Blowouts the norm for Thursday Night Football

It's rare for a league whose every decision is based on creating parity to be criticized for lopsided games. But four straight prime-time NFL blowouts has the football world buzzing about the league's practice of making teams play Thursday night games four days after their previous game.

Here's a snapshot of those games:

At Baltimore, Sept. 11: The Steelers go down 10-0 and 17-6 en route to a 26-6 loss to the Ravens. The Steelers turn the ball over three times, take it away zero and struggle through the air as Ben Roethlisberger posts a 64.8 passer rating. It's the only time this season that Roethlisberger posts a passer rating lower than 100.7.

At Atlanta, Sept. 18: The Buccaneers fall behind 56-0 on their way to a 56-14 loss to the Falcons. Atlanta converts eight of 11 third downs and rolls up 488 yards while Matt Ryan posts a 155.9 passer rating. Ten days later, the Bucs win at Pittsburgh, while the Falcons get mauled at Minnesota.

At Washington, Sept. 25: The Redskins become the only home team to get blown out during this stretch. They turn the ball over six times, including four interceptions by Kirk Cousins, and convert only one of eight third downs in the 45-14 loss. Eli Manning throws four touchdown passes.

At Green Bay, Oct. 2: The Vikings fall behind 42-0, lose 42-10 and, well, you know the rest.

THIRD-AND-2

Three observations

• Defenders are valuable, too, so, yeah, Texans defensive lineman J.J. Watt deserves early consideration for league MVP, not just league defensive MVP. The last defender to win NFL MVP was Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor in 1986.

• The NFL Coach of the Year front-runner at this point is Bruce Arians. Injuries and using a backup QB hasn't kept him from staying undefeated in Arizona.

• Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers is the front-runner for offensive MVP and, of course, in the mix for overall MVP.