17 Games, 10 Networks

In news that surprised absolutely no one, Netflix has secured the rights to the NFL's Christmas games for the next three seasons (I thought it was already part of the TV contract that FOX had Christmas rights, but apparently not anymore).  With Netflix added to the fold, there are now 10 different NFL rightsholders--6 TV networks (CBS, FOX, NBC, ESPN, ABC, NFL Network) and 4 streamers (Amazon Prime, Peacock, ESPN+, Netflix).  And that doesn't even count NFL Sunday Ticket or NFL Red Zone.  It's a good thing that they're required to make games available on over-the-air TV in local markets.  Because it's becoming harder and harder to find all of a team's games!

It'll really be hard for fans of the Kansas City Chiefs to keep track.  The Chiefs won't just play on six different networks, they'll have a game on every day of the week except for Tuesday!  In addition to the traditional Super Bowl champion Thursday night opener (and another Thursday night game), they've got two Monday night games, they're playing on Black Friday against the Raiders, and they have a Saturday game against the Texans before they face the Steelers on Christmas (a Wednesday).  (They will also actually play on Sunday 10 times.)

The NFL is also doubling down on the Jets primetime games even after what happened last year.  They'll try the "Aaron Rodgers opens the season on Monday night" thing again in San Francisco.  And somebody's got a really sick sense of humor because their home game against the Bills is also a Monday night game again.  They've also got two Thursday nights, two Sunday nights and a London game against the Vikings...all before their Week 12 bye.

Dallas usually gets the back-to-back Thursdays with the Thursday night game the week after Thanksgiving, but this year it's the Lions who will.  Detroit will host the Bears and Packers in those two games.  They also get the Sunday night opener in a playoff rematch against their old quarterback Matthew Stafford and the Rams.  The last Monday night game of the season, meanwhile, is an NFC Championship Game rematch in San Francisco on Dec. 30.

Jerry Jones reportedly asked the NFL to make the Cowboys-49ers game the Week 1 Sunday night game.  Well, it's not.  It's a Sunday night game, but it's in Week 8.  Instead, Dallas will begin the season in Cleveland in what will be Tom Brady's first game as FOX's lead analyst.  An interesting choice to say the least.  Speaking of interesting choices, they gave them the Giants on Thanksgiving.  The Bears are the Lions' opponent, so they obviously don't particularly care that both the Giants and Bears sucked last season.

Chicago has, in my opinion, way too many primetime games for a team that wasn't very good last year and probably won't be again.  I'd have to imagine that one of the reasons why is because of quarterback Caleb Williams, who they took No. 1 overall in the Draft.  The Commanders and Patriots also took QB's with the No. 2 and 3 picks, and the Bears play both Washington and New England in a three-week span.

What I find odd is that the Packers, a team that's always a huge national draw, have all of their primetime games backloaded.  After they open the season against the Eagles in Brazil on a Friday night, they have 10 consecutive Sunday afternoon kickoffs.  Then, starting on Thanksgiving, they have four straight national games--back-to-back Thursday nights, a Sunday night in Seattle, a Monday night at home against New Orleans.  Which means if the Packers aren't very good and end up getting flexed out of those games, we won't see them in primetime much at all.

Jacksonville's back-to-back London games seem to be a regular thing now.  They're the visiting team against the Bears (another national game for Chicago) before "hosting" New England a week later.  I must say, if Jaguars want to keep doing that, it makes sense.  Let them stay out there for two weeks, and one of the London road teams is already locked in.  The Germany game, meanwhile, is Giants-Panthers.

When they announced the Wednesday Christmas games, that meant those teams would have to play on Saturday.  It's the same four teams, just with the matchups flipped.  It's Texans-Chiefs and Steelers-Ravens, then Texans-Ravens and Steelers-Chiefs.  What's funny about that is how Houston didn't have a game that wasn't a Sunday at 1:00 kickoff until Week 18 last season, and now they're getting guaranteed back-to-back late season national games (one on a holiday).  This in addition to a Week 2 Sunday night game (why is Bears-Texans the Week 2 Sunday night game, BTW?).

That Saturday date was interesting for two reasons.  The first is because Week 16 is typically when the NFL does that NFL Network tripleheader.  The second is because the expanded College Football Playoff will be playing its first-round games that day.  Well, they're going head-to-head with the CFP, but giving them the Saturday night window.  The NFL Network Saturday tripleheader, meanwhile, got pushed back a week to Week 17.

Speaking of college football, Jim Harbaugh left Michigan after leading the Wolverines to the national title for a return to the NFL ranks with the Chargers.  I thought they might make them the Chiefs' opponent on opening night, but they went with Baltimore, which is coached by Jim's brother, John.  They haven't faced off since Super Bowl XLVII 12 years ago, when John's Ravens beat Jim's 49ers.  Well, guess who they've got the Chargers playing on a Monday night three days before Thanksgiving.

Another rematch worth circling on the calendar is the Super Bowl LVIII rematch between the Chiefs and 49ers in San Francisco.  Surprisingly, it's not in primetime.  They gave it to FOX as "America's Game of the Week" in the late window on Oct. 20.  The 49ers' home games against Dallas, Detroit, the Rams and the Jets are all in primetime, as well as games in Buffalo and Seattle.  Two of those are Thursday night games, too, making San Francisco one of the few teams with multiple short weeks.

One of the articles I saw after the schedule was officially released made a good point about the good teams.  Because the NFL understandably wants to showcase them, they end up with more games in national windows than other teams.  However, because there are becoming more and more national windows, the good teams end up playing crazy schedules with multiple short weeks and multiple primetime appearances.  It's not even remotely consistent.  They aren't complaining about it because there isn't really much they can do, but it can definitely create a competitive disadvantage, especially when there's long travel involved (or if you're playing a team coming off a bye week multiple times).

Those are just some of my initial thoughts about the 2024 NFL schedule, with more to come in my next post after I get a chance to look at it more closely.  I will say, though, the NFL Schedule Release show is getting dumber and dumber.  The NFL itself announces a bunch of games ahead of time, then the individual schedules inevitably trickle out one by one before the show even airs.  Then the show is just three hours of talking.  They don't even actually unveil the schedule!  I know the NFL loves to eventize everything and it's an event.  But the show itself is a colossal waste of time!