Last year, the Thursday night game was great for the Kansas City Chiefs because they were in the friendly confines of Arrowhead while welcoming the Oakland Raiders who were flying in a few hours from the west in California.
That’s quite a trip for a team on a short week. Raiders head coach Jack Del Rio suggested this week that perhaps Thursday night games should stay in the same time zone rather than having someone from Kansas City go back two time zones in Oakland.
“It’s demanding for anybody that has to travel more than one time zone,” Del Rio said of Thursday night games. “We saw that first hand last year. I think it would be best if the league would stay in the same time zone for all involved. It’s tough enough to get ready on a Thursday. Obviously, we like the fact that we’re at home.”
It’s an interesting idea. Like I said, when the Chiefs are at home and a team like the Raiders are coming in and they’re at a disadvantage, then I love Thursday night games. When the Chiefs are now the ones traveling and appear to be at a potential disadvantage then, yeah, I agree with Del Rio.
The real solution here is timing is to that teams have their annual Thursday night game after a bye week so there is no short week for anyone. Good luck to the schedule makers to figure that one out.