You can’t blame the NFL Network for scheduling this one.
Looking at the slate of Week 14 games heading into the 2013 season, the defending AFC South champion Houston Texans were supposed to be one of their conference’s elite teams while Jacksonville couldn’t be much worse than their 2-14 record in 2012.
While the Jaguars (3-9) have already bested that mark, the game between them and the Texans (2-10) at EverBank Field features the teams with the worst combined record this late in the season since NFL Network started broadcasting Thursday night games in 2006.
Some terrible teams have played on Thursday in December (the 1-13 Colts in 2011, the 2-12 Panthers in 2010, the 1-11 Browns in 2009), but all of those games were against teams with significant playoff chances at the time. While NFL.com’s Mike Silver noted that both teams are still mathematically alive for the postseason, the real relevance of this game could be its effect on May’s draft order and the opportunity for either team to get the top quarterback available.
Fans could have picked up tickets to the game for as low as $8.99 earlier this week on StubHub, although the cheapest seats on the secondary market have gone up slightly since then.
For as much debate as there has been about the quality of the Thursday night games, they’ve been competitive this season, with every game since Week 9 ending with a margin of a touchdown or less. For as irrelevant as Texans-Jags may be to the overall playoff picture, the parity of the two teams – Jacksonville is a three point home underdog - could certainly promise a better contest than one between lopsided ones.
The Thursday night schedule ends next week as the San Diego Chargers travel to Denver to face the Broncos. If the Broncos defeat Tennessee on Sunday and Kansas City loses in Washington, Denver will be in a position to clinch the AFC West with a win.
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