Mike Florio has fascinating theory about why so many teams play three straight primetime games

Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys are among the teams playing three straight primetime games. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Mike Florio has fascinating theory about why so many teams play three straight primetime games

By Cody Marmon | Last updated Oct 22, 2026 5:24 PM ET

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Mike Florio, creator and editor-in-chief of Pro Football Talk, has covered the National Football League for 25 years and counting.

He has a theory on why multiple teams have three straight primetime games this year. The Los Angeles Rams, Atlanta Falcons, Dallas Cowboys, Seattle Seahawks and Chicago Bears play three straight games all ranging from Thursday, Sunday night and Monday night football games from Weeks 1-9.

"It may not be random, but when that many teams are getting three in a row in primetime, I wonder if they (NFL) are experimenting with having the same team in primetime for multiple weeks for if and when they ever fully embrace Tuesday and Wednesday night," Florio said on the "Pro Football Talk" podcast.

"Because if you do that, the only way to make the schedule work is to have a team play Thursday one week, Wednesday the next week, Tuesday the next week, to give them maximum time between games; you're going to have to do this surgery to the schedule that has the same teams popping up again once you have teams play in the middle of the week," Florio said.

Multiple teams have three straight prime-time games this year. We have a theory about that. pic.twitter.com/OEYdzDZjT5
— PFT Live (@PFT_Live) October 22, 2026

The NFL seems to be experimenting with more standalone inventory, and every scheduling tweak points toward a future with greater primetime exposure. If Tuesday and Wednesday night games become commonplace, consecutive-week national broadcasts won't be unusual at all. They'll be central to the NFL's evolving television strategy with Amazon Prime, ESPN, CBS and FOX.

The league keeps finding new ways to own the calendar

What appears to be a scheduling quirk is could be market research in real time. Every additional standalone window gives the NFL another opportunity to measure ratings, streaming engagement and advertiser interest.

In an article by Drew Lerner, via Awful Announcing, NFL's executive vice president of media distribution, Drew Hans Schroeder, said, “We’ll continue to look if there’s better ways and there’s other opportunities to serve our fans that still work on the competitive side, and work with our clubs and work with our teams, you know, we’ll look at that, but I don’t think we’re looking at Wednesday night football.

"I think we looked at the opportunity to make Thanksgiving Eve a really special one. Similar to what we did a few years ago when Christmas was on a Wednesday, we thought there was a unique way to serve it on that, but those are more of the exceptions than the rules. And we’ll continue to look at those selectively.”

The most telling phrase in Schroder's comments isn't that the NFL isn't pursuing Wednesday football. It's that the league will continue looking for opportunities that serve fans and broadcasters while maintaining competitive balance.

Cody Marmon

Cody is a sports journalist with four years of experience and a Multimedia Journalism degree from Washington State University’s Edward R. Murrow College of Communication. He developed his reporting skills through the Walter Cronkite Journalism Program and later served as a sports reporter for The Post-Searchlight in Bainbridge, GA

More must-reads: