Why is there no Thursday Night Football game tonight, Jan. 5?

The 2022 NFL season is nearly in the books. After 18 weeks of play, the regular season comes to an end this week as the final games of the season play out across the league.

While many teams have already been eliminated from playoff contention, there are still a few teams in the fight for the final spots in the playoffs.

In total, eight teams remain in the hunt with their postseason dreams on the line in Week 18 with the Jacksonville Jaguars, New England Patriots, Miami Dolphins, Pittsburgh Steelers, Tennessee Titans, Seattle Seahawks, Detroit Lions, and Green Bay Packers all hoping to lock down a place in the playoffs this week. Of these eight teams only three will move on to the playoffs, while the other five will join the list of teams whose season comes to a close this week.

With a major series of games ahead, fans might be expecting the action to kick off tonight on Thursday Night Football. However, the NFL has other plans in place.

Is Thursday Night Football new tonight, January 5?

There will be no Thursday Night Football game in Week 18, meaning there will not be a game airing tonight, January 5. Last week’s game between the Dallas Cowboys and Tennessee Titans was the season finale of Thursday Night Football. As a result, we’ll have to wait until the fall for the next season of Thursday Night Football to begin.

While there aren’t any Thursday night games this week, fans will be able to enjoy a weekend of football with games scheduled for both Saturday and Sunday.

Why isn’t Thursday Night Football on tonight, January 5?

Unfortunately, the final week of the NFL season doesn’t include Thursday Night Football (or Monday Night Football). Instead, all of the Week 18 games will unfold over the weekend with a pair of games lined up for Saturday, Jan. 7, and a total of 14 games unfolding across the day on Sunday, Jan. 8.

It’s unclear why the NFL opted not to include a Thursday night game in the final week of the 2022 season, but it’s not uncommon for the NFL to air all of the final games of the regular season on Sunday.