SI

The NFL Has a New York, New York Problem

Football fans cannot escape the Jets and Giants, no matter how bad they are.

Jimmy Traina

It’s been the same old Jets this season.
It’s been the same old Jets this season. / Shaun Brooks-Imagn Images

1. The Jets and Giants stink, but football fans will have them shoved down their throats for the next several weeks.

The New York Giants are 2-5, and even worse than that, are unwatchable thanks to not having a legitimate NFL quarterback.

The New York Jets are 2-5, but at least they have the trainwreck/soap opera/freak show thing going for them thanks mainly to their quarterback.

But neither team is worth the amount of primetime and standalone games we will have to endure the rest of the season.

The NFL, and the networks that air the NFL, love to jam the New York teams down everyone’s throats because New York is the biggest television market in the country. But when it comes to performing on primetime, the Jets and Giants are nothing but an embarrassment.

Here's what's coming up:

Week 8: Giants at Steelers, Monday Night Football, ESPN
Week 9: Jets at Texans, Thursday Night Football, Amazon
Week 10: Giants vs. Panthers, 9:30 a.m. ET, NFL Network
Week 11: Colts at Jets, Sunday Night Football, NBC
Week 13: Giants at Cowboys, Thanksgiving, 4:30 p.m. ET, FOX

Ouch.

That Giants-Panthers pig can’t be flexed because it’s one of the international games that nobody cares about. Giants-Cowboys on Thanksgiving can’t be flexed either.

Giants at Steelers this coming week on Monday Night Football isn’t eligible for a flex. Jets-Texans won’t get flexed thanks to C.J. Stroud.

That leaves Colts at Jets in Week 11 as the only real flex option. Will NBC still want the New York market, or will the network opt for a better game?

The Ravens play the Steelers at 1 p.m. that week. The Packers also visit the Bears at 1 p.m. The Bengals play the Chargers at 4:25 p.m. That game will be buried across the country because Chiefs-Bills will go to most markets.

So, the NFL and NBC have options for Week 11.

However, for all the other weeks I’ve mentioned, football fans are stuck watching the inept Giants and the always-embarrassing Jets.

This won’t hurt the NFL as much as it should because of the New York market, but in terms of satisfying your customers with a good product, it’s a disaster.

2. Someone remind Myles Garrett and Jameis Winston that Deshaun Watson has settled MORE THAN 20 sexual misconduct lawsuits. The Winston take here is so cringe and gross that it’s hard to believe.

3. Last Thursday, the Broncos-Saints game on Amazon drew 9.8 million viewers.

Game 5 of the NLCS on FS1 drew 3.9 million viewers, while 4.3 million viewers watched Guardians-Yankees on TBS.

That means more people watched the 33–10 football game than two LCS games combined.

If the Mets could’ve beaten the Dodgers last night to force a Game 7 tonight, it would’ve been very interesting to see if that game—airing on FS1—would’ve generated more viewers than tonight’s Chargers-Cardinals game, which will air exclusively on ESPN+.

But, sadly, we will never know.

4. Speaking of tonight’s NFL doubleheader, props to the ManningCast for a very creative piece of booking. With Ravens-Bucs kicking off at 8:15 p.m ET and Chargers-Cardinals starting at 9 p.m. ET, who better to have on and work multiple games at a time than RedZone guru Scott Hanson?

5. This is the stupid stuff you have to do when you pay someone $375 million.

6. The latest SI Media Podcast is an all–Traina Thoughts, all-mailbag edition with Sal Licata from WFAN and SNY.

Among the questions and topics: How will Tom Brady be affected as a broadcaster by the new restrictions put on him once he became a part-owner of the Raiders? Are Joe Buck and Troy Aikman ESPN’s biggest win over the past five years? Will Bob Costas ever call postseason baseball again? What changes should Major League Baseball make to the way the sport is broadcast during the playoffs? The problem with the WNBA’s schedule during the Finals. Which games should the NFL and NBC consider flexing out of Sunday Night Football? Where does Bobby “The Brain” Heenan rank among the greatest analysts in sports history?

You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast below or on Apple and Spotify.

You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on Sports Illustrated‘s YouTube channel.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Happy 82nd birthday to Judge Judy Sheindlin. Here is the greatest Judge Judy case of all time.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter and Instagram.

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Jimmy Traina
JIMMY TRAINA

Jimmy Traina is a staff writer and podcast host for Sports Illustrated. A 20-year veteran in the industry, he’s been covering the sports media landscape for seven years and writes a daily column, Traina Thoughts. Traina has hosted the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast since 2018, a show known for interviews with some of the most important and powerful people in sports media. He also was the creator and writer of SI’s Hot Clicks feature from 2007 to '13.

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