If Week 8 was one of the best-looking "Thursday Night Football" matchups on paper, Week 9's matchup would have to be considered one of the worst.
LIVE: Follow Jets vs. Colts updates from 'Thursday Night Football'
Two AFC teams with losing records will be facing off on Thursday this week in what figures to be an important battle for draft positioning. Both teams are coming off 34-31 results in Week 8, with the visitor having won to improve to 2-5 and the home team having lost to drop to 3-5.
The quarterback battle will be an interesting one. The Colts figure to have an advantage with Carson Wentz starting, but he is coming off a great game while Mike White led the Jets to a season-high in points while throwing for more than 400 yards. He will look to build on that start in Week 9 and prove it wasn't just a flash in the pan.
The Colts' defense should give White a solid test, but they have been banged up in recent weeks. And without T.Y. Hilton (concussion), both Michael Pittman and Jonathan Taylor will need to help carry the Indy offense in hopes of improving their 1-3 record at home.
Below is everything to know about Thursday night's matchup, plus everything you need to know to watch the first Week 9 game of the 2021 NFL season.
MORE: Watch Jets at Packers live with fuboTV (7-day free trial)
Who plays on 'Thursday Night Football' tonight?
- Matchup: Jets at Colts
- Location: Lucas Oil Field in Indianapolis, Ind.
The Colts (3-5) are playing host to the Jets on "Thursday Night Football" in Week 9. Indianapolis is coming off a 34-31 overtime loss to the Titans during which they blew a 14-point lead early in the game. The team will hope to bounce back against the Jets.
The Jets, meanwhile, are coming off a big upset win over the Bengals. Mike White won his first NFL start and earned the Jets 34 points in style. They beat the Bengals, who were favored by double-digits in that game, 34-31, the same score as the Titans-Colts game.
Indianapolis will certainly be favored in this spot over the 2-5 Jets. That said, they'll need a better performance out of Carson Wentz in this one. Wentz threw two awful interceptions late in the Colts' loss to the Titans and completed just 52.9 percent of his passes. If he can't throw more accurately, the Jets will have a chance to hang around.
New York will hope that White can continue to play well, and they will look for Jamison Crowder and rookie Michael Carter to be involved as the offense's top weapons. Carter may not get much going on the ground against a Colts team that just slowed down Derrick Henry, but he can still serve as a weapon during the game.
This contest will have major implications. It will either decide if the Colts are going to make a playoff run or if they'll be on a crash course for a top-10 pick. If it's the latter, the team may want to start thinking about sitting Wentz so they can keep their own first-round pick instead of sending it to the Eagles.
What time is the NFL game tonight?
- Date: Thursday, Nov. 4
- Time: 8:20 p.m. ET
The Jets and Colts are set to kick off at 8:20 p.m. ET. "Thursday Night Football" contests will uniformly begin at that time for the rest of the 2021 NFL season. Pregame coverage of the event will begin at 7:30 p.m. ET on both NFL Network and Fox. NFL Network will also air "TNF First Look" on game day starting at 3 p.m. ET.
Streamers will be able to watch the game via Amazon Prime or by using fuboTV, which comes with a seven-day free trial.
Meanwhile, viewers in Canada can watch the game on DAZN free with a 30-day trial.
What channel is 'Thursday Night Football' on tonight?
- TV channels: Fox | NFL Network
- Live stream: Amazon Prime | fuboTV | DAZN (in Canada)
"Thursday Night Football" will continue to be simulcast by both Fox and NFL Network for the remainder of the 2021 NFL season. Viewers can watch the game on those channels or can stream it on Amazon Prime. All options will have the same announcer tag team of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman.
Most United States cable providers carry the NFL Network. It also is available via satellite provider DirecTV (channels 212 and 1212) and IPTV providers Verizon FiOS (channels 88 and 588) and Google Fiber (channel 2019).
NFL live stream for Thursday night game
Streamers will be able to view "Thursday Night Football" for free with a cable subscription by using either the NFL App or the Yahoo! Sports App. You must enter cable/satellite subscription credentials to access it.
Meanwhile, cord-cutters will have plenty of options to watch Jets vs. Colts. They are as follows.
| Streaming option | Cable subscription needed? | Free? | Cost | Free trial? |
| NFL App | No | Yes | - | - |
| Yahoo! Sports App | No | Yes | - | - |
| DirecTV Stream | No | No | $69.99/month | No |
| fuboTV | No | No | $60/month | Yes |
| Hulu Plus Live TV | No | No | $55/month | Yes |
| Sling TV | No | No | $30/month | Yes |
| YouTube TV | No | No | $65/month | Yes |
NFL Week 9 schedule
The Jets and the Colts will be the first matchup of Week 9 on "Thursday Night Football." New York is coming off a win with Mike White at quarterback while the Colts sand Carson Wentz lost in overtime against the Colts.
The best of the prime-time games will take place between the Titans and Rams. The teams are a combined 13-3 on the season and both are in first place in their respective divisions, but they'll look different in this contest. Tennessee will be without Derrick Henry while the Rams will be breaking in newly acquired pass rusher Von Miller.
Steelers-Bears will round out the Week 9 slate on "Monday Night Football" with Justin Fields getting his first chance to prove himself in prime-time. The main slate for the week features a couple of good matchups as well, but the one that stands out is the Packers at Chiefs game.
The Packers just beat the previously undefeated Cardinals while the Chiefs struggled to beat the Giants. Patrick Mahomes and Co. will need to bring their A-game to avoid falling below .500 again.
Below is the full schedule for Week 9 of the 2021 NFL season.
Week 9
- Thursday, Nov. 4
| Game | Kickoff time | TV channel |
| Jets at Colts | 8:20 p.m. ET | Fox/NFLN/Amazon |
- Sunday, Nov. 7
| Game | Kickoff time | TV channel |
| Falcons at Saints | 1 p.m. ET | Fox |
| Broncos at Cowboys | 1 p.m. ET | Fox |
| Patriots at Panthers | 1 p.m. ET | CBS |
| Vikings at Ravens | 1 p.m. ET | Fox |
| Browns at Bengals | 1 p.m. ET | CBS |
| Bills at Jaguars | 1 p.m. ET | CBS |
| Texans at Dolphins | 1 p.m. ET | FOx |
| Raiders at Giants | 1 p.m. ET | CBS |
| Chargers at Eagles | 4:05 p.m. ET | CBS |
| Packers at Chiefs | 4:25 p.m. ET | Fox |
| Cardinals at 49ers | 4:25 p.m. ET | Fox |
| Titans at Rams | 8:20 p.m. ET | NBC |
- Monday, Nov. 8
| Game | Kickoff time | TV channel |
| Bears at Steelers | 8:15 p.m. ET | ESPN |
