The Thursday Night Football schedule on the NFL Network is over for the 2013 season and things will pick up in 2014 with the first matchup of the season and it will likely involve the Super Bowl champions and in Week 16 this season, there are a number of high profile matchups coming Sunday, including the Baltimore Ravens playing the New England Patriots.
The first Thursday night game of the season was the opener for 2013 and had the Baltimore Ravens travelling to Denver to play the Broncos and that game was the opening gun for Peyton Manning's MVP chase, as he had seven touchdown passes in the 49-27 drubbing. The Ravens started the season on the road because the Baltimore Orioles were playing at home that night and while it technically wasn't a presentation of "Thursday night football" on the NFL Network, it was the first Thursday game. The actual first "TNF" game of the season was the next week, as the Patriots beat the Jets by a field goal in New England.
The Jets got the last laugh in the second matchup of the season between the two teams and in Week 3 the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles played as Andy Reid returned to Philly. The Chiefs would not lose for quite some time after that game and gave the Eagles yet another home loss. The 49ers and the St. Louis Rams played the following week in an NFC West divisional matchup and it have San Francisco a nice boost after getting off to a slow start.
The Browns were one of the early surprises of the season and they got a win at home in Cleveland against the Bills the next week and that came before a win for the Oakland Raiders against the San Diego Chargers. The Giants came into their game against the Chicago Bears with zero wins and that would last for six weeks and even though New York was driving for a winning score at the end of the game, Eli Manning threw an interception to seal things and that basically describes the season for the G-Men. The Seattle Seahawks got a win over the Arizona Cardinals the next week and that game looks tougher now that Arizona has nine wins, while the Carolina Panthers got a dominating win over the then winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC south and now the team is poised to win the division if they win their last two games.
The Miami Dolphins got the rare walk off win with a safety in overtime against the Bengals and this came just as Jonathan Martin left the team but was before the whole scandal broke with Richie Incognito. Naturally the Dolphins played on MNF that following week. The Redskins and Vikings played next and Minnesota ended up winning to keep the Skins down and the following week saw the Colts win a close game against the Titans.
The Saints gave the Falcons another loss in their miserable season for the last game in November before the Thanksgiving games and then the Jaguars won over the Texans to continue their losing streak. The last Thursday night game had the Denver Broncos getting upset at home to the San Diego Chargers in another divisional matchup and now the Thursday schedule is done. Some of the top games in Week 16 includes the Ravens and Patriots, Bears and Eagles as well as the Steelers and Packers, Cardinals and Seahawks and the Cowboys and Redskins.
