The NFL should rethink how it decides the matchups for Thanksgiving

[pf9]

I feel a division rivalry should only be the night game if:

1. One of the teams is the team not playing at Dallas or Detroit in a given season with the longest active Thanksgiving drought

and

2. the opponent of that team with the longest active Thanksgiving drought is a division rival

Arizona VS. LA Rams would have fit this criteria in 2020.

[pf9]

Now, while the matchups chosen would not be very attractive, they would end some long active droughts, and future Thanksgiving games would be determined in a similar fashion, ensuring every non-Detroit/Dallas team has a fair chance of being on the holiday

[pf9]

The NFL should also determine the Sunday Night and Monday Night games for Thanksgiving Weekend based on the following criteria:

The SNF game would be between two teams that made the playoffs the previous season. For most of the years since I began picking the entire national TV slate for Thanksgiving weekend, I've always had a Packers home game against a high-profile opponent as my pick for the Sunday night game that weekend (with the exception of two years that the Packers were coming off losing seasons). My pick for this game this year is Pittsburgh at Green Bay, a rematch of Super Bowl 45. And since the Packers made several Thanksgiving day appearances in the 2010s (losing their last two), they should be kept off the actual holiday itself for a long time (and I'm saying this as a Packers fan) in order to stay in line with more or less rotating the non-Cowboys/Lions teams on the holiday; thus, the SNF game on Thanksgiving should be a Packers home game against a high-profile opponent every year, unless the Packers are coming off a losing season in which they did not make the playoffs.

The MNF game should be a regional interconference (usually in-state, sometimes neighboring states) matchup, reflecting the fact that most college games on Thanksgiving weekend are in-state rivalries (or ones involving teams in contigious states). Here are what have been my picks for this game over the years since 2012:

2012: Philadelphia at Pittsburgh - reflects Franksgiving controversy of pre-WWII, in which the PA teams were the only ones on Thanksgiving
2013: Miami at Tampa Bay - was on MNF, but not on Thanksgiving weekend
2014: Saint Louis at Kansas City - ended up being the last chance for a battle of Missouri in primetime
2015: Jacksonville at Tampa Bay (I think)
2016: Pittsburgh at Philadelphia
2017: Tampa Bay at Miami
2018: Oakland at San Francisco - was on TNF outside Thanksgiving weekend instead, was last Battle of the Bay
2019: NY Giants at NY Jets
2020: Philadelphia at Pittsburgh

Most of the time, these picks ended up as Sunday regional games at 1 PM. A battle of PA in primetime is eagerly awaited by the state's residents, as a planned MNF meeting in 1982 was canceled due to the players' strike; the Eagles and Steelers have yet to meet in primetime. As a matter of fact, all Giants-Jets games in history have been played in the 1 PM slot.

For 2021, I'm picking Atlanta at Miami as the MNF game on Thanksgiving weekend. Both teams began play in 1966, and were the first modern pro football teams in the Southeastern US. The Falcons are in fact responsible for the existence of the Dolphins, as the teams original owners were persuaded to leave the AFL for the NFL, and the AFL launched the Dolphins in their place.

In years where the interconference assignments are AE-NS, AN-NN, AS-NW, and AW-NE, the only regional interconference rivalries that would be eligible under this criteria are Miami against both Atlanta and Tampa Bay. Thus sometimes, the MNF game on Thanksgiving weekend can be a regional intraconference rivalry in these years (like Bengals-Browns).

Edited January 26, 2021 by pf9

[NeptunePenguins]

I think divisions poorly match where a team is located, so I made 4 divisions that basically match what the NHL is right now.  Split into AFC/NFC how ever you like among the four. 

 

North (Chicago is further north than the Browns and Giants, but like the NHL I am going to keep the 7th northernmost team out of the north division. Minneapolis was excluded because it is in the US while Chicago will be excluded because Chicago is the staple of the start of the new time zone.  

 

1. Seahawks

 

2. Vikings

 

3. Packers

 

4. Bills

 

5. Lions

 

6. Patriots

 

7. Browns

 

8. Giants

 

West

 

1. LA Rams

 

2. La Chargers

 

3. Raiders

 

4. Broncos 

 

5. Bears

 

6. Cardinals 

 

7. 49ers

 

8. Cowboys 

 

Central

 

1. Texans

 

2. Buccaneers 

 

3. Titans 

 

4. Colts 

 

5. Bengals

 

6. Falcons

 

7. Saints

 

8. Chiefs

 

East

 

1. Jets

 

2. Washington Football Team

 

3. Eagles

 

4. Steelers

 

5. Ravens

 

6. Panthers

 

7. Jaguars 

 

8. Dolphins 

 

 

Split these divisions up and make a fresh game every Thanksgiving. 

Edited January 27, 2021 by NeptunePenguins