A month ago, we pointed out that Thursday Night Football games were consistently ending in lopsided fashion. That hasn’t changed much, as three of the five TNF games since then have been decided by 14 or more points.
But it turns out CBS and NFL Network aren’t the only outlets getting hit by an unusual amount of blowouts. After the first two Sunday night games of the year were decided by eight points or fewer, each of the last seven Sunday nighters have been won by a minimum of 18 points. And four of the last six Monday night games have been decided by double-digit margins.
We crunched the numbers:
An amazing 39 percent of the three-score games that have taken place this season have happened in primetime, despite the fact only 21 percent of all games have been played in those situations. Primetime games — and especially Thursday and Sunday nighters — are more than twice as likely to be blowouts and significantly less likely to end with a one-score differential (eight points or fewer).
So, how does that stack up to last year?
There have already been more three-score prime-time games this year than there were all of last season. And as you can see, the games weren’t any more lopsided than on Sunday afternoons.
What about the year before?
Pretty much the same deal.
So, what the hell is going on this year? I’m guessing that’s what CBS, NFLN and NBC are thinking. Although until this past Monday (Colts 40, Giants 24), ESPN didn’t have a whole lot to complain about, it’s a pretty striking anomaly to see so many uncompetitive games in primetime.
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