The NFL Passed On Flexing The 2-8 Browns Off Monday Night Football...And Now America Gets To See Cleveland In Prime-Time Two Weeks In A Row

Before I talk about the issue at hand, let me first start by saying that I hope everyone is ready for an excellent display of football this Thursday Night, on primetime television (Amazon Prime), in which the gracious hosts in Cleveland will welcome our guests from Pittsburgh. In what some are calling the "Game of the Year", the 2-8 Browns will take on the 8-2 Steelers in a matchup that will sure to be close all the way up until the opening kickoff. 

But in all seriousness, Thursday Night games have long allowed bad teams to get to play in primetime. But in other primetime games later in the year, the NFL has the abilty to flex out the shitty matchups and showcase their best teams and best games in the night slots. And as of this morning it became official, the NFL has chosen NOT to do that in Week 13 for Monday Night Football between the Browns and Broncos.

Did they just forget about the deadline? Or were they late to delivering the notice like the Browns were when trying to trade for AJ McCarron? Because I'm sitting here racking my brain, trying to think of who on planet Earth would want to keep this game as is on MNF? Maybe the Broncos fans, maybe? Because the casual fan certainly would not. And Browns fans want nothing to do with showcasing this dumpster fire to a larger audience than necessary. We are focused on one thing and one thing only: securing the #1 overall pick to try and wheel and deal our way to a better QB that our current franchise guy. And we're doing a great job of that at the moment.....

And as you can see, there is still work to be done. As competitive as the top of the standings are to make the playoffs and get home field advantage, it's even more competitive at the bottom where there are currently 5 teams with only 2 wins. Could you imagine a 2 win team having to pick 5th in the draft? These teams are going to be busting their ass the rest of the season to make sure they aren't that team. 

Bottom line is the Browns are going to put on a dog shit performance not just this week in prime time, but now they will be doing so next week as well. I guess the question is how much is a Jameis Winston pregame speech worth to ESPN? Because they're going to get a 2-9 Browns team that is trying to lose…..but they'll get that 45 second soundbite in pregame as well. What would America rather see? A Jameis pregame speech or Eagles/Ravens, Bengals/Steelers, Cards/Vikings, or Chargers/Falcons on Monday night? Looking at the slate next week, you could honestly say that Monday Night Football between the Browns and Broncos is the worst possible game….and they're keeping it there by choice.