That Thursday feeling

You know what grinds my gears? Thursday night football.

On the face of it, a midweek game is great for fans, providing a fix of pro-football at a time of the week when many of us have complained about the lack of exactly that over the years. How many of us have lamented the monotony of those six days of downtime between Monday Night Football and Sunday afternoon, watching hours of college ball to sate the need to watch ANYBODY play football of any description.

So Thursday Night Football is great right?

Wrong.

First of all, let's get one thing clear - I'm not bothered about the fact I have to stay up until 5am to watch the end of the game. I do it every weekend, so my sleeping pattern is quite condusive to more football on TV. Anyone who tells you otherwise is probably my girlfriend, who doesn't take kindly to my insistence that I must watch games in a male-only surrounding.

Nor do I have a problem with the NFL Network's coverage, which by and large is excellent. The commentary team of Bob Papa and Cris Collinsworth fully warrants primetime exposure. Certainly it compares favourably with the atrocious ESPN Monday Night Football crew of Tarico (mundane), Jaworski (tolerable) and Kornheiser (Unbearable). The pre-game build up can run a little long at 3 hours, which can feel like overkill when you have a game such as the Bengals at Steelers
matchup from this week. On the other hand, it's fairly acceptable for a station that broadcasts non-stop NFL productions to dedicate that kind of time to a game. Finally, the analysis team of Rich Eisen, Marshall Faulk, Steve Mariucci and Deion Sanders works very well, having a great deal more to say, and a lot more chemistry than it's CBS or Fox counterparts.

No, the presentation is fine, and in fact I'd love to see Collinsworth in particular get a shot at the big time with NBC or ESPN. He filled in for John Madden during his 'break' a few weeks ago, so there are signs that indicate he could potentially be the natural successor to Madden when time catches up with the big man.

No, my problem actually lies with the practicalities of football on Thursday night for the teams involved. Thursday's game, despite the scoreline, was poor to watch, in part because of the sheer lack of pressure on both quarterbacks. Admittedly, the Bengals are abysmal in that department anyway, but for the Steelers to get the only sack of the game against a poor offensive line? Similarly, the Broncos @ Browns game from week 10 generated a solitary sack. Good line play? Perhaps, but in the trenches, stamina matters, more than anywhere, and could the short weeks be affecting the defensive line's ability to generate pressure?

Regardless, it's not condusive to good football from a fan's perspective. Many of the games chosen for 'primetime' may be 'intriguing' matchups, but any game can be pitched in that sense if a channel wants to do so. In reality, there was little to offer you on Thursday night, unless you were a Pittsburgh or Cincinatti fan. In that sense, it feels a little forced watching football on Thursdays.

So what about making a concerted effort to push Saturday night football? I would love to see it, because I believe there are planty of fans that watch college football not because they are avid fans of that level of the game, but because there is nothing else on football-wise. Sure there is more competition, but shoehorning a game into a midweek slot that gives players just one practice before a game doesn't seem like it's got teams' best interests at heart. A telling quote came from Chris Cooley earlier in the season, when he said that he sometimes feels the effects of games the following Friday. With that in mind, how can the NFL justify asking players to sacrifice their bodies for the cash cow of it's Network? There is an alternative, and it's called Saturday Night Football. Remember the classic Pats at Giants matchup last year? The game finished 38-35, cementing the team's perfect regular season record, and it scored massively in the ratings too.

A look back through the last three years shows that just one Saturday game has been won by more than a Touchdown. If it's excitement you're after, then you'd be advised to wait for week 16 and the Baltimore at Dallas game - the only NFL matchup on a Saturday this season.