NFL to play on Christmas Day (a Wednesday) odds this is Broncos-Saints? (1 Viewer)

[VPCajun]

Goodell would love to make both teams play with two days rest, lol

AK.... will... be... READY!

 

[Eeyore]

They'll probably pick teams that are likely to be terrible so that the short turnaround doesn't affect playoff chances.

Saints/Broncos is probable.

 

[DerrickB]

Goodell would love to make both teams play with two days rest, lol

I think Broncos vs Saints could be a week 1 game.

 

[B4YOU]

That's a tough run for those teams.

 

[Saint Jack]

I think Broncos vs Saints could be a week 1 game.

It’s gonna be a Sunday Night game.
A coach of 10 plus years returning to a former team has only happened a handful of times.

 

[WilliamBrees]

Since this is two games this takes away being part of the TNF package. It also implies one is on Fox, the other on CBS.

I think Steelers will be on CBS since their off-season is going to get them exposure on that network again. I can see it being the Chargers.

 

[WilliamBrees]

It’s gonna be a Sunday Night game.
A coach of 10 plus years returning to a former team has only happened a handful of times.

It's not going to be Sunday night. Though the league may obligated to give us a SNF if they give Atlanta one.

 

[NEBaghead]

Saints Broncos will be a SNF or MNF game early in the season when both teams have something to play for. Payton returning will draw ratings for the people who like him and hate him.

 

[Rouxble]

That's a tough run for those teams.

It’s one thing to play on three days rest in the first few weeks of the season, and another to play on three days rest after 15 games of attrition with the playoffs just a few short weeks away.

 

[Waymer]

That's a tough run for those teams.

Obviously I don't have access to the stats, but I'll play along and say that there hasn't been an increase in injuries due to short weeks/rest.

However, I'd look beyond injuries that occur on Thursday night and also look at the product and availability. Sure, maybe Player X didn't get hurt on the 4 day turnaround, but what if that short turnaround was the reason Player Y & Z couldn't dress, when they likely would have had a chance on regular rest 3-4 days later?

I don't know that there's a great answer though without dramatically altering the schedule/rules. I think most of us will admit we like seeing football on TV, in particular the Saints. Seeing the Saints in a national window, even TNF, is exciting.

And people are going to watch. Yellowstone draws 11.6M viewers (2023 data) as the highest rated non-football (recurring) show. Amazon averaged 11.9M viewers last year with some bad games. There's just too much demand from us fans to ever imagine things changing drastically.