Thursday Night Football has a well deserved reputation for forgettable games. The NFL has long used Thursday as a test kitchen to see just how much fans are willing to wolf down when there’s limited competition. While the first Thursday of the season is reserved for a stellar matchup between Super Bowl contenders, the rest of the year-long slate is perhaps best known as the place the Jaguars get their contractually-obligated national broadcasts.
This doesn’t mean there aren’t good games on Thursdays, just that they can be tough to find. The introduction to each week of NFL action is generally a low-wattage showdown with few postseason implications. While a fair chunk of Thursday Night Football’s broadcasts will feature playoff teams, postseason previews and division-deciding matchups are generally uncommon. Some of that is thanks to how a 32-team, 17-game schedule shakes out. And some is because hey, it’s Thursday, what else are you gonna watch?
Let’s talk about each of the 17 Thursday night games the NFL is set to unveil upon the world. Some will be great. Others will exceed expectations. And Falcons-Panthers, uh, might be fun? I dunno, we’ll see.