NFL fans have made one thing clear about Week 3: they want Roger Goodell to do something about the primetime slate, and they want it now.
The problem isn’t the whole weekend. It’s the three standalone night games the league has lined up while stronger matchups sit in the daytime window.
Atlanta opens Thursday at Green Bay on Prime Video at 8:15 p.m. ET, Los Angeles faces Denver on NBC at 8:20 p.m. on Sunday, and Philadelphia wraps the week at Chicago on ESPN at 8:15 p.m.
Monday. Those are the official national windows, but plenty of fans are looking at Kansas City at Miami and Baltimore against Dallas in Brazil and wondering why those games aren’t getting the spotlight instead.
The online reaction has been pointed, and in some cases blunt. “What a boring MNF.
And our reward on Thursday? Falcons-Packers,” radio host Mark Gunnels wrote.
“Nobody wants to watch the Falcons in primetime 3 weeks in a row,” one user added. “The next three weeks the Falcons play Thursday night, Monday night and Sunday night.
These about to be the worst games ever,” another account declared. “There’s not a singular chance I’m watching Packers vs Penix and the Falcons,” one user said.
“One of the NFL’s worst scheduling tendencies is stacking primetime teams to start the season,” Jon Benne wrote, noting Atlanta’s three-night run.
That frustration is tied directly to the Falcons’ placement in three straight national windows. They’re on Thursday this week, then back on Monday Night Football in Week 4 at New Orleans, and on Sunday night in Week 5 against Baltimore. That’s the stretch fans are zeroing in on.
The records don’t exactly help the league’s case. Atlanta is 0-2 after a 34-3 loss to Carolina and a 16-point total through two games.
Green Bay is 1-1 after an overtime win over the Jets. Denver and the Rams are both 1-1.
Philadelphia is 2-0, while Chicago is 1-1 after a 9-3 loss to Minnesota.
Still, even the games that look better on paper come with caveats. Eagles-Bears is the cleanest of the three night matchups, but it follows Chicago’s three-point outing and Caleb Williams’ troubling injury.
Michael Penix Jr. is set to make his season debut in Green Bay after last year’s torn ACL, which at least gives Thursday night a little more juice. It doesn’t change the bigger picture, though: the most attractive games this week are in the afternoon.
The league also can’t just shuffle the slate because fans are unhappy. Sunday Night Football flexing doesn’t begin until Week 5, Monday Night Football flexing doesn’t open until Week 12, and Thursday Night Football flexing is limited to Weeks 13 through 17. Those rules block the exact move people are asking for.
That leaves Goodell with the noise, but not much flexibility. The schedule is already locked, and Week 3’s primetime lineup stays put unless the NFL changes its flex calendar.
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