Spiritually, Week 10’s disgusting primetime NFL schedule feels like the worst nationally broadcast lineup the league has ever foisted upon its fans. Technically, however, it isn’t even the worst slate of marquee games in the past 13 months.
From a straight wins and losses perspective, Week 10 — featuring a Thursday night game between the Carolina Panthers and Chicago Bears, a Sunday night matchup between the New York Jets and Las Vegas Raiders and a Monday Night Football battle between the Denver Broncos and Buffalo Bills — barely cracks the top 10 when it comes to overall unwatchability. Two of these teams have at least .500 records, and while that doesn’t reflect the fact the Raiders are starting a fourth-round rookie or that the Bills are spiraling or that the Broncos could implode without warning at any second, it at least suggests things could be worse.
And friends, they have been. By breaking down the records of Sunday, Thursday and Monday night participants, we can pinpoint just what the worst week of primetime football since 2013 actually was — and it’s a level of football significantly below what fans will be subject to in Week 10.
Which teams qualified for this buffet of mediocrity that left fans flipping the channel over to wrestling or the dying remnants of must-see TV? Let’s run down the top 10, in order from moderately hopeless to thoroughly gross.