Titans-Jaguars proving NFL must review TNF policy
It’s time for the National Football League to change its Thursday Night Football stance.
The National Football League must stop the madness.
Everyone who follows the sport understands that Thursday Night Football is now going anywhere. It is an easy night for the NFL to pull in big ratings with, knowing that college football usually does not have a marquee game on that evening and any Major League Baseball or National Basketball Association contest can be dwarfed.
Calling for the end of Thursday Night Football is a pointless exercise. However, screaming for a change in the way the games are scheduled out has plenty of merit.
Currently, the league makes sure that every team plays one game on Thursday night. It is a must in the schedule, because commissioner Roger Goodell wants each franchise to be showcased in primetime for the good of the fans and certainly, to sell merchandise. If you believe these uniforms are for any other purpose, you are sorely mistaken.
The problem is games like the one this week, between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Tennessee Titans. This is the second consecutive year in which these two teams have squared off on Thursday night late in the season. Why? Because the league does not want to ruin two games by putting Jacksonville in one and Tennessee in another. The NFL would rather submarine one time slot and just pit these two atrocities against each other, hoping the stench will clear in short order.
Instead, Goodell and his minions should scrap the idea of each team needing a game. If the league wants Thursday Night Football to be viable (or as viable as a football game can be when teams have only three days of rest) it needs to take care of the casual fan and put good matchups in front of the nation.
Far too often, America is forced to watch some nonsense like the Washington Redskins and the New York Giants in Week 3. How about when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers visit the St. Louis Rams in Week 15? Get your popcorn, grab the kids, and settle in for Case Keenum against a bad Buccaneers defense in an empty dome.
If franchises complain in owners meetings about not getting their franchise on national television (and they do), Goodell needs to tell them that the television packages would be worth even more if the best teams were constantly featured. Also, how about those teams earn it? The Jaguars and Titans have been horrible for the better part of the last decade. Put a winning product on the field, and your team gets to play under the lights.
Right now? Just turn off the lights.