Ravens down five due to COVID
The marquee game on U. S. Thanksgiving Thursday is still a go, at least for now, but one of the teams is definitely going to be playing short-handed.
One day after running backs Mark Ingram and J. K. Dobbins tested positive for COVID-19 and lineman Brandon Williams joined them on the reserve list as a close contact, the Baltimore Ravens had two more players ( including outside linebacker Pernell Mcphee) and four staffers reportedly contract the virus.
ESPN’S Adam Schefter was told by a source that further positive tests could force a postponement of Thursday night’s game against the undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers.
That would leave audiences stuck with two real turkeys: the Houston Texans ( 3-7) at Detroit Lions ( 4- 6) and the Washington Football Team (3-7) at the Dallas Cowboys (3-7).
Even if the Ravens don’t lose any more players, the recent rash of positive tests forced them to cancel practice Tuesday, affecting a valuable preparation day for a game 48 hours away.
RAM TOUGH, AGAIN: It ’ s starting to look as if last season was just a hiccup for the Los Angeles Rams. Once again they are a force to be reckoned with in the NFC.
“We can be as good as we want to be, honestly,” quarterback Jared Goff said after Monday night’s 27-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers improved the Rams to 7- 3 and kept them deadlocked with the Seattle Seahawks atop the conference’s West division.
“We’ve got it all in front of us. Everything is there for us to take.”
The numbers back Goff ’s claim.
The only NFC team with a better record than the Rams is the New Orleans Saints, who have won seven in a row and sit 8- 2, one more win and a game in hand on the division- rival Buccaneers.
BUCKING THE TREND: Tom Brady is building a reputation as a sore loser after failing to shake Goff ’s hand following Monday’s game, much the same way as he avoided Nick Foles after the Bucs were defeated by the Chicago Bears earlier this season. He did congratulate Drew Brees following the two losses to the Saints, but that could be just one Hall of Famer paying his respects to another … Brady has thrown nine interceptions in 11 games, which means that aside from the 11 he threw in 2018, he’s now been picked off as many times as he has been in a season since 2013. … Tampa has lost two of its last three heading into next Sunday’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs. In other words, the Bucs are headed in the wrong direction with a third of the season left. The pressure is mounting for a team that’s built to win — now. “I think it’s just a matter of preaching every week that every game is a mustwin at this point in time,” Arians said Tuesday.