When NFL ratings started to dip in 2016, part of the blame was placed on "Thursday Night Football" and the fact that no one was watching due to the perceived low quality of the games.
Things got so bad in November that John Madden actually called for the NFL to dump Thursday games.
"Something has to be done about 'Thursday Night Football.' It just doesn't work. It's not only a fan thing, it's a team thing. It's a safety thing. It's a competitive thing. It doesn't work," Madden said. "When you think of an early Sunday window, a late Sunday window, a Sunday night window, a Monday night window, a Thursday night window. They all want good games, and there's not enough good teams."
Don't look for the NFL to dump Thursday games anytime soon though -- Roger Goodell is completely on board with them. During an interview with Colin Cowherd on Wednesday, the NFL commissioner said that the quality of play in Thursday games is actually better than it is on other days of the week.
"We're more than just optics here. We're into facts. So go to the same statistics, because you're right about the quality of the games on Thursday night," Goodell said, via the NFL. "There are actually less penalties, less turnovers and almost by every barometer the quality of the game is better on Thursday night. Now, obviously some games you're going to have that aren't going to be as competitive, but you get that."
As for the contention that Thursday games are less safe for players because they only get four days of rest, Goodell isn't buying that either.
"On safety, and we've been tracking this every year, there has not been any indication, facts or anything else that would indicate that level of injuries are up on Thursday night," Goodell said. "Of course, playing a game like football you're going to be sore the next morning. Yes, of course, we always take that into consideration. That's one of the reasons why we walked very slowly into this as we built Thursday Night Football. We started with eight games and we built it up. It's something that we'll continue to look at."
Another thing that the league will continue to look at is the construction of the schedule. In November, Redskins coach Jay Gruden ripped the NFL for giving the Redskins a Sunday night game, and then scheduling them on the road at Dallas the following Thursday, Thanksgiving Day.
Goodell said the league will pay more attention to situations like that going forward.
"Should we have people flying on Sunday night, returning, and then playing on Thursday?" Goodell asked. "We try to do whatever we can to make sure we give those players the opportunity to recover from any injuries or even the normal contact they're going to have in the game."
Although you always hear players complain about playing on Thursday, Goodell says that most players actually enjoy it because they get a week-and-a-half off after playing.
"We hear a lot -- and this came up in our negotiations in 2011 -- that a lot of players really like it because they have 10 days afterward before the next game," Goodell said. "It acts as a mini-bye, was I think the term that was used."
Based on Goodell's comments, you can probably assume that "Thursday Night Football" is here to stay. When TNF kicks off in 2017, it will have a similar setup to 2016, which means half the season will air on CBS and half will air on NBC. Each game that airs will also be simulcast by the NFL Network.