Terrible Slate Of NFL Games Are Coming At You This Week And It Begins Thursday Night

The good news from the NFL is that last week’s slate of games was awesome, led by the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs matchup that drew 31.1 million viewers on CBS to represent the highest viewership of any game so far this 2024 season.

But if we’re giving you the good news, you know what’s coming next.

ORCHARD PARK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 17: James Cook #4 of the Buffalo Bills celebrates with Josh Allen #17 after scoring a touchdown in the second quarter of the game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Highmark Stadium on November 17, 2024 in Orchard Park, New York. The Bills beat the Chiefs 30-21. (Photo by Lauren Leigh Bacho/Getty Images)

NFL Offers One Good Matchup

This weekend is not so promising. 

The NFL’s slate of games this weekend has the uninviting look of a greenish leftover meatloaf pulled out of the refrigerator in desperation seven weeks after it was originally cooked. So, not good.

Indeed, Week 12 could offer the weakest slate of NFL games of the entire season in that only one game – the Los Angeles Chargers hosting the Baltimore Ravens – will pit two teams with winning records against each other. 

And we have to wait until Monday night for that one.

The rest of Week 12 mostly gives us a bunch of games in which good teams are favored to feed off of bad teams, or middling teams are merely trying to stay afloat for a playoff spot that probably won’t materialize. It’s not exactly must-see stuff.

Oct 20, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA;  Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin (right) congratulates quarterback Russell Wilson (3) on his touchdown pass against the New York Jets during the second quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Steelers Versus Browns Not Compelling

And it begins Thursday night. 

The Pittsburgh Steelers are playing the Cleveland Browns on Thursday. And, sorry, but this is more than just an 8-2 team visiting a 2-8 team. This is typical of what we’re about to see this weekend.

It’s a  meeting of a Steelers team that’s won five consecutive games and has found a new dimension to its offense since the insertion of Russell Wilson at quarterback, against a Browns team that has lost its quarterback for the season, traded away some of its best players, and has dropped seven of its last eight games. 

The matchup, for years a huge rivalry game for both teams for multiple reasons, doesn’t sound quite so inviting now.

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – OCTOBER 27: Patrick Mahomes #15, Travis Kelce #87, and Joe Thuney #62 of the Kansas City Chiefs celebrate after Kelce’s receiving touchdown in the second quarter of a game against the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium on October 27, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Chiefs Look To Get Back On Course

And then we’re off to a Sunday afternoon in which the pickings don’t seem any more appetizing.

I mean, you may be able to get excited about watching the Chiefs (9-1) trying to regain their footing after losing to the Bills last week. But does anyone believe the challenge of the Carolina Panthers (3-7) is compelling?

Are we all excited about the Texans (7-4) increasing their AFC South lead against the Titans (2-8)?

About the so-so Broncos (6-5) renewing their age-old rivalry with the wilting Raiders (2-8)?

Or maybe folks can get fired up about some mediocre and likely inconsistent football from the Dolphins (4-6) at the Patriots (3-8), or the Buccaneers (4-6) visiting the Giants (2-8). 

Packers Are Good, But 49ers Haven’t Been

The two remotely interesting matchups Sunday include the 49ers (5-5) visiting the Packers (7-3) in a game both teams were expected to be Super Bowl contenders this season. But this is actually a game in which both have played merely .500 football the last couple of weeks.

And then there’s the Eagles (8-2), which seem to be a legitimately good team, against the Rams (5-5), which so far cannot decide if they’re good or bad or just inconsistent and mediocre.

Slim pickins’, folks.

The NFL didn’t plan it like this, of course. 

ARLINGTON, TEXAS – NOVEMBER 18: Head coach Mike McCarthy of the Dallas Cowboys looks on against the Houston Texans during the third quarter in the game at AT&T Stadium on November 18, 2024 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images)

Thanksgiving Week Should Be Better

The schedule makers didn’t know the Browns would be a disaster this year.

There was hope the Cowboys versus the Commanders the week before Thanksgiving could provide a reminder of the rivalry from yesteryear. They can’t because the Cowboys are a mess.

Dallas is headed for an offseason reset that will all but definitely cost coach Mike McCarthy his job.

But there’s hope next week will look better in the context that we will all be overdosing on turkey and giving thanks we live in a country that has professional football at all… 

…Even if the NFL just fed us a weak slate of games as an appetizer this week.