CBS and NFL Network combined for an 11.5 overnight rating for the Seahawks 20-3 blowout win over the 49ers on "TNF," down 1% from an 11.6 for Jets-Patriots in Week 7 last year. Seahawks-49ers drew a 43.1 local rating in Seattle and a 19.2 in S.F.-Oakland-San Jose. Through six weeks, "TNF" is averaging a 12.1 overnight, up 9% from an 11.1 through this point last year (Josh Carpenter, Staff Writer).
NOT A FAN OF THURSDAY GAMES: Fox’ David Diehl, who retired in '14 following an 11-year NFL career, talked about playing on Thursday nights, saying it is tough on players because it is "such a quick turnaround" from the previous Sunday's game. Diehl said, "You’re still trying to recover from that game. Physically, practices are basically walk-throughs because you don’t have the recovery time. You’ve got to let your players rest up and get their sleep, and you just can’t go out there and hit. So you have your Monday off, your Tuesday practice, Wednesday’s like a quick kind of walk-through. Throughout this entire time, you’ve got to introduce a brand new game plan. You’ve got to break down the personnel of the other team." He said it is a "short, condensed time to try and go into a game with the best plan you can have." Diehl: "The best physical aspect of the game is that everybody’s healthy, everybody’s playing and the speed of the game is where it needs to be. I think that’s why Thursday games haven’t had that type of appeal as an X’s and O’s game, because of everybody being beat up in it” (“The Dan Patrick Show,” 10/22).
