Most teams entering their bye week can put their feet up, rest, and relax knowing they have a full 14-day break between games.
Not the Green Bay Packers.
Due to the NFL putting the Packers' game with the Los Angeles Rams on Thanksgiving Eve, a Wednesday, they've had to find a creative way to make it work. Their solution was to give Green Bay and Los Angeles a bye week directly before their Week 12 clash. In theory, it works, but in reality, it creates a new problem.
NFL's first Thanksgiving Eve has created a new problem for the Packers and Rams
The league had to do something. By making the Packers and Rams play on a Wednesday, they somewhat backed themselves into a corner.
They couldn't ask the teams to play the previous Sunday, as that would only leave three days between games. They could push it back to the previous Saturday, but that would force them to play three games in an 11-day span.
Instead, the NFL has given them a bye in Week 11.
But here's the problem: Neither team gets the full benefit of a bye week. The typical 14-day gap between games allows players to recover from injuries and coaches to self-scout and start working on future game plans.
Instead, only 10 days separate the Packers' games in Weeks 10 and 12. It will presumably cut their bye week short by a day, as Sunday will become a practice day.
Green Bay's visit to SoFi Stadium will kick off less than 48 hours after Monday Night Football in Week 11 ends. So instead of an extra week of recovery, they will play a game only two or three days after the rest of the league.
And it comes at a point in the season when both teams need a full bye week. They will have played 10 weeks in a row, with the Packers coming off a brutal stretch that included games against the Chicago Bears, Dallas Cowboys, Detroit Lions, New England Patriots, and Minnesota Vikings in a six-week span. The Rams are on the road three times in four weeks before their Week 11 bye.
If ever there were a time for a 14-day break between games, this would be it.
The positive is that once the Week 12 game is over, the Packers won't play again until Sunday, December 6, which is 11 days after Thanksgiving Eve. Ironically, that's a longer gap than their actual bye week. So, in some ways, it balances out. It's also the same problem for both teams, so neither the Packers nor the Rams will have a competitive advantage in the game itself.
However, it will undoubtedly have a knock-on effect. The NFL wants to feature a Wednesday night game, but it forces two teams into a shortened bye week.
Great for the TV audience, sure, but for the players and coaches? Not at all. The Packers and Rams have good reason to feel frustrated about the unnecessary addition of a Thanksgiving Eve game.
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