the NFL gets huge TV ratings on Thanksgiving for the afternoon games because of the captive audience, and they weren’t going to waste a marquee 49ers/Cowboys matchup that would get huge ratings whenever it was played by playing it on Thanksgiving.
I think that's the key. As long as there were only 2 games, there was no need to schedule (waste) a marquee matchup - when the audience would come for just about anything.
In 30+ years, I can't remember an "exciting" matchup - some games were close, but still "meh" (just background noise and movement to distract folks from the food and the inane forced table chatter).
I think that's the key. As long as there were only 2 games, there was no need to schedule (waste) a marquee matchup - when the audience would come for just about anything.
In 30+ years, I can't remember an "exciting" matchup - some games were close, but still "meh" (just background noise and movement to distract folks from the food and the inane forced table chatter).