Chiefs-Patriots postponement presents several tests for Kansas City
By Matt Conner
The Chiefs training staff
At this point, the Chiefs are reportedly going to be playing on Tuesday if test results are okay from here on out through the rest of the weekend. If that’s the case, the Chiefs schedule from Week 4-6 is nothing short of an unsafe gauntlet.
If the Chiefs play the Patriots in Week 4 on Tuesday night, they will move on to play the Las Vegas Raiders at Arrowhead on Sunday, just five days later, in Week 5. From there, they’re scheduled to travel to Buffalo to face the Bills on Thursday Night Football in Week 6. That’s three games scheduled in 10 total days.
There are good reasons why the NFL Players Association pushes back against short weeks and other attempts to try to stretch the calendar in odd ways. Each game takes a serious physical toll on the players. Minor injuries and the fatigue from such physical exertion requires a week to recover. Teams that deal with short weeks or major amounts of travel often find themselves in difficult positions due to not having the required time to heal and rest.
Can the NFL really make the Chiefs play 3 games in 10 days? In the name of player safety, they postponed the Week 4 game. How can they hold up the same banner and force them to keep that scheduled Thursday night game? No matter how things work out, the Chiefs training staff is going to be a tested bunch as they try to keep players healthy and ready for a potentially tough stretch of games ahead.