Giants: How the NFL's new schedule approach affects New York
The New York Giants are one of the league's most prized franchises, hoisting four Lombardi Trophies and playing in the NFL's biggest market. And the NFL is a business. A very successful one in fact, meaning, they know who should and shouldn't be on television in prime time. So when they announced their latest changes […]
The New York Giants are one of the league's most prized franchises, hoisting four Lombardi Trophies and playing in the NFL's biggest market.
And the NFL is a business. A very successful one in fact, meaning, they know who should and shouldn't be on television in prime time.
So when they announced their latest changes to scheduling, Giants fans were sure to be excited.
Firstly, the NFL announced that Monday Night Football will no longer be chained to their preseason schedule release, as they now hold the same chips as Sunday Night Football when it comes to flexing games later in the season.
From weeks 13-17, ESPN now has the ability to "flex" their Monday night matchups. That means that if a matchup features even one bad team at that point in the year, ESPN has the right to switch the game with a Sunday afternoon contest.
This is a part of the effort to end bad prime-time games, something that took the league by storm last season, with stinker after stinker seemingly flooding the airways on Thursday, Sunday, and Monday nights.
This is where the Giants come in, considering they can be deemed an ascending franchise based on last year's playoff run, and hold the keys to the hearts of many of New York's most die-hard fans. They are already involved in one of the biggest matchups of the year, something I reported on earlier today.
There's also the new Thursday night rule to consider, where now teams can be subject to playing multiple early week games, and no longer is every team guaranteed a spot on prime-time television at least one time a year.
Now, this is where things become tricky, as the league is looking to also add a flex option to Thursday night games to go along with the multiple dates rule, potentially risking player safety more than ever.
The topic was broached at the most recent owner's meetings, with Giants owner John Mara holding firm in his opposition to the plan, citing safety and travel concerns for players and coaches. The subject will be tackled again amongst the owners in late May.
But here's the bottom line, if the NFL is truly looking to push the best product, chances are they will have one of their blue-blood franchises on the screen more often, making Giants fans emphatic for the full schedule release, and potential in-season changes.
