The Las Vegas Raiders were scheduled to host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday Night Football in Week 7, but the NFL announced some schedule changes and the game is now moved up to start at 1:05 p.m. PT on Fox with the Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals now scheduled to play Sunday night.
In a press release, the NFL explained why they decided to make these changes.
“These decisions were made out of an abundance of caution to ensure that a game would be available for fans on Sunday Night Football. We expect the Buccaneers-Raiders game to be played on Sunday afternoon. Scheduling decisions are made to ensure the health and safety of players, coaches and game day personnel and in consultation with medical experts.”
The Raiders have been dealing with some coronavirus (COVID-19) issues this week as Damon Arnette and Trent Brown both tested positive, forcing the team to send a number of players home from practice until they get further test results.
That doesn’t mean they won’t be able to play this weekend, but there certainly is a possibility that the game will be postponed if more positive tests show up. Because of that, the schedule change makes sense as they now can still have a Sunday Night Football game and could easily move the Raiders’ game to Monday or Tuesday if need be.
Hopefully all of the Raiders’ other players test negative and that isn’t necessary, but that remains to be seen and likely won’t be decided until the weekend.
