Sunday afternoon’s matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and New England Patriots was postponed on Saturday morning following positive COVID-19 test results from both clubs.
League sources have told both NFL insider Ian Rapoport and NFL Network’s Tom Pellissero, on Sunday morning, the game could be played on Monday Night Football (10/4), pending the latest round of test results. Monday night would obviously be the preferred date for both teams.
In a statement, the league initially rescheduled the game to play on Tuesday night (10/5) after New England quarterback Cam Newton tested positive, followed by a member of the Chiefs’ coaching staff as well as practice squad QB Jordan Ta’Amu.
It wouldn’t be a surprise if both teams were strongly opposed to playing on Tuesday, since that’s typically a day most clubs begin prepping for the next game on the schedule. That includes going over film, breaking the upcoming opponent’s strengths and weaknesses, and using that data to develop a game plan.
Playing on Tuesday would make that very difficult, especially for Kansas City, who would be forced to play three games in nine days. Not only would it make drawing up a proper game plan virtually impossible, but it also puts the team at high risk for injury since there would barely be enough time to recuperate before they’d have to suit up again.
So far, NFL sources have told Pelissero, all of New England’s POC (Point of Care) tests from Sunday morning have returned negative. The same sources have said the Chiefs haven’t had any more positive test cases in their latest round of tests either. Now, both teams are awaiting the results of their PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) test results, which should come back Sunday night.
If there are no positive test results by then, the Chiefs and Patriots matchup will be scheduled to play under the lights on Monday Night Football.
