2012 Thursday Night Football Analysis

One of the rumors of the past year or so was the expanding of the Thursday Night Football package on NFL Network. The TNF package had originally been set up to start on Thanksgiving and continue all the way to the end of the season. NFL Network even had some Saturday Night primetime games sprinkled in there as well. A number of years ago, the league scrapped pretty much all of the Saturday Night games, with the exception of one, and added a few more weeks onto the TNF package with games starting in early November. There was a thought during the lockout negotiations that the owners and players were going to look to add more TNF games to increase revenue in hopes to make a better deal for both sides during last year's collective bargaining process. The lockout ended, a 10-year labor deal was announced, but there was no mention of the expansion of the TNF slate of games on NFL Network. This past fall the NFL announced that it was going to add more weeks to the NFL Network Thursday Night Football series, and the games would start as early as Week 2. Also, the league stated that every team will be given a chance to be on primetime this year, so teams that missed out on being selected for Monday Night and Sunday Night Football will get their chance on the Thursday Night circuit. At first glance, it seems that adding more games to the TNF package could be a little overkill, but I think Thursday Night has proven to be a great spot for games in the NFL weekend. It gives you something to look forward to as you head into the NFL weekend. Monday Night Football is the last chance for football that week, but it also signals the start of another long week leading up to the next set of games. A full season of Thursday Night Football gives a chance to get that football fix heading into the weekend. Let's take a look at the 2012 Thursday Night Football Schedule.....

Week 2- 9/13/12
Chicago at Green Bay
Analysis: Great way to start the Thursday Night Football schedule. A highly anticipated battle between two longtime rivals from Lambeau Field. You can't ask for a better start to Week 2 than this one.

Week 3- 9/20/12
New York Giants at Carolina
Analysis: A really intriguing matchup for the second week of TNF. The defending champs head into Carolina to take on Cam Newton and the upstart Panthers. This is going to be a really fun game to watch, and NFL Network has really good games back to back.

Week 4- 9/27/12
Cleveland at Baltimore
Analysis: You knew to expect some divisional matchups on TNF, but this one is going to be a tough sell. Hopefully, the Browns can get off to a decent start, so this game might have some juice, but this game isn't on par with the first two games of TNF.

Week 5- 10/4/12
Arizona at St. Louis
Analysis: Awful, awful game for NFL Network. I know they have to get every team involved in a primetime game, but this NFC West matchup is simply brutal. Do yourself a favor and check out the college football game on ESPN that night.

Week 6- 10/11/12
Pittsburgh at Tennessee
Analysis: After two rough weeks, NFL Network bounces back with a solid Thursday nighter. I like this matchup a lot, and this game will be a really hard-nosed game featuring two teams that play similar styles. Good game to start Week 6.

Week 7- 10/18/12
Seattle at San Francisco
Analysis: Two NFC West games in three weeks on TNF. That is pretty bad in my opinion. At least this game features a team that should be in contention for the NFC Title against a team that is scrappy and competitive.

Week 8- 10/25/12
Tampa Bay at Minnesota
Analysis: The hits just keep on coming for NFL Network. A game featuring two teams that had a combined record of 7-25 last year are battling out on primetime. At least have the Buccaneers take on NFC South rivals Atlanta, New Orleans, or Carolina in this spot. The least they could have done with the Vikings is pit them against their longtime enemies the Packers, Bears or Lions in a Thursday night game. What was the thought process in putting this game on the TNF schedule?

Week 9- 11/1/12
Kansas City at San Diego
Analysis: The Thursday Night Football package might be the landing ground for divisional matchups. Both of these teams should be contenders in the AFC West this year, so this game has some juice to it. It stops the bleeding from the prior two weeks as well.

Week 10- 11/8/12
Indianapolis at Jacksonville
Analysis: With the exception of last year, these two teams usually have really entertaining games. The Andrew Luck factor will give this game some pop, and hopefully the teams are exceeding their preseason expectations by the time this one rolls around.

Week 11- 11/15/12
Miami at Buffalo
Analysis: On paper this game looks pretty bad, but when you peel back the layers, there are some interesting elements to this matchup. I think the Bills will surprise some people, and maybe the Fish aren't going to be as bad as many people think. Plus, this game is a primetime game in Buffalo, so you know that the crowd is going to be fired up and in a frenzy for kickoff. This game could be pretty decent.

Week 13- 11/29/12
New Orleans at Atlanta
Analysis: This one will be a very interesting game. How far will these two teams have fallen by the time this get gets played? Will both teams continue to dominate the NFC South like in years past? Will they both be playoff contenders? These are some of the questions that will surround this game. On the surface this looks like a really good matchup for late November.

Week 14- 12/6/12
Denver at Oakland
Analysis: Obviously, I love this game because it involves the Broncos, but the scene is always crazy in the Black Hole for a primetime game. It is a huge divisional matchup with two longtime rivals going at it. Also, did I mention Peyton Manning is involved?

Week 15- 12/13/12
Cincinnati at Philadelphia
Analysis: Not exactly the way you would want to end up the TNF package. It will be hard for the Bengals to meet their results from last year, and this AFC-NFC matchup doesn't provide too much sizzle for a critical late season game.