Who will play the first-ever NFL Black Friday game?
By Tommy Jaggi
For good or for bad, the NFL has paved some new paths when it comes to the 2023 NFL schedule. For the first time in history, the National Football League will feature a game on Black Friday. In addition to a slate of three Thanksgiving Day games, the NFL will now host one game on the following afternoon. This year, it won't be the Pittsburgh Steelers playing in it.
This is good news for Steelers fans who still love to hammer out their Christmas shopping on the day after Thanksgiving. The NFL was certainly willing to compete with Walmart and Best Buy for an audience during the busiest shopping day of the year, and it will be interesting to see how that works out for them.
Just ahead of the official 2023 NFL schedule release, we now know which teams are in line to play the very first game on Black Friday.
Who will play the NFL Black Friday game?
The first Black Friday game will be a contest between two AFC East rivals. These are two teams who are likely to be fighting for a chance at a playoff spot. Here's everything we know.
- Who: Miami Dolphins vs New York Jets
- When: Friday, November 24th, 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time
- Where: In New York @ MetLife Stadium
- How to Watch: Prime Video
NFL’s first ever Black Friday Game, Nov. 24, will be the Dolphins at the Jets. pic.twitter.com/zVpb6G34Ym
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 10, 2023
On the first-ever Black Friday game, the Miami Dolphins will travel to New York to take on Aaron Rodgers and the Jets. This will be a battle between two potential playoff competitors and divisional seeding could be on the line.
The Jets already had a young, talented roster and boasted an incredible defense in 2022. Their biggest weakness was being forced to deploy a trio of underwhelming quarterbacks last year in Zach Wilson, Mike White, and Joe Flacco. Now with Rodgers leading the charge, we could be looking at a bonafide AFC contender.
The Dolphins, meanwhile, were one of the hottest teams early in the year before concussions kept quarterback Tua Tagovailoa off the field. If both teams are healthy, this should be an exciting matchup to watch.
Next. Steelers 2023 schedule leaks. dark
The Pittsburgh Steelers won't play on Thanksgiving this year or the day after. Having a Black Friday game is a first for the NFL, and it remains to be seen what type of audience this game will draw -- especially considering this will be a Prime Video exclusive. For those with an Amazon Prime subscription, you can catch the first Black Friday game on November 24th at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time.