Report: NFL coaches upset over late-season Thursday night division games

The Kansas City Chiefs and Oakland Raiders will square off this week in one of the most important games of the regular season, and some coaches across the NFL are reportedly unhappy that it is taking place on a Thursday night.

Jason Cole of Bleacher Report spoke to some coaches who feel it is “unfair” that such important games are going to be played on short rest.

“Coaches are increasingly upset with the NFL for scheduling potentially important games between division rivals on such short notice,” Cole said. “As one coach pointed out, the Raiders-Chiefs game could determine not only the winner of the AFC West, but also the No. 1 seed in the AFC. Playing that game on short notice seems unfair to the entire process.”

The schedule-makers have no way of knowing which teams will be in contention in Week 14 and beyond, but the argument is that they should avoid scheduling divisional games just in case. Though, the counter-argument for that could be that at least the Chiefs and Raiders are both playing on short rest. Wouldn’t it be even more unfair if both teams needed a win in Week 14 and one got to play on Sunday?

Aside from getting rid of Thursday night games altogether (and that could be a possibility going forward), there’s no way to eliminate certain teams having to play on short rest. And after a season that was essentially filled with primetime stinkfests, you can bet the NFL is ecstatic that so much will be at stake this Thursday night.