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The NFL has decided to add five more games to their Thursday night schedule. They will now show 13 games on NFL Network from weeks 2-15, skipping week 12 (NBC will now air the Thanksgiving night game).
"Adding these games to the NFL Network schedule will give more players, teams, and cities the primetime stage," Commissioner Goodell said. "Our fans can now get an early start on the NFL weekend in the season's first 15 weeks."
Almost everything about Thursday night games is terrible. For one, it gives players a needlessly short amount of time between games. Last year, the Eagles got royally screwed having to travel all the way to Seattle on a short week and got blown out as a result. It's just an awful spot for teams.
It's awful for fantasy football because you usually aren't setting your lineups until Friday or Saturday until after all the injury reports are out. Same for doing pick 'em leagues.
They're not fun to watch. Despite what the Raj says, fans don't want an early start to the NFL weekend. All the games on Sunday and one on Monday is part of the reason the NFL is so great. I don't want to watch NFL games during the week.
But in the end none of this matters. More games on different nights means more money and since these games are on the NFL's own channel, that cash goes straight to the league.