The NFL has a challenge keeping all of its television network partners happy when it makes the schedule.

Once “Thursday Night Football” became a bigger priority, with a huge Fox contract, that meant the NFL had to put some quality matchups on Thursdays while maintaining NBC’s Sunday night lineup as its No. 1 priority. The NFL also had to make sure ESPN wasn’t left out for “Monday Night Football.” Oh, and Fox and CBS need good Sunday afternoon games, too.

The NFL probably did its best job in 2018. Not all the prime-time games turned out well — having the San Francisco 49ers scheduled for five prime-time games turned bad when quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo tore his ACL early in the season, and issues like that are impossible to predict — but the league had a good feel for how to maximize its prime-time schedule with compelling matchups.

[For the full 2019 NFL regular-season schedule, click here.]

Did the NFL do as well this year? Let’s review the prime-time schedules (but first let’s give a nod to the 10 teams that got the maximum of five prime-time games this season: Patriots, Eagles, Vikings, Bears, Cowboys, Chiefs, Packers, Seahawks, Steelers and Rams):

‘Thursday Night Football’ gets a mixed bag

Thursday nights used to be the slot in which the NFL stuck its worst teams, in order to give each club one prime-time game over the season. A new, lucrative agreement with Fox changed that. The NFL started funneling better teams and games to Thursday.

This season is a mixed bag. There are some fun matchups like the Philadelphia Eagles at Green Bay Packers (Week 4); Pittsburgh Steelers at Cleveland Browns (Week 11); and Indianapolis Colts at Houston Texans (Week 12) — but it’s not a strong slate from top to bottom. Relatively dull tams like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Jacksonville Jaguars and Arizona Cardinals needed to get their one prime-time game, and they were put on Thursday nights.

Fans will have chances to see Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) in prime time this season. (AP) More

Included in this list are all the games in prime time on Thursdays this season, including the season opener (which is on NBC) and the third Thanksgiving game:

Week 1: Green Bay at Chicago

Week 2: Tampa Bay at Carolina

Week 3: Tennessee at Jacksonville

Week 4: Philadelphia at Green Bay

Week 5: L.A. Rams at Seattle

Week 6: N.Y. Giants at New England

Week 7: Kansas City at Denver

Week 8: Washington at Minnesota

Week 9: San Francisco at Arizona

Week 10: L.A. Chargers at Oakland

Week 11: Pittsburgh at Cleveland

Week 12: Indianapolis at Houston

Week 13: New Orleans at Atlanta (Thanksgiving)

Week 14: Dallas at Chicago

Week 15: N.Y. Jets at Baltimore

The best games go to Sunday night, again

The NFL wants NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” to be its showcase. NBC has to be thrilled with the schedule.

It’s hard to find a bad matchup in the bunch. And even if one turns sour, the NFL can use flex scheduling later in the season to swap it out. Games like the Los Angeles Rams at the Cleveland Browns (Week 3); Indianapolis Colts at Kansas City Chiefs (Week 5); Philadelphia Eagles at Dallas Cowboys (Week 7); or Green Bay Packers at Kansas City Chiefs (Week 8) have “game-of-the-year” potential.

It’s clear from this lineup of games, the NFL wants to make sure “SNF” remains a ratings powerhouse:

Week 1: Pittsburgh at New England

Week 2: Philadelphia at Atlanta

Week 3: L.A. Rams at Cleveland

Week 4: Dallas at New Orleans

Week 5: Indianapolis at Kansas City

Week 6: Pittsburgh at L.A. Chargers

Week 7: Philadelphia at Dallas

Week 8: Green Bay at Kansas City

Week 9: New England at Baltimore

Week 10: Minnesota at Dallas

Week 11: Chicago at L.A. Rams

Week 12: Seattle at Philadelphia

Week 13: New England at Houston

Week 14: Seattle at L.A. Rams

Week 15: Minnesota at L.A. Chargers

Week 16: Kansas City at Chicago

Story continues