The full 2024 NFL schedule will be announced at 5 p.m. Arizona time Wednesday and one of the looming questions is which of the same four teams will play on Christmas Day and the previous Saturday on a four-day turnaround. Could the Arizona Cardinals be one of those teams?
It’s been speculated that the details of that wrinkle, along with the broadcast partners for the games on both days, is what delayed the schedule release from being revealed last week and pushed forward to this week.
It is important to know that the four teams will all likely be from the same division.
So don’t count out the NFC West from being that division. It makes a lot of sense. The 49ers are the defending NFC champions and the four quarterbacks are attractive: Kyler Murray, Brock Purdy, Matthew Stafford and Geno Smith.
Might it be the AFC North with Baltimore (Lamar Jackson), Cincinnati (Joe Burrow), Cleveland (Deshaun Watson) and Pittsburgh (Russell Wilson)? A good chance.
The NFC East is always attractive to the networks, but there are looming questions as to how competitive the New York Giants and Washington Commanders will be. The AFC East could be in the running, but by that point in the season, the New England Patriots would probably not be deserving of being in those two games.
As for the networks, it’s already been revealed that NBC will telecast one of the Saturday games while also having their usual Sunday night game the following day. Netflix is reportedly in the mix for one or both of the Christmas games.
One thing is for sure: All the divisions are silently hoping they are not the ones selected. Yes, the national exposure can be exciting. However, playing potentially crucial division games in Weeks 16 and 17 of an 18-week season with the latter being on only three days rest and one being a travel day for two of the teams won’t be met with glowing approval from those teams.
Of course, we know the NFL doesn’t care about that. Breaking news: It’s all about maximizing revenue, one thing the league is very good at doing.
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