There is no greater wildcard for an NFL team than an international game. Traveling overseas can be the great equalizer and the difference can come down to which team acclimates more quickly and can adjust better by gameday. So it would stand to reason that the sooner a team can get to their gameday location, the more time they have to be ready.
But don’t tell the NFL that. Pittsburgh Steelers beat writer Gerry Dulac said the Steelers wanted to leave for their Ireland trip to take on the Minnesota Vikings early in the week and the NFL blocked their request.
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“FYI, the Steelers wanted to go over early in the week, but the NFL said no and making each team arrive at the same time,” Dulac wrote. “I don’t know the exact reason for the change — yes, the Vikings as the ‘home’ team got to London early in the week in 2013 — maybe it has to do with something about a competitive advantage. But it wasn’t the Steelers’ decision.”
This is just another way the NFL wants to control teams. If one team feels like they can be better prepared by leaving early, they should have that option and on the flip side, if a team wants to wait longer, they should have that option as well.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Wire: Steelers vs Vikings: NFL blocks Pittsburgh’s plans to leave for Ireland early