Houston Texans: Victims of NFL’s greed on Thursday Night Football

The Houston Texans coaches and players were all taking the blame for their poor showing on Thursday Night Football, but the NFL is to blame for the mid-week cash grab

What a bad game that was on Thursday Night Football. This can be said not just about the beatdown the Houston Texans received at the hands of the New England Patriots, but really about most of the games on Thursday night.

Asking these players to go on a short rest and play such a violent game is ludicrous. Sure, it helps line the pockets of the big wigs, but it isn’t safe and the result is what happened on Thursday.

After a hard fought game with the physical Kansas City Chiefs, the Texans flew to Foxborough. There they headed to the field with their star defensive end J.J. Watt still getting in rhythm after missing all of the preseason following back surgery.

They also had to try and prepare for one of the toughest teams in the NFL, who simply don’t lose at home. This loss was on the Texans. They were outplayed and New England was the better team. Still, they shouldn’t have looked this bad.

That embarrassment should be on the league for their greediness in even scheduling these games.

A couple seasons ago, the NFL decided to expand their slate of Thursday Night games to every single week. The idea spits in the face of all the bogus safety talk spewed by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

The man who claims he wants to make the game safe has already been involved in a huge concussion settlement where the league was accused of hiding data from players. Of course Roger says that safety is always of the utmost importance.

Hey, the league even recently pledged $100-million to players safety. Not sure exactly what the pledge means, but Goodell says it’s all about keeping the players healthy especially with head trauma. Yet, he knows there is skepticism about how he and his guys are going about all this.

"“We know there is skepticism about our work in this area,” Goodell wrote in a letter following the league’s pledge. “That’s why both the process and the results of our work will be shared with the medical community and the public at large.”"

Well of course there’s skepticism. The league realized how much money they could make with a 17-week slate of Thursday Night games and they went for it. They completely ignored the concerns of the guys who coach and play the game, like current Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians who ripped the idea back in 2012.

"“The recovery time from Sunday to Thursday is ridiculous, especially after playing a very physical game, and then to have to travel.” Said Bruce Arians when he was with the Colts. “When you add the travel in, you may get some swelling out of your body, but on that airplane, you’re going to swell right back up.”"

High profile players also came out and spoke against the terrible short week games.

"“If they are really concerned about the violence and injuries and players getting hurt, answer this question for me, and I’m going to leave y’all with this: Why is there Thursday night football?” Former Baltimore Ravens and Texans safety Ed Reed said via USA Today. “We played three games in (12) days. Why is there Thursday night football?”"

Again, Thursday night was just another example of the league’s cash grab making things hard on the players.

The Thursday night games are bad quality and unsafe. The league can trot out all the data they want showing injuries aren’t more likely because of short rest. However, the players have said how they feel. Now it’s time for the fans to start demanding a better product.

Must Read: Houston Texans: The 'yeah, but' came to get 'em

The Thursday night games need to end, unfortunately as long as we all watch, the NFL will probably only expand upon these poorly played games.