Steelers-Ravens game is on the move again, heading to Wednesday afternoon

Are you ready for some football? Some Wednesday afternoon football?

The NFL is postponing the Pittsburgh Steelers game against the Baltimore Ravens for a third time, shifting it to Wednesday at Heinz Field. The game will start at the unusual time of 3:40 p.m. on NBC, presumably so it won’t interfere with the network’s telecast of the 88th annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony at Rockefeller Center in New York.

The game, which originally was scheduled to be played Thanksgiving night, was shifted to Sunday and then to Tuesday because of the covid-19 outbreak throughout the Ravens organization.

The third postponement will give the Ravens another day to get the coronavirus spread under control. On Monday, the team removed four players from the reserve/covid-19 list, but added four more. As it stands, they could be without 19 players when they face the Steelers. However, running backs Mark Ingram and J.K. Dobbins are expected to be cleared to play against the Steelers.

The latest postponement also has forced the NFL to move the Steelers’ game in Week 13 against the Washington Football Team back a day. It will be played Monday at 5 p.m.

The Steelers and Ravens will be returning from a nine-day layoff if the Wednesday kickoff takes place. The Steelers haven’t played since defeating the Jacksonville Jaguars, 27-3, on Nov. 22, to improve to 10-0. The Ravens lost to the Tennessee Titans, 30-24, in overtime to drop to 6-4.

“I think the main focus is we don’t care where we play,” defensive captain Cameron Heyward said Sunday. “We don’t care how it’s played. We just want to play. When we get the all clear from the NFL, we will be ready, and that is all we can expect. Let our preparation reflect that and, when we do that, we can show it on the field.”

A win by the Steelers would eliminate the Ravens from the AFC North title race.

Barring another change in plans, the Wednesday game will conclude one of the most unusual weeks in NFL history. On Sunday, the Denver Broncos were forced to play against the New Orleans Saints with a practice squad wide receiver at quarterback, and the San Francisco 49ers learned they would be unable to practice or play at their home facility in Santa Clara, Calif., for at least three weeks because of coronavirus.

The Broncos had to use former Wake Forest quarterback-turned-receiver Kendall Hinton at wide receiver when three other quarterbacks joined Jeff Driskel on the reserve/covid-19 list for violating protocol by not wearing masks during a team meeting.

The NFL viewed the Broncos’ situation as different from the Ravens in that the covid-19 outbreak was contained. The league reportedly denied the Broncos’ request to have the game postponed at least one day so they could add a healthy quarterback.

The NFL has maintained it would postpone games for safety and not competitive reasons, and it believed the Broncos would be rewarded for their violation of league protocols. Although the Ravens suspended a strength and conditioning coach for violating protocols, the NFL has continued to postpone the game out of concern the outbreak hasn’t been contained. At least one member of the Ravens organization has tested positive for covid-19 or been placed on the reserve list nine days in a row.

After a three-day break because of the postponements, the Steelers resumed practicing Sunday and conducted a walk-through Monday morning in anticipation of the Tuesday kickoff. The Ravens had a walkthrough Monday night and are expected to practice Tuesday.

The NFL hasn’t played a game on a Wednesday since the 2012 season opener when the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants opened against the Dallas Cowboys. That game originally was scheduled to be played on the NFL’s traditional Thursday opener but was moved up a day because President Barack Obama was scheduled to speak at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday night.

Before that, the NFL hadn’t played a Wednesday game since 1948.

The Steelers played the first four games of the franchise’s inaugural season on Wednesdays in 1933 when they were known as the Pirates.