Conspiracy theories pop up all over the place; the NFL is no different. Yet, sometimes theories can spawn new discoveries, innovations, and eventually, a change in mentality.
The latest from the Mike Florio school of thought is garnering a lot of interest this week, with the NFL world weighing in on whether there’s any substance to this one.
Mike Florio’s NFL Primetime Schedule Theory Taking Root
Florio explained his theory on Thursday’s edition of “PFT Live” with former NFL QB Chris Simms.
“The Bears tonight are embarking on their first of three straight primetime games. We’re gonna see them tonight against the Patriots, the following Monday night against Seattle, and then the following Sunday night on NBC and Peacock against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.”
This isn’t just some punishment or reward for Ben Johnson’s Bears. It seems to be a trend across the league, because other teams have been consecutively featured in primetime this year too, including the Dallas Cowboys, Atlanta Falcons, and Philadelphia Eagles.
“Here’s my hypothesis,” Florio explained. “But when that many teams are getting three in a row in primetime, I wonder if they are experimenting with having the same team in primetime for multiple weeks.”
PREDICT THE NFL SEASON:PFN’s Free NFL Playoff Predictor
Ok, but why would the NFL be experimenting with having the same team in primetime for multiple weeks in a row? That’s where it gets good.
“For if and when they ever embrace Tuesday and Wednesday night,” Florio detailed, “because if you do that, the only way to make the schedule work is to have a team play Thursday one week, Wednesday the next week, Tuesday the next week to give them maximum time between games.
“You’re going to have to do this surgery to the schedule that has the same teams popping up again, once you have teams playing in the middle of the week. Then maybe you cycle into a Monday, and then they go back to Sunday.”
It’s a pretty strong theory, one that one commenter called “incredible.”
Another seemed to hesitate in agreeing with Florio, calling the hypothesis “interesting.”
Meanwhile, Barstool’s Big Cat heaped praise on the founder of Pro Football Talk, calling Florio the “GOAT of conspiracy theories.”
“This is why Florio is the GOAT with the NFL conspiracy theories. No one does it like him.”
The Sleeper Seahawks account added that Seattle is in the same three-game stretch, playing Thursday, Sunday, and Monday night. “Whoa, interesting theory. He doesn’t even mention it here, but it’s also currently happening with the Seahawks along the same pattern.”
BE THE GM OF YOUR FAVORITE TEAM:PFN’s Free NFL Mock Draft Simulator
As a Steelers supporter pointed out, Pittsburgh will also have a three-game stretch of primetime matchups, starting at the end of November with a Black Friday game in tow.
Another listened to Florio’s explanation and came away agreeing with his theory: the NFL seems to be preparing for something.
“Good stuff from Florio here. More evidence that the NFL is laying the groundwork for eventual regular Wednesday (or even Tuesday?) night games.”
One simply found the conversation “interesting.”
“Is there a possibility of Tuesday and Wednesday games in the NFL’s future? This conversation is interesting?”
Ultimately, people seem to agree that Florio’s theory not only has some legitimate legs, but it could also be the start of a new scheduling trend in the NFL, preparing for a different future.
This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network.