The way we hear it, Thursday-night football, on a full-time basis for the first time this season, has been a full-fledged calamity on two very important levels.

Start with the vast majority of players and coaches forced to play two games in four days this season that abhor the extent to which the compressed time frame has adversely affected their physical condition and game preparation, respectively.

“If they (the NFL powers-that-be) were really so concerned about the violence and the injuries and players getting hurt, answer this question for me: Why is there Thursday night football?” Ravens S Ed Reed angrily wondered out loud, not long after his one-game suspension for repeated hits to the head and neck area of defenseless players was reduced to a $50,000 fine, which he considered only slightly less bogus. “We played three games in 17 days (earlier this season)? Why?

“I never liked it when the Thursday night game came out," Reed said. "It's all about money.”

The fact that the Thursday games up to now have been case studies in bad football for the most part — and in some cases, outright unwatchable — could create double trouble for the NFL’s movers and shakers.

Just how bad has the football been? Consider the following factual evidence:

• Only two of the 15 total games played on Thursdays this season (counting the three games on Thanksgiving) featured teams both sporting winning records.

• Eight of the games were decided by 13 or more points.