At the end of the day, the Saints and Commanders made the difference.
Along with the Panthers and the Broncos.
With New Orleans and Washington flipping from “no” to “yes” and with Carolina and Denver moving from “abstain” to “yes,” the league office get the 24 “yes” votes it needed to activate late-season Thursday night flexing.
It’s unclear at this point why New Orleans and Commanders changed their positions from “no” to “yes.” That’s a more significant move than a shift from abstention.
If any of those four teams had voted anything other than yes, the proposal would have failed. It’s possible there’s an interesting story or two to tell as to why the Commanders and Saints changed their positions. (And it’s probably we’re currently trying to find out what it is.)
Regardless, the league needed 24 votes — and it got 24 exactly. Often in cases like this, another vote will be taken to allow the impression to be created that everyone was on the same page. In this case, the takeaway is clear.
A full 25 percent of the league believes late-season Thursday night flexing is the wrong move. In other words, this ain’t over.