Search

» » Christmas Day game between Saints, Vikings on a Friday is a scheduling anomaly for NFL - NOLA.com

Christmas Day game between Saints, Vikings on a Friday is a scheduling anomaly for NFL - NOLA.com

Every family has their holiday traditions, whether it's backyard football on Thanksgiving or driving through town to look at Christmas lights.

The NFL and the NBA are no different with their holiday customs.

Thanksgiving has long been the NFL's day. It's been that way since the dawn of the NFL in 1920 — only taking a hiatus during World War II. Christmas, on the other hand, has been the NBA's holiday to shine, beginning as a fixture on the league's calendar back in 1947.

The NFL threw a wrench into the holiday norms this year, scheduling a game on Christmas Day with the New Orleans Saints and the Minnesota Vikings kicking off at 3:25 p.m. on Fox and the NFL Network. The NBA's three-game slate will air on ESPN and ABC, with the New Orleans Pelicans tipping off at 11 a.m. against the Miami Heat.

"I feel like everybody's going to be watching — those who aren't watching basketball," receiver Emmanuel Sanders said. "Which, I pray people would be watching football instead of basketball, and we've got to go out and put on a show."

Now, it's not completely out of the norm for NFL games to take place on Christmas Day, as this will be the 22nd game in NFL history held on Christmas Day. Though, all but one of the previously scheduled Christmas Day games were held on a Saturday, Sunday or Monday — normal dates for the NFL at this point in the season. 

The first two Christmas Day games came in 1971 during the playoffs with the Dallas Cowboys defeating the Minnesota Vikings and the Miami Dolphins beating the Kansas City Chiefs in double overtime.

The latter game between Miami and Kansas City kicked off at 3 p.m. CT, and became the longest game in NFL history, lasting 82 minutes and 40 seconds of gametime. Because the game lasted into the evening and conflicted with Christmas dinner, the NFL drew ire from around the country, and the league subsequently avoided Christmas Day games — even moving the season up a week in 1976 and playing postseason games on a Monday to avoid Christmas Sunday games in 1977.

But 18 years after the first Christmas Day games were played, the NFL scheduled a late Monday Night game on Christmas Day in 1989, kicking off at 8 p.m. CT between the Minnesota Vikings and the Cincinnati Bengals, with Minnesota winning, 29-21.

Since then, there have been 18 Christmas Day games, though there has been an uptick since 2004.

The 2009 game between the San Diego Chargers and the Tennessee Titans stands out among the rest for one reason: it was played on a Friday. 

That game — the only other game in NFL history like the upcoming Saints vs. Vikings game — kicked off at 6:34 p.m. CT in Nashville, Tennessee, at LP Field (now known as Nissan Stadium) and the Chargers routed the home team, 42-17 in Week 16.

From the AFL/NFL merger in 1970 through 2020's Week 15, there have been 11,972 regular season games. Only 10 of them have been played on a Friday — with this upcoming Friday game marking the 11th such occasion in 50 years.

The Saints, never having played on Christmas Day before, were previously featured in one of those Friday games. The Saints beat the Dallas Cowboys in 1999 by a score of 31-24 for their third and final win of that season on Christmas Eve.

The Vikings, on the other hand, have previously played in two Friday games — winning against Washington, 14-9, on Dec. 31, 1993, and losing to the Packers on Dec. 24, 2004 by a score of 34-31.

Whatever happens between New Orleans and Minnesota on Friday, just the sheer fact that the game itself is happening on Christmas Day is a rarity considering there's only been two contests over the past 50 years that meet that specific criteria.

And Saints coach Sean Payton said he'll take it. Why?

"Obviously Friday's a tick better than a Thursday game," he said.

Get your Saints gear here: Hats | Jerseys | Sweatshirts | T-shirts | Face Coverings

Disclosure: These are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, NOLA.com may earn a commission on purchases made via clicks on those links.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Article From & Read More ( Christmas Day game between Saints, Vikings on a Friday is a scheduling anomaly for NFL - NOLA.com )
https://ift.tt/2Jon5gI
Sport

Bagikan Berita Ini

Related Posts :

0 Response to "Christmas Day game between Saints, Vikings on a Friday is a scheduling anomaly for NFL - NOLA.com"

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)
Powered by Blogger.