Thanksgiving NFL Schedule: 49ers Screwed by NFL with Cross-Country Game

The NFL wanted a family affair on Thanksgiving night, but I’m pretty sure Jim Harbaugh could care less.

His 9-1 San Francisco 49ers are being forced to travel through three time zones to visit his older brother John and his 7-3 Baltimore Ravens, with essentially two days of preparation. Jim is thankful to get a Thanksgiving Day game against his brother, but he has made it clear he could have done without it:

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I definitely think it was very considerate of the NFL to reunite the brother's on Thanksgiving. I think that's going to be very difficult for our team. There's no question that we drew the short end of the straw on this one. There's not a lot of time to really think about the warm and fuzzy reunions, the nostalgia

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What’s so great about a family reunion that will essentially turn out to be a brief pre-game conversation and a post game handshake?

With the Week 11 win over Arizona coming around 7:00 P.M EST on Sunday, they had only 60 or so hours (including sleep) to prep for Baltimore before making the four-hour flight.

This is the first time a team has gone three time zones for a Thanksgiving game since the Los Angeles Rams won 20-0 at Detroit on Nov. 27, 1975.

The 49ers did do themselves a favor by completing dominating the Cardinals last week. In the 60-minute game, the Niners defense was only on the field for 15 minutes of game action. So they will be a bit more rested than a Ravens defense that was on the field until the last play of the game in a nail-bitter against the Bengals.

I know the Ravens have a short week as well, but the whole travel-across-the country thing really bothers me. It puts one team at a strong disadvantage that is completely out of their control. Just ask how the Jets felt about their experience last Thursday in Denver.

When you can’t completely control everything, there is a serious problem.

It’s great that the country will be treated to a grand game on the Thanksgiving holiday, but the NFL schedule-makers are screwing over the 49ers royally.