Broncos! Nuggets! Santa! Same day!
Well, same night, at least. Team Grading The Week (GTW) loves marathons of “A Christmas Story” as much as the next leg lamp, but American TV options on Christmas Day could use a good kick in the backside after mid-afternoon. At which point, if your family is even remotely like the goofballs in the GTW offices, you’ve already opened all your presents, drank most of the eggnog and are starting to get sick of looking at one another.
In other words, we need more things to talk about, more things to rally around — other than which gifts with receipts are getting returned first.
The NBA capitalized on the value of a captive audience — no stores and only a few restaurants are open, after all — to the point where it was only a matter of time before the NFL horned in to grab a piece of that action.
Denver fans’ early Christmas gift — A
If you’re a Broncos fan, player/coach, staffer, etc., best get used to working the holiday, we’re afraid.
It’s only a matter of time before the No Fun League’s Christmas triple-header becomes a foursome or fivesome. And with the orange and blue boasting a familiar/marketable coach (Sean Payton) and a hot, young/also-marketable QB1 (Bo Nix), it’s a good bet that they’re going to be on the Grinch’s TV sked for some time.
With the Broncos visiting Kansas City on Dec. 25, just before the Nuggets host the Timberwolves, a Front Range sweep feels like an awful big ask of Old Saint Nick. But what the heck. We’ve been good.
More to the point, the Broncos and Nuggets should be, too.
Broncos-Nuggets Christmas overlap — D
One problem, though. Look, we get that the AFC West matchup (like the NFC West) gets pigeonholed into the latest time slot of the day. But with the Broncos slated to kick in Kansas City at 6:15 p.m. local time, a regulation game would likely end around 9:35 p.m. or so. The NBA has Nuggets-Wolves tipping off at 8:30 p.m., which is — well, kinda tight.
Hey, America needs more Nikola Jokic on TV, not less. But the NBA would be doing Mile High fans a solid if they could delay … that … tip … for … as … long … as … possible.
Given the expected playoff stakes (and just clean, old-fashioned hate, let’s be real), those smartphones in the crowd at Ball Arena are going to be trained on Arrowhead for most, if not all, of the first half of Nuggets-Minnesota.
Lionel Taylor’s legacy — A
He was the first pro receiver, AFL or NFL, to catch 100 passes in a season. He was the first wideout to catch 90 balls in a season more than once. As a coach, he’s believed to be the first Black coordinator in the modern NFL, calling plays with the Rams from 1980-81. A GTW toast to the late, great Lionel Taylor, the first star receiver in Broncos history, who passed away earlier this month at the age of 89.
Like AFL defenders, it took a long time for pro football to finally catch up with him. Too long.
Want more Broncos news? Sign up for the Broncos Insider to get all our NFL analysis.
Originally Published:
