Amazon is set to take over “Thursday Night Football” broadcasts in 2022 and the NFL is planning for the Week 2 debut to hit the ground running with a premier matchup.
In Peter King’s latest Football Morning in America column, he details that the NFL wants to make an impression on Amazon Executive Chairman Jeff Bezos in order to show their newest business partner that investing in “Thursday Night Football” was a worthwhile and profitable venture. It was quite an investment too, with reports of Amazon paying upwards of $1 billion per year to exclusively stream Thursday night games outside of local broadcast networks. They’ve also handed out some big contracts to broadcasters Kirk Herbstreit and Al Michaels.
It makes plenty of sense why the NFL would want a big game to kick off this new era of “Thursday Night Football.” According to King, they’re targeting the Kansas City Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes for one-half of the opening matchup. He also predicts that an AFC West team — either the Denver Broncos or Los Angeles Chargers —could be the opponent.
“Now for the Amazon opener. I’ve heard they want Kansas City and the Patrick Mahomes star power. Smart choice, if they can get it. As for the foe, I’m guessing Denver if the Broncos don’t make the opener, or the rejuvenated and explosive Chargers. Russell Wilson or Justin Herbert. Three times Herbert and Mahomes have faced off, and high-scoring tight games (margins of 3, 6 and 6) have resulted. Traditionally, the Week 2 Thursday-nighter has been a repository of mediocrity. This year, just watch: it will be an homage to Bezos.”
With how competitive everyone expects the AFC West to be this season, it’d certainly make sense for one of their games to be the Thursday night opener. I’d wager that a team like the Chargers would make a better opponent than the Broncos. In the early goings of the season, Denver will still be finding their footing with a new quarterback, roster and head coach. It’d be disappointing if they trotted the Broncos out there only for the Chiefs to complete their 14th consecutive victory against them. Meanwhile, Los Angeles and Kansas City have played much closer games in recent seasons as King notes.
We’ll surely find out more about this game as we inch closer to May, which is when the NFL is expected to release its 2022 schedule in its entirety.
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