Who Plays NFL Football on Thursday?

Wondering who plays NFL Football on Thursday? Check out our blog for a full schedule of the upcoming games.

The History of NFL Football on Thursday

The National Football League (NFL) has been playing football games on Thursday nights since 2006. The games are typically televised on the NFL Network, but are also often simulcast on ESPN and local channels in the participating teams’ markets. NFL Football on Thursday nights became popular due to the league’s Thursday Night Football package.

How the NFL Began

On September 26, 1920, the American Professional Football Association was formed. The association was created to standardize rules among the various professional football teams that had sprung up across the country.

In 1922, the APFA changed its name to the National Football League. The NFL began with just 12 teams: the Akron Pros, Canton Bulldogs, Chicago Cardinals, Chicago Bears, Decatur Staleys (now the Chicago Bears), Racine Cardinals, New York Giants, Buffalo All-Americans, Detroit Heralds (now the Detroit Lions), Green Bay Packers, Hammond Pros and Minneapolis Marines (now the Minnesota Vikings).

The first NFL season consisted of 14 games played from September 17 to December 4. The Chicago Bears (then known as the Decatur Staleys) won the first ever NFL championship game against the New York Giants with a score of 23-21.

Since then, professional football has become one of America’s favorite pastimes. Each year, millions of fans tune in to watch NFL games on television and cheer on their favorite teams. In recent years, Thursday night games have become particularly popular among football fans.

The First NFL Game on Thursday

It was a momentous day in the history of the National Football League. On Thursday, September 26th, 1946, the New York Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers took the field at Ebbets Field for the first regular season NFL game ever played on a Thursday. The game was scheduled for 8:00 PM, but because of a citywide power outage, it didn’t start until 8:30.

The game was a rematch of the 1941 NFL Championship Game, which the Giants had won 27-0. This time, the Dodgers would get their revenge, winning 14-7 in front of a crowd of 33,223 fans. It would be their only win of the season. The Giants would go on to win the NFL Championship that year.

Since that historic game seventy years ago, there have been very few NFL games played on Thursdays. In fact, prior to this season, there had only been two games played on Thursdays in the entire history of the league: one in 1948 and one in 2006.

The Teams that Play on Thursday

The NFL features games on Thursday nights during the regular season. The games are broadcast on television by the NFL Network and usually feature two division rivals. The NFL has played games on Thursdays since 2006.

The New England Patriots

The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league’s American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team plays its home games at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, which is 28 miles southwest of downtown Boston.

The Patriots are also headquartered at Gillette Stadium. An original member of the American Football League (AFL), the Patriots joined the NFL in 1970 as part of the AFL–NFL merger. In 1971, the team moved from Boston to Foxborough. The Patriots have appeared in ten Super Bowls since 2002, winning seven of them.

The New York Jets

The New York Jets are a professional American football team located in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League as a member club of the league’s American Football Conference East division. The team is headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey. In a unique arrangement for the league, the Jets share MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey with the New York Giants. The franchise is legally and corporately registered as New York Jets, LLC.

The team was founded in 1959 as the Titans of New York, an original member of the American Football League; later, the franchise joined the NFL in the AFL–NFL merger in 1970. The team began to play in 1960 at the Polo Grounds. Under new ownership, the current name was adopted in 1963 and the franchise moved to Shea Stadium in 1964 and then to Giant Stadium in 1984; they moved to their current home, MetLife Stadium, upon completion of its construction form 2010. The Jets advanced to the playoffs for the first time in 1968 and went on to compete in Super Bowl III where they defeated the Baltimore Colts, becoming world champions. Since 1968, the Jets have appeared in fourteen divisional playoff games, eight AFC Championship Games (most recently appearing back-to-back from 2009–2010), and three Super Bowls (III (1), XII (0), and XVIII (0)).

The Green Bay Packers

The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League as a member club of the league’s National Football Conference North division. It is the third-oldest franchise in the NFL, dating back to 1919, and is the only non-profit, community-owned major league professional sports team based in the United States. Home games have been played at Lambeau Field since 1957.

The Dallas Cowboys

The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League as a member club of the league’s National Football Conference East division. They are headquartered in Frisco, Texas, and play their home games at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, which opened for the 2009 season. The stadium took the place of the partially demolished Texas Stadium, which served as the Cowboys’ home from 1971 to 2008.

The Fans that Watch on Thursday

NFL football fans that choose to watch the game on Thursday night are typically die-hard fans of the sport. They are the ones that live and breathe NFL football. These fans are often the ones that have season tickets and watch every game, regardless of what day or time it is.

The diehard fans

No matter what team you are a fan of, if you love the sport of football, then Thursday Night Football is must-see television. The energy and excitement that surrounds each game is palpable, and the level of play is often surprisingly high given that it’s a mid-week game.

But who are the fans that tune in week after week to watch their favorite teams battle it out on Thursday nights? Well, they come from all walks of life, but there are definitely some commonalities between them.

For starters, diehard football fans are usually very passionate about their team. They know all the players, all the stats, and all the vulnerabilities of their team and its opponents. They live and breathe football, and Thursday Night Football is just another way to get their fix.

Additionally, diehard football fans are usually very loyal to their team. They’ve been cheering them on through thick and thin, and they’re not about to give up on them now. No matter how bad their team may be playing, these fans will still tune in every Thursday night to watch them try to turn things around.

So if you’re looking for some good company while you watch Thursday Night Football, look no further than your fellow diehard fans. These are the people who truly understand the passion and excitement that surrounds this great game.

The casual fans

The average fan doesn’t really have a dog in the fight when it comes to who plays NFL football on Thursday. This fan is just looking for a good game to watch, and doesn’t really care which teams are playing. For the casual fan, any matchup is a good matchup, as long as it promises to be a close game.

This type of fan is usually just looking for an entertaining way to spend Thursday night, and the NFL usually delivers. There are always going to be upsets and close games in store on Thursdays, which makes for must-see TV. Even if your team isn’t playing, there’s a good chance you’ll find a team you can root for by the end of the night.

The bandwagon fans

Thursday is the new Sunday for NFL football. In recent years, the NFL has shifted more and more of its prime time games to Thursdays, and fans have followed. Thursday Night Football has become must-see TV for many football fans, even those who don’t have a rooting interest in the teams playing.

But not all Thursday Night Football viewers are created equal. There are those who tune in every week, regardless of the teams or the matchup, just because they love football. And then there are the bandwagon fans, who only watch when their favorite team is playing or when there’s a particularly compelling matchup.

The latter group is often derided by diehard fans as fair-weather supporters who only care about the sport when it’s convenient for them. But there’s nothing wrong with being a casual fan of Thursday Night Football. In fact, you could argue that these fans are actually better than diehards because they’re not as invested in any one team. They’re just there for the love of the game.

So if you find yourself tuning into Thursday Night Football on a regular basis, don’t be ashamed. You’re not a bandwagon fan; you’re just a casual fan who appreciates good football regardless of which teams are playing.