponed or rescheduled simply to avoid roster issues caused by injury or illness affecting multiple players."

The decision to potentially move the game contradicts such a statement and has not sat well with the Seahawks, who would be put at a significant competitive disadvantage on multiple fronts. For one, the Rams may have most of their players currently on the COVID list back to play on Tuesday and be closer to full strength. Postponing the game would also create a quick turnaround heading into Week 16, as they would have just four days to recover before facing the Bears at Lumen Field.

Given how this week has transpired, it's also possible that more positive tests could arise for both teams in the next few days, making the choice to slide the game back two days a moot point. As evidenced on Twitter, several Seahawks players don't look to be too pleased about the development.

From the Rams perspective, it's understandable why the organization pressed the NFL and NFL Players Association about rescheduling the game. No reports have suggested the team violated protocols and asking them to field a team with more than 20 players on the COVID list seems incredibly unfair.

But the Seahawks frustrations also are warranted. With only three players landing on the COVID list in the past two years, under the leadership of coach Pete Carroll and others, no organization has done a better job of managing the pandemic and they understandably feel like they are being wrongly punished with agreed upon protocols not being adhered to.

Published
Corbin K. Smith
CORBIN K. SMITH

Graduating from Manchester College in 2012, Smith began his professional career as a high school Economics teacher in Indianapolis and launched his own NFL website covering the Seahawks as a hobby. After teaching and coaching high school football for five years, he transitioned to a full-time sports reporter in 2017, writing for USA Today's Seahawks Wire while continuing to produce the Legion of 12 podcast. He joined the Arena Group in August 2018 and also currently hosts the daily Locked On Seahawks podcast with Rob Rang and Nick Lee. Away from his coverage of the Seahawks and the NFL, Smith dabbles in standup comedy, is a heavy metal enthusiast and previously performed as lead vocalist for a metal band, and enjoys distance running and weight lifting. A habitual commuter, he resides with his wife Natalia in Colorado and spends extensive time reporting from his second residence in the Pacific Northwest.

Home/Seahawks News