The reigning Super Bowl champion Rams are set to duel with the reigning AFC East champion Bills on Thursday in the opening contest of the 2022 NFL regular season.
It’s a matchup brimming with intrigue. Led by Aaron Donald, Cooper Kupp and Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles was a buzzsaw last season and looks destined to be a handful once more this season. Buffalo, meanwhile, is an AFC favorite, and many have anointed Josh Allen as an NFL MVP candidate.
One curious detail surrounding Thursday’s game is its moniker. Despite being played on Thursday night, the clash is being billed as a “Sunday Night Football” game.
Why is that the case? The Sporting News details the reasons behind the misnomer, as well as the broadcast schedules for all nationally televised NFL games this season.
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Why is it called ‘Sunday Night Football’ on Thursday?
The reason why Thursday’s game is being promoted as a “Sunday Night Football” game is quite simple: the game is being broadcast by NBC.
WE HAVE MADE IT TO KICKOFF WEEK! 😍#NFL pic.twitter.com/5qCtmerHw1
— Sunday Night Football on NBC (@SNFonNBC) September 5, 2022
Thursday’s game will be televised by NBC and live streamed on NBCSports.com, the NBC Sports app, Peacock and fuboTV, which offers a free trial. NBC’s new-look “Sunday Night Football” broadcast crew — Mike Tirico, Cris Collinsworth and Melissa Stark — will handle game coverage.
And this isn’t the only “Sunday Night Football” game that will be broadcast on a different day of the week. The Patriots-Vikings game on Thanksgiving will also be billed as “Sunday Night Football.”
All other games telecast on Thursday nights will be part of Amazon Prime Video’s “Thursday Night Football” package. Viewers can only access those 15 games by purchasing an Amazon Prime subscription.
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Amazon pinched veteran broadcaster Al Michaels (from NBC) and longtime college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit (from ESPN) to spearhead its “Thursday Night Football” coverage. They’ll be joined by sideline reporter Kaylee Hartung, while former pros Andrew Whitworth, Tony Gonzalez, Richard Sherman and Ryan Fitzpatrick will feature as analysts.
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‘Thursday Night Football’ schedule 2022
- Start time: 8:20 p.m. ET
- Live stream: Amazon Prime
This will be the first year that Amazon Prime is the exclusive home of “Thursday Night Football.” Thursday night games were previously broadcast on Fox.
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Michaels, a fixture of NBC’s NFL coverage, will handle play-by-play for the games. He’ll be joined by Herbstreit, ESPN’s lead college football analyst, who will provide color commentary.
| Week | Date | Matchup |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Sept. 15 | Los Angeles Chargers vs. Kansas City Chiefs |
| 3 | Sept. 22 | Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Cleveland Browns |
| 4 | Sept. 29 | Miami Dolphins vs. Cincinnati Bengals |
| 5 | Oct. 6 | Indianapolis Colts vs. Denver Broncos |
| 6 | Oct. 13 | Washington Commanders vs. Chicago Bears |
| 7 | Oct. 20 | New Orleans Saints vs. Arizona Cardinals |
| 8 | Oct. 27 | Baltimore Ravens vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| 9 | Nov. 3 | Philadelphia Eagles vs. Houston Texans |
| 10 | Nov. 10 | Atlanta Falcons vs. Carolina Panthers |
| 11 | Nov. 17 | Tennessee Titans vs. Green Bay Packers |
| 13 | Dec. 1 | Buffalo Bills vs. New England Patriots |
| 14 | Dec. 8 | Las Vegas Raiders vs. Los Angeles Rams |
| 15 | Dec. 15 | San Francisco 49ers vs. Seattle Seahawks |
| 16 | Dec. 22 | Jacksonville Jaguars vs. New York Jets |
| 17 | Dec. 29 | Dallas Cowboys vs. Tennessee Titans |
‘Sunday Night Football’ schedule 2022
- Start time: 8:20 p.m. ET
- TV channel: NBC
- Live stream: NBCSports.com, Peacock, fuboTV
For the 16th consecutive season, NBC will be the broadcast hub of “Sunday Night Football.” This year’s broadcast team looks different, with Tirico calling the play-by-play, Collinsworth offering color commentary and Stark reporting from the sideline
“Sunday Night Football” games can be streamed on NBCSports.com, the NBC Sports app, Peacock or on fuboTV, which offers a free trial.
