Injury statuses for the Texans and Patriots have exposed a major flaw in the NFL's postseason scheduling process.
The Houston Texans are gearing up for a highly contested matchup with the New England Patriots in the Divisional Round. Houston will be traveling to New England to play an up-and-coming Patriots team, which is already difficult enough. To make matters worse, Houston will be without Nico Collins, the team's top wide receiver and best weapon on the offensive side of the ball.
Collins is missing the game due to a concussion he suffered while taking on the Pittsburgh Steelers during the Wild Card round. He exited the game and was evaluated for a concussion, and he was quickly placed into concussion protocol.
A similar situation happened with Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez. He was put in concussion protocol after going down with a head injury against the Los Angeles Chargers. Gonzalez will play on Sunday, while Collins has already been ruled out. The difference in the two players' statuses for the big game likely comes down to the fact that Gonzalez played on Sunday, while Collins did not play until Monday night.
The league's concussion protocol usually takes a player 5 days to clear. There are five phases of the protocol, although details aren't readily available for fans to examine. It is hard to complete the protocol within a week, especially when a player has only 6 days between contests. That leaves little room for error.
Gonzalez and the Patriots are the beneficiaries of the league scheduling the Texans for Monday night during the Wild Card round. The league implemented a Monday night game during the Wild Card round when the postseason field expanded to 7 teams from each conference. There are 2 games on Saturday, 3 games on Sunday, and 1 on Monday. This situation ahead of the Texans matchup with the Patriots involving Gonzalez and Collins should force the league to consider getting rid of the Monday night game.
There is a chance Collins would have been available for the Divisional round had his game been played earlier in the weekend. The league could have 3 games on Saturday and 3 on Sunday, and that is a possibility moving forward, after this scenario has exposed a flaw in the postseason scheduling.
A change like this would require the league to jump through a bunch of hoops. The individual networks play a role in postseason scheduling, and there are likely complications with certain broadcast rights. However, the playoffs are of the utmost importance. Teams can't be at a scheduling disadvantage like this in the playoffs. The Texans are now forced to play without one of their best players, while the Patriots get the benefit of having their best defensive player back on the field.