One of the biggest discussions since the NFL released the 2025 regular season schedule has been the prime-time television spots. The Tennessee Titans are one of three NFL teams that will not play a game in prime time this fall, and it left fans questioning why.

“It wasn’t intentional.” NFL VP of broadcast planning Mike North told the Ross Tucker Podcast when asked about the Titans. “You don’t draft your way into prime-time, you play your way into prime-time.”

Advertisement

North was absolutely correct: The Titans did not earn a spot in prime-time after a miserable 3-14 campaign that led them to the first overall selection in the 2025 NFL draft. However, his statement doesn’t necessarily fit with the league’s recent broadcast history and is somewhat of a contradiction.

Ward is the first quarterback drafted first overall in the draft to not have a prime-time game as a rookie since the Carolina Panthers selected Cam Newton with the first pick in the 2011 NFL draft.

Ward is the 10th quarterback drafted with the top pick since 2011 and the nine previous quarterbacks all had prime-time games regardless of the record of their team during the previous season.

Looking at more recent history, Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears had three prime-time games in 2024 and Bryce Young and the Carolina Panthers had two in 2023. If you want to go back to the start of this decade, Joe Burrow had one in 2020 and Trevor Lawrence had one in 2021.

Advertisement

With over a decade of evidence showing that drafting a quarterback No. 1 overall will earn you at least one prime-time game, it is easy to see why fans question the NFL and how they assemble their schedule. Their actions in reality don’t match their talking points.

As Ward and the Titans settle in for his rookie campaign, they hope that history will repeat itself and Ward will develop into the electric playmaker Newton became during his career and make the league take notice of his talents. Then, becoming a staple in prime time.

This article originally appeared on Titans Wire: Cam Ward and Titans: Prime-time anomalies