NFL flexes upcoming 'Thursday Night Football' game for first time ever

[Vambo]

NFL flexes upcoming 'Thursday Night Football' game for first time ever (msn.com)

 

For the first time in league history, the NFL is flexing a "Thursday Night Football" game. 

The Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals were scheduled to play the Thursday night game during Week 16, but the NFL is replacing that matchup with the Denver Broncos and the Los Angeles Chargers.

The change is unprecedented because of how drastically different team preparation is between a Thursday and Sunday game. 

Teams and players generally don’t like playing on Thursday because of a lack of recovery time and preparation can lead to injuries. 

The Browns defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 24-19 Thursday to improve to 3-8 and are closer to the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft than playoff contention.

The Bengals, despite Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase playing well, are 4-7 and have an uphill climb to make the playoffs. 

The Chargers (7-3) and Broncos (6-5) both occupy playoff spots in the AFC and their Week 16 matchup could be pivotal for determining seeding, not to mention better ratings for the NFL. 

The current seeding in the AFC:

1. Kansas City Chiefs (9-1)

2. Buffalo Bills (9-2)

3. Pittsburgh Steelers (8-3)

4. Houston Texans (7-4)

5. Los Angeles Chargers (7-3)

6. Baltimore Ravens (7-4)

7. Denver Broncos (6-5)

The Indianapolis Colts (5-6) and Miami Dolphins (4-6) are on the outside looking in. 

The Chargers will be home for the Thursday night matchup against the Broncos Dec.19. Both teams are home the prior week, potentially another reason the NFL made the schedule change. 

 

 

[Orion]

Sadly, it makes sense...competition-wise (and ratings-wise).  But fans who bought tickets and made travel plans are screwed however.

[ballpeen]

On 11/22/2024 at 9:50 PM, Orion said:

Sadly, it makes sense...competition-wise (and ratings-wise).  But fans who bought tickets and made travel plans are screwed however.

That is the biggie.  The night games are premium in the view of fans.  It isn't easy for fans to start changing airline tickets, hotel reservations, and possibly vacation time.  It's bad enough switching a day Sunday game to a night game, but not all that hard. I suppose there are a few dummies who flew in to watch the game then fly out the same night.  The same with people who drove a fair amount of distance, but that isn't impossible to remedy except for a small few.

 

Here is a travel tip:  Don't prepay your room to save $15.  Leave open the option to cancel the room.  If that $15 is that important to you, you probably don't need to be going in the first place.

 

JMO

[Bob806]

23 hours ago, ballpeen said:

That is the biggie.  The night games are premium in the view of fans.  It isn't easy for fans to start changing airline tickets, hotel reservations, and possibly vacation time.  It's bad enough switching a day Sunday game to a night game, but not all that hard. I suppose there are a few dummies who flew in to watch the game then fly out the same night.  The same with people who drove a fair amount of distance, but that isn't impossible to remedy except for a small few.

 

Here is a travel tip:  Don't prepay your room to save $15.  Leave open the option to cancel the room.  If that $15 is that important to you, you probably don't need to be going in the first place.

 

JMO

$15 is the equivalent of 1.17 beers in Cleveland Browns Stadium 🤣

[syd]

Thursday Night Football' game for first time ever

well because this is the first year ever they were allowed to do so