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An Ode to NFL Thursday Night Football

By Zac Wassink

Oct 19, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning (18) reacts after throwing his second touchdown pass in the first quarter against the San Francisco 49ers at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 19, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning (18) reacts after throwing his second touchdown pass in the first quarter against the San Francisco 49ers at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports /
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A defense of those glorious NFL Thursday Night Football games.

I love the National Football League’s Thursday Night Football.

Absolutely love it.

Not everybody shares my admiration. Players and coaches complain about the short weeks that precede those contests. Viewers, reporters, analysts, and just about anybody with some sort of social media account hit out at the quality of the games. Some have suggested that the NFL should eliminate Thursday Night Football entirely as soon as 2015.

Odds are, of course, that those people are going to be disappointed.

The NFL is the undisputed king of the North American professional sports world. People would watch games every night of the week if they aired. It would be a massive understatement to suggest that Thursday Night Football airing on CBS and the NFL Network in Weeks 1-8 of the current campaign has been a success.

That’s right. Millions upon millions of people tune in once out of every seven days in order to watch “bad” games that are “blowouts” because teams can only prep for three days before they take the field.

We’re still early into the weekly Thursday Night Football experiment. Week 8 of the 2014 NFL season will kick off on October 22 when the San Diego Chargers face off with the Denver Broncos. It’s possible that the critics will be proven right and that the majority of the games will go on to be dumpster-fire dog-with-fleas terrible when all is said and done.

Looking back at what has thus far occurred, though, it hasn’t been nearly as bad as some would lead you to believe.

The Week 1 Seattle Seahawks vs. Green Bay Packers game doesn’t count. Neither team played the previous Sunday, both had the same amount of time to prepare for the contest, and the Seahawks were riding high coming off of a Super Bowl victory AND they were playing at home. Seattle would have defeated any team in the league by multiple scores on that night.

Things were always going to be wonky when the Pittsburgh Steelers traveled to the Baltimore Ravens for that Week 2 showdown. Those two clubs are division rivals that truly don’t like each other, and the Ravens entered that contest with an “us against the world” mentality considering the turmoil surrounding the team at that time.

Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports /

The Atlanta Falcons beating down the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 3 could be the first legitimate example of a Thursday Night Football game being over before halftime because of when it occurred. Both teams have been lousy in 2014, though, and that game took place in Atlanta. It’s possible the Falcons would have routed the Bucs had that game been played on any Sunday afternoon of this season.

Nobody can blame when the game was played for the New York Giants crushing the Washington Redskins in Week 4. Kirk Cousins has been so awful as a replacement for the injured Robert Griffin III that he was recently replaced by Colt McCoy — yes, that Colt McCoy. Thursday night. Sunday night. Monday night. Cousins wasn’t getting the job done on any night.

The Green Bay Packers beat the Minnesota Vikings 42-10 on October 2. Green Bay is 5-2 with Aaron Rodgers healthy and starting at quarterback. Minnesota was reluctantly forced to go to rookie QB Teddy Bridgewater ahead of schedule, and the Vikes sit at 2-5.

Moving along.

Don’t look now, but the last two week’s of Thursday Night Football have provided entertaining products. The Indianapolis Colts threatened to roll over the Houston Texans in Week 6, but Houston did well to rally from behind at home. Indianapolis went on to win 33-28.

Last Thursday’s game was great. What has been a lackluster New York Jets side throughout the season gave the New England Patriots a real scare, and the J-E-T-S were but a converted last-second field goal away from completing the upset.

Yes, the system needs fixes. Thursday Night Football games require what are, on paper, better match-ups moving forward. The NFL needs to find a way to feature teams coming off of a Bye on Thursday nights as often as possible.

That said, there’s no reason to abandon the concept.

Thursday Night Football breaks up the work week for diehard NFL fans. Mondays and Thursdays go by quicker for those who follow teams playing on one of those nights. Add in the fact that college football has begun to air on weeknights and that the NHL and NBA are back on TV, and it is a golden time of the sports year.

I get that not everybody who follows the NFL 21 Sundays a year is football crazy. The majority of casual fans don’t watch NFL Network on a daily basis. Heck, not all who watch football on Sundays go out of the way to view games on Mondays and Thursdays. For those who crave as much NFL as they can get in 24-hour periods, however, Thursday Night Football is an absolute gem.

If nothing else, TNF has given us arguably the best theme song in pro sports.

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