Once every year I set aside a column to hype my Wednesday Night Football concept, which would (a) stop forcing players to compete on very short weeks (Sunday-to-Thursday), while (b) granting the NFL more revenue and (c) giving NFL fans / fantasy managers a little extra excitement in our lives. Basically, a win-win-win.
Because of COVID, barring a last-minute change, we're about to see only the second WNF game in more than 70 years. Granted, it'll actually be WDF (Wednesday Daytime Football). And the circumstances are more disconcerting than exciting. But in future seasons, Wednesday games are entirely doable if the league scheduled intra-divisional matchups on Wednesdays and Thursdays, gave those teams bye weeks leading up to their mid-week games (ensuring no short weeks), and ensured every team played the same number of mid-week games.
Once a year I dust off the schedule below. Here's hoping Wednesday football--under more sane circumstances--can become a reality.
In the meantime, today's event probably shouldn't be happening, and probably wouldn't have happened if the league had already been forced to cancel games. Some Ravens reportedly threatened to go on strike if they'd been forced to play Tuesday, which apparently led to the switch to Wednesday. Baltimore learned of more positive tests while on the plane to Pittsburgh, which is incredibly troubling. If in the coming days there are more positive tests for the Ravens--and in particular, an outbreak within the Steelers--it could be enough to blow up the season. Everyone is gambling that this will work out, and as I've been saying since the summer, the players hold all the cards. If a critical mass decide they've had enough, the season will shut down. So the stakes today--and in the ensuing days--couldn't be higher.
As for actual fantasy implications, this should be a comfortable Pittsburgh win. RGIII is simply a sub-par backup quarterback, and he's inheriting an underperforming receiving corps and facing a fierce defense. It will be a surprise if he hits double-digit fantasy points, and it probably hinges on whether his dump-offs to running backs lead to big gains.
Speaking of which, Mark Ingram and J.K. Dobbins are now eligible to return, but according to NFL Network reporter Tom Pelissero, they're "not allowed on the team plane because they're still in COVID protocols." This year's NFL policy is that visiting teams have to arrive the day before. So based on the letter of the law, Ingram and Dobbins would have to miss today's game if they didn't board the plane. Then again, perhaps they'll be granted waivers based on the circumstances. Who knows. If they're in the lineup, the talented yet one-dimensional Gus Edwards would go from a TD-dependent RB3 to a TD-dependent RB4/5.
For the Steelers, there's no good reason to hold back on Big Ben or his three superb wideouts (assuming JuJu is good to go). Eric Ebron, as always, is a nice streamer. I say all this on the assumption nearly all of you played it safe and didn't bank on today's game happening. But for DFS folks and gutsy managers, today still matters.
