The Denver Broncos are going to do something no NFL fan has seen… unless they were watching games back in 1926.
It wasn’t that long ago when the NFL only held games on Sundays and Mondays but more recently, the league has adopted a broader schedule, placing games on several days and nights during the season to help meet the non-stop appetite of those who enjoy the game.
Thursday Night Football was introduced in 2006 and by 2012, there was a game on Thursday night nearly every week of the season. The league has every team play at least one game on Thursday night during the regular season under its current model.
However, no team has played multiple Thursday night games on the road. Well, not in the last 98 years, anyway.
The Broncos played the New Orleans Saints on Thursday Night Football in Week 7 at the Caesars Superdome. With the league choosing to flex their Week 16 game against the Los Angeles Chargers to Thursday night, the Broncos will make history.
The last team to play on the road on a Thursday night twice in the same season was the Los Angeles Buccaneers. If you have never heard of them, don’t feel bad. That came in 1926 and following the 1927 season, the L.A. Buccaneers folded.
Did the Broncos approve the change in Week 16… or not?
Reports indicated that because the Broncos would be playing a second road Thursday game this season, they had to approve the league’s idea to change the schedule. When addressing the media on Friday, Broncos coach Sean Payton seemed to indicate that that’s not necessarily true.
Sean Payton explained why the Broncos being flexed to Week 16’s game against the Chargers to Thursday Night Football. pic.twitter.com/WPyN2zCP36
— Zac Stevens (@ZacStevensDNVR) November 22, 2024
It is an interesting situation and it seems that the Broncos considered things from a strategic standpoint either way. The game that was moved out of the Thursday night slot was a game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns. The Broncos will play the Bengals on the road in Week 17 and it will now be them, not the Bengals, who have more time to rest up for a game that could be critical in the AFC Wild Card race.
But the Broncos will now be linked to the Los Angeles Buccaneers. Use that the next time you need a trivia question that no one can possibly answer.
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