The NFL likes to tout that the regular season is nearly 75 percent complete and not a single game has been outright cancelled. Well, it's certainly not because of a lack of effort from the league, who so far this year has made the 49ers and Raiders both play short-handed, and this past Sunday forced the Broncos to play a game without a quarterback on one day's notice.
Then there's the ongoing debacle with the Ravens and Steelers. The NFL's fiercest rivalry was supposed to be played Thanksgiving night, before a COVID-19 outbreak hit Baltimore. So the game was moved to Sunday... then to Tuesday... and (finally?) to Wednesday afternoon. Assuming the game gets played - and with the Ravens having nearly two dozen players on the COVID-19/Reserve list, that's a big if - it will be one of the few Wednesday games in the history of pro football. So while we all tune on the TV while working and look past the reasons why it's happening, at least some history will be made? Here are the other Wednesday games in NFL history:
2012 (Giants vs. Cowboys): The defending champion Giants were supposed to do the typical Super Bowl-winning thing and kickoff the season at home on Thursday night of Week 1 (also, it may or may not be a law that the Giants and Cowboys have to open the season against one another). Alas, that Thursday was the night of the Democratic National Convention, and instead of directly competing with President Obama's speech, the league simply moved the opener up a day to Wednesday. Dallas wound up winning 24-17 behind three touchdown passes from Tony Romo.
1948 (Rams vs. Lions): Prior to 2012, you have to go back 72 years to find the last Wednesday NFL game! Presumably done to bring more attention to the game, Los Angeles and Detroit opened their seasons against one another during the midweek in what became a 44-7 Rams laugher. But this game also brought a different, far more influential type of history: L.A. put their now-iconic Rams horns on their helmets, the first time in football history a team had used a logo in such a way.
1948 (Dons vs Yankees): The NFL record book doesn't formally recognize the All-American Football Conference (AAFC), but this game technically came one week after the Rams-Lions, and even came at the same stadium (the L.A. Coliseum). The Los Angeles Dons beat the New York Yankees in come-from-behind fashion 20-10, with L.A. scoring 17 points in the final five minutes. Haven't heard of either team? It makes sense; the AAFC was founded in 1946 and merged with the NFL in 1950... neither the Dons nor the Yanks were part of that merger and folded.
The AAFC did have another Wednesday game in 1946, when the Chicago Rockets beat the Buffalo Bisons (a distant precursor to the Bills) 38-35 behind 17 unanswered fourth quarter points.
1940 (Cardinals vs. Bears): Did you know Chicago used to have two pro teams? The Bears (obviously) are one, but the Cardinals' original home was the Windy City, from its founding in 1920 all the way until 1959. To end Week 3 of the 1940 season the rivals met at Comiskey Park, where the Cards won 21-7. It was the only Wednesday game of the season, and probably for the better, as the Cardinals had to turn around and play again the following Sunday, losing 31-6 to the Packers.
1939: Wednesday games weren't common in the 1930s, but there was at least one a year in most seasons (peaking with seven in 1930 alone!). The last came between the Brooklyn Dodgers and Cleveland Rams at Ebbets Field, a 24-12 Brooklyn victory. But like the Cardinals a year later, playing on Wednesday took its toll the next Sunday, when the Dodgers got blasted by the Lions 27-7.
