Titans running back Derick Henry is my picture player of the week for his 212 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns in the Titans overtime win over the Texans last Sunday. With all the talks about which quarterback should be under consideration for league MVP, Henry is making his case that maybe a running back should get the nod this time.
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in several games being shifted around, most notably the originally scheduled Chiefs at Bills game that was supposed to be played last Thursday night but got pushed into being played early Monday evening.
And to be frank, I did not miss there not being a Thursday night game last week.
Understandable why the Chiefs would be playing in a highly visible window due to them winning the Super Bowl last season as well as Patrick Mahomes is their quarterback and the Bills are on the rise in an AFC East that more competitive than in recent seasons, but can you think of any Thursday night game that makes you say, “I want to watch THAT game.”
The next two games – this week’s Giants at Eagles and next week’s Falcons at Panthers – just do not have the wow factor. Despite their lack of offensive prowess, Philadelphia will likely win the NFC East due to the Cowboys losing Dak Prescott for the season due to an ankle injury, the Giants are also without a key offensive player and are one half of bad New York City football teams, and the Football Team is in a category of terrible on its own. Compared to the NFC East, the Panthers are at least competitive but it is looking like the Falcons are building on their legacy of failure after an inauspicious start that led to Dan Quinn being finally fired after an 0-5 start to the season in which they blew sizable double-digit leads.
Keep in mind that the schedule is released in the spring and is based on what happened the previous season as well as which teams will generate the highest viewership for the network the game is airing on. Giants at Eagles: one of those teams is based in one of the largest television markets in the country as well as their historic rivalry. Jaguars at Chargers? You can probably bury that in the late Sunday window.
What is the solution? Allowing for games to be flexed into Thursday night is out of the question. I think a scaled back Thursday night schedule as well as not requiring every team to have one primetime appearance per season is reasonable.
If the NFL wants to make Thursday night worthwhile, it should be an event that does that and not one where they throw anything on to the dart board while hoping that it sticks.
And now the picks
|
|
Me |
|
WEEK 6 |
10-4 |
|
TOTAL |
57-19-1 |
Kickoff times are
Mountain Time
Sunday afternoon
games airing in Denver are noted by (DEN)
Picks are in BOLD
BYE WEEK
Colts, Dolphins,
Ravens, Vikings
THURSDAY NIGHT, FOX/NFL
6:20 PM
Giants at Eagles
FOX 11AM
Packers at Texans (DEN)
Cowboys at Football Team
Lions at Falcons
Panthers at Saints
CBS 11AM
Steelers at Titans (DEN)
Bills at Jets
Browns at Bengals
CBS 2PM
Chiefs at Broncos
(DEN)
Jaguars at Chargers
49ers at Patriots
FOX 2PM
Seahawks at Cardinals
SUNDAY NIGHT, NBC
6:20PM
Buccaneers at Raiders
MONDAY NIGHT,
ESPN 6:15PM
Bears at Rams
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