In the latest installment of Roger Goodell being at odds with NFL players, the commissioner doubled down on the league's commitment to Thursday Night Football. Right on cue, a player ripped the Thursday games.
Giants captain Jonathan Casillas tweeted "Thursday night football sucks" in response to a tweet about the NFL's commitment to the games.
Smh. Thursday night games suck. https://t.co/36t90F1Z1g
-- Jonathan Casillas (@jcasillas52) February 1, 2017
The players' gripes about Thursday games are obvious, as a full week of recovery kaçak bahis time between games is condensed to three days. Fans have complained about the quality of Thursday night games, as they often feature unappealing divisional matchups.
Goodell combatted both of those points during his "State of the League" address on Wednesday afternoon in Houston.
"There has been a lot of discussion about the safety of the game, but we have seen absolutely no indication there is any further risk of injuries and injury rates are actually slightly lower on Thursday night than they are on Sundays," Goodell said. "And as it relates to the quality of the game, we have seen that be incredibly positive also. We have seen less turnovers. We have seen less penalties. In almost every aspect of what you would say is the quality of the game, we have seen high-quality football on Thursday night."
Calling B.S. on Goodell
Let's tackle both of those points.
I don't have access to the injury data, so you can take Goodell at his word at your own risk (ask Patriots fans how that works out). I'm not sure how exactly the injury rates are calculated, but the fact that most players complain about the increased physical demands of the short turnaround would seem to have some basis in reality. And it would take a real stretch to explain why injury rates would be "slightly lower" when players have half the time to recover between games.
As for the quality of football, once again it's difficult to use numbers to overrule what everyone can clearly observe. The reality is that many NFL games stink each week. But it's easy to hide a stinker at 1 p.m. on Sunday in just the Nashville and Jacksonville markets. But when Titans-Jaguars is the only game broadcast to a national audience, it leaves a more lasting impression that shapes perception.
Goodell did identify the true reason for Thursday Night Football's continued existence.
"It ended up being the No. 2 rated show in all of primetime on NBC this year and No. 4 on CBS," Goodell said.
TV ratings equal advertising dollars which puts money in the pockets of everyone in the NFL. If players like Casillas really want to put an end to Thursday games, they'll take a firmer stance in the next set of labor negotiations.
Dan Duggan may be reached at dduggan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @DDuggan21. Find our Giants coverage on Facebook.
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