Last year’s Christmas games, at least on paper, were good. (The games themselves, not.)
This year, the NFL’s three-pack of December 25 offerings are roughly the equivalent of a bowling ball, a can of Simoniz, and mismatched dress socks.
Despite the relentless hype, the games have no inherent appeal. Cowboys-Commanders, which starts the day, includes two teams that have been eliminated from playoff contention. It also features a 39-year-old, third-string quarterback (Josh Johnson) for the home team. Yes, it’s the Cowboys. But who really cares?
The second game has the Lions, who are clinging to wafer thin playoff hopes, against a Vikings team led by a rookie free agent (Max Brosmer) whose only other start was a 26-0 disaster in Seattle.
Then comes the night game, starring the Chiefs — who suddenly look like anything but the Chiefs. Patrick Mahomes is out. His backup, Gardner Minshew, is out. The quarterbacks for the home team will be Chris Oladokun and Shane Buechele. The Broncos, at 12-3, are favored by 13.5 points in the first game to be played at Arrowhead Stadium since the team’s eventual move to Kansas was announced on Monday.
Whatever the audience numbers may be for the three games, the P.R. execs will try to find a way to paint the glass of eggnog as half full. Even with the new Nielsen metric that has pumped up numbers across the board, it’s hard to imagine anyone stopping what they’re doing to watch any of these games.
They’ll probably still beat the NBA games easily. But the NFL games may not win by the usual wide margin.