Sunday’s Jaguars-Broncos game is a big one. Maybe the NFL’s biggest game this Sunday. The Broncos are 12-2, the best record in the NFL. The Jaguars are 10-4 and in first place in the AFC South. Both teams have plenty to play for as they fight for playoff position.
But the game hasn’t been scheduled like a big game.
Instead of airing on prime time or in the marquee Sunday afternoon window, Jaguars-Broncos airs as a regional broadcast on Fox at 4:05 p.m. ET on Sunday. It won’t be available on the Fox affiliates in most markets. Most of America won’t be able to watch.
That the NFL didn’t schedule Jaguars-Broncos for a broadcast window that could generate a big audience suggests that, despite the success of the teams on the field this season, the league doesn’t think the average fan is excited about a game matching up these two teams. Sunday afternoon games like Bills-Browns on CBS early, Steelers-Lions on CBS late and Chargers-Cowboys on Fox early are primed to get bigger audiences despite featuring teams with lesser records than the Jaguars and Broncos.
As we pointed out when the schedule was released in May, it’s clear from the way the NFL schedules the Jaguars that even in Year 5 of the Trevor Lawrence era, he has not caught on as the start he was supposed to be entering the league, and the Jaguars have not caught on as a team the average fan wants to see. The Broncos have a bigger fan base, but Bo Nix also has not yet developed into a big national star.
Even lesser NFL games generate TV audiences that every other sports league could only dream of. But it says something about the tastes of the average fan that the 10-4 Jaguars against the 12-2 Broncos is perceived as a lesser game by the viewing public.
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