NFL Thursdays Tough On Players, Especially On Road
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Thursday night matchups are the closest thing to a lock there is in today's NFL.
Heading into Tampa Bay's midweek game at Minnesota, home teams are 5-1 on Thursdays this season, an .833 winning percentage; the only loss was by the struggling Panthers against the visiting Super Bowl champion Giants. Home teams are 12-3 on Thursdays over the past two years.
Those records are far better than the .602 winning percentage NFL home teams have enjoyed in all other games this season and the .571 they have since the start of the 2011 season, according to STATS LLC.
Clearly, avoiding the road helps on the short weeks that players say are hardest on their bodies — and that the league says will remain a staple of the schedule.
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