These Thursday Night games have been AWFUL! The Panthers vs. Falcons was the battle between two teams well below .500 fighting for a division title that is losing credibility by the day that we all suspected it would be.
It is utterly insane how atrocious the lineup has been for Thursday Night Football this season.
Sure, Thursday Night is the newest and ‘lesser’ (for the lack of a better word) attraction out of the three (Sunday Night, Monday Night, and Thursday Night) primetime game slots. And, yes, I realize that Amazon is the newest broadcaster out of the major cable networks and was mostly likely forced to choose last for the matchups to broadcast on Prime when the scheduled was made.
But that doesn’t excuse them still picking THE WORST games to broadcast. Aside from the Chiefs vs. Chargers in the premiere of Thursday Night Football and the Ravens vs. Buccaneers a few weeks ago, every single game has been either a blowout, showcased utterly inept offenses, or had some horrific injury that ruined the atmosphere.
Seriously, how can a broadcaster have so much bad luck while also being horrible at predicting competitive teams at the same time? It’s almost unbelievable how bad Amazon’s run with Thursday Night Football has been.
What makes it even worse is Amazon being so corny and fake in their attempts at trying to be ‘hip’ and ‘cool’ (man, even describing Amazon being dated sounds dated) with their pregame, halftime, and postgame presentations.
Whether its them bringing in LeBron James and his The Shop crew, using Dude Perfect for matchup specific stunts and watchalongs, promoting Taylor Swift song trailers exclusively during halftime, creating stupid, unfunny, late night-esque football shows, or the cheesy graphics that look like a poor man’s attempt at ESPN/ABC’s designs, everything about Amazon feels phony.
Unlike NBC and ABC/ESPN’s coverage, nothing feels natural. Everything about Amazon feels like a multibillion business conglomerate that couldn’t care less about the sport its broadcasting as it stuffs famous people and popular attractions on screen in replacement for meaningful, realistic content and discussions about football.
Now, I like all the people I listed above as they are outstanding in the, respective, field they made their names in, but their presence on Thursday Night Football is out of place.
I mean, when is the last time you watched an ESPN or NBC pregame show prior to a huge divisional matchup and thought, ‘Hey, I really need to see an exclusive Taylor Swift music video trailer drop in the middle of a discussion with LeBron James and Dude Perfect as I wait for the 3rd quarter to start between the Ravens vs. Steelers?’. Yeah, me either.
Maybe my opinion is too biased as I’m still a little annoyed with how poorly Amazon handled the Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, but I can’t be the only one who finds Amazon’s TNF fake and phony.
Anyway, as for the game, what can I really say about it that hasn’t been already said? It was a dreadful watch between two dreadful teams.
The Falcons offense couldn’t function as Marcus Mariota lost the ability to throw the football…though, I’m not sure he ever actually had it.
Okay, that was too harsh, but he did have a horrific game. Going 19/30 for 186 yards, 2 TDs, and 1 INT, Mariota was lucky that he was only picked off once as the Panthers defense easily could have racked in another 5-6 interceptions if they didn’t have bricks for hands.
There’s a reason why Mariota has completely fallen off the map from his superstardom predictions when he was drafted 2nd overall by the Tennessee Titans, and his ability to throw the ball is mainly the reason.
He’s just not good enough to be a starting QB in the NFL.
As for the Panthers, their offense was only marginally better as they had the one guy the Falcons did not: D’Onta Foreman.
The former Falcons running back exploded on his former team by rushing 30 times for 130 yards and 1 touchdown, leading the lowly Panthers to a 25-15 win and their third victory of the season Funnily enough, this win places them just two games shy of the Bucs for the NFC South Division lead, even though they are now 3-7. Foreman sure has a lot of running ahead of him if the Panthers want a shot at a playoff spot.
Although, I do have to give some credit to the Panthers defense too as they were outstanding.
Led by Frenkie Luvu (12 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 TFL, 1 QB hit), Brian Burns (7 tackles, 1 sack, 1 TFL, 1 PD, 2 QB hits), and Derrick Brown (6 tackles, 2 TFL), the Panthers defense got after Mariota and the Falcons running game as they racked up 5 sacks, 11 TFLs, 4 PD, and 9 QB hits, completely dominating the Falcons from the first minute to the last minute.
Nonetheless, this game has very little meaning to the grand scheme of the NFL playoff race. The Falcons (4-6) and the Carolina Panthers (3-7) will both miss the playoffs as the Buccaneers will be the ones to top the NFC South. And thank goodness for that as I don’t think I could stand watching a playoff game showcasing either one of these teams.
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