| Week | Date | Matchup |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sept. 8 (Thu.) | Buffalo Bills vs. Los Angeles Rams |
| 1 | Sept. 11 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Dallas Cowboys |
| 2 | Sept. 18 | Chicago Bears vs. Green Bay Packers |
| 3 | Sept. 25 | San Francisco 49ers vs. Denver Broncos |
| 4 | Oct. 2 | Kansas City Chiefs vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| 5 | Oct. 9 | Cincinnati Bengals vs. Baltimore Ravens |
| 6 | Oct. 16 | Dallas Cowboys vs. Philadelphia Eagles |
| 7 | Oct. 23 | Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Miami Dolphins |
| 8 | Oct. 30 | Green Bay Packers vs. Buffalo Bills |
| 9 | Nov. 6 | Tennessee Titans vs. Kansas City Chiefs |
| 10 | Nov. 13 | Los Angeles Chargers vs. San Francisco 49ers |
| 11 | Nov. 20 | Cincinnati Bengals vs. Pittsburgh Steelers |
| 12 | Nov. 24 (Thu.) | New England Patriots vs. Minnesota Vikings |
| 12 | Nov. 27 | Green Bay Packers vs. Philadelphia Eagles |
| 13 | Dec. 4 | Indianapolis Colts vs. Dallas Cowboys |
| 14 | Dec. 11 | Kansas City Chiefs vs. Denver Broncos |
| 15 | Dec. 18 | New England Patriots vs. Las Vegas Raiders |
| 16 | Dec. 25 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Arizona Cardinals |
| 17 | Jan. 1 | Los Angeles Rams vs. Los Angeles Chargers |
| 18 | Jan. 8 | TBD |
‘Monday Night Football’ schedule 2022
- Start time: 8:15 p.m. ET
- TV channel: ESPN
- Live stream: ESPN app, ESPN+, fuboTV
ESPN made two of the biggest signings of the NFL offseason, prying Joe Buck and Troy Aikman from Fox to work “Monday Night Football.” Buck will reprise his role as play-by-play announcer, while Aikman will continue to provide color commentary.
There will be two “Monday Night Football” games on offer during Week 2, with one game slated to be broadcast on ESPN and the other set to show on ABC. Steve Levy, Louis Riddick and Dan Orlovsky comprise the No. 2 crew behind Buck and Aikman.
“Monday Night Football” games can be watched on the ESPN app, through ESPN+ or on fuboTV, which offers a free trial. ESPN+ will have exclusive coverage of the Oct. 30 game in London between the Broncos and Jaguars, which will kick off at 9:30 a.m. ET.
| Week | Date | Matchup |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sept. 12 | Denver Broncos vs. Seattle Seahawks |
| 2 | Sept. 19 | Buffalo Bills vs. Tennessee Titans (7:15 p.m. ET, ESPN) |
| 2 | Sept. 19 | Philadelphia Eagles vs. Minnesota Vikings (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC) |
| 3 | Sept. 26 | Dallas Cowboys vs. New York Giants |
| 4 | Oct. 3 | Los Angeles Rams vs. San Francisco 49ers |
| 5 | Oct. 10 | Las Vegas Raiders vs. Kansas City Chiefs |
| 6 | Oct. 17 | Denver Broncos vs. Los Angeles Chargers |
| 7 | Oct. 24 | Chicago Bears vs. New England Patriots |
| 8 | Oct. 31 | Cincinnati Bengals vs. Cleveland Browns |
| 9 | Nov. 7 | Baltimore Ravens vs. New Orleans Saints |
| 10 | Nov. 14 | Washington Commanders vs. Philadelphia Eagles |
| 11 | Nov. 21 | San Francisco 49ers vs. Arizona Cardinals (in Mexico City) |
| 12 | Nov. 28 | Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Indianapolis Colts |
| 13 | Dec. 5 | New Orleans Saints vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| 14 | Dec. 12 | New England Patriots vs. Arizona Cardinals |
| 15 | Dec. 19 | Los Angeles Rams vs. Green Bay Packers |
| 16 | Dec. 26 | Los Angeles Chargers vs. Indianapolis Colts |
| 17 | Jan. 2 | Buffalo Bills vs. Cincinnati Bengals |
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