Sunday Night Football Flex Scheduling Watch: Week 10

Since it started in its current format as the NFL’s main primetime package in 2006, the defining feature of NBC’s Sunday Night Football has been the use of flexible scheduling to ensure the best matchups and showcase the best teams as the season goes along. Well, that’s the theory, anyway; the reality has not always lived up to the initial hype and has at times seemed downright mystifying. Regardless, I’m here to help you figure out what you can and can’t expect to see on Sunday nights on NBC.

A full explanation of all the factors that go into flexible scheduling decisions can be found on my NFL Flexible Scheduling Primer, but here’s the Cliffs Notes version with all the important points you need to know:

  • The season can be broken down into three different periods (four if you count the first four weeks where flexible scheduling does not apply at all) for flexible scheduling purposes, each with similar yet different rules governing them: the early flex period, from weeks 5 to 10; the main flex period, from weeks 11 to 17; and week 18. In years where Christmas forces either the Sunday afternoon slate or the Sunday night game to Saturday in Week 16, flex scheduling does not apply that week, and the main flex period begins week 10. Note: This year NBC’s press release indicated that the main flex period begins in Week 11 even though Christmas falls on Sunday. I’m assuming this is correct and the result of NBC still being able to have six weeks in the main flex period despite this because of the expansion of the season.
  • In all cases, only games scheduled for Sunday may be moved to Sunday night. Thursday and Monday night games are not affected by Sunday night flexible scheduling (discounting the “flexible scheduling” applied to Saturdays in December in recent years – see below).
  • During the early and main flex periods, one game is “tentatively” scheduled for Sunday night and listed with the Sunday night start time of 8:20 PM ET. This game will usually remain at that start time and air on NBC, but may be flexed out for another game and moved to 1, 4:05, or 4:25 PM ET on Fox or CBS, no less than 12 days in advance of the game.
  • No more than two games can be flexed to Sunday night over the course of the early flex period. If the NFL wishes to flex out a game in the early flex period twelve days in advance, CBS and Fox may elect to protect one game each from being moved to Sunday night. This is generally an emergency valve in situations where the value of the tentative game has plummeted since the schedule was announced, namely in cases of injury to a key star player.
  • CBS and Fox may also each protect games, historically in five out of six weeks of the main flex period, but all of those protections must be submitted after week 5, week 4 in years where the main flex period begins week 10 (so it is always six weeks before the start of the main flex period).
  • No team may appear more than six times across the league’s three primetime packages on NBC, ESPN, and Fox/NFL Network, and only three teams are allowed to appear that often, with everyone else getting five. In addition, no team may appear more than four times on NBC. All teams’ number of appearances heading into this season may be seen here.
  • According to the league’s official page, teams are notified when “they are no longer under consideration or eligible for a move to Sunday night.” However, they rarely make this known to the fans, and the list of each network’s protections has never officially been made public. It used to leak fairly regularly, but has not leaked since 2014.
  • In all cases, the NFL is the ultimate arbiter of the schedule and consults with CBS, Fox, and NBC before moving any games to prime time. If the NFL does elect to flex out the Sunday night game, the network whose game is flexed in may receive the former tentative game, regardless of which network would “normally” air it under the “CBS=AFC, Fox=NFC” rules, keeping each network’s total number of games constant. At the same time, the NFL may also move games between 1 PM ET and 4:05/4:25 PM ET. However, this feature focuses primarily if not entirely on Sunday night flexible scheduling.
  • In Week 18, the entire schedule is set on only six days notice, ensuring that NBC gets a game with playoff implications, generally a game where the winner is the division champion. More rarely, NBC may also show an intra-division game for a wild card spot, or a game where only one team wins the division with a win but doesn’t win the division with a loss, but such situations are rare and 2018 and 2020, respectively, were the first times it showed such games. If no game is guaranteed to have maximum playoff implications before Sunday night in this fashion, the league has been known not to schedule a Sunday night game at all. To ensure maximum flexibility, no protections or appearance limits apply to Week 17. The NFL also arranges the rest of the schedule such that no team playing at 4:25 PM ET (there are no 4:05 games Week 17) could have their playoff fate decided by the outcome of the 1 PM ET games, which usually means most if not all of the games with playoff implications outside Sunday night are played at 4:25 PM ET, except for two games moved to Saturday to be simulcast on ESPN and ABC.

Here are the current tentatively-scheduled games and my predictions:

Week 11 (November 20):

  • Selected game: Kansas City @ LA Chargers.

Week 12 (November 27):

  • Selected game: Green Bay @ Philadelphia (presumably).

Week 13 (December 4):

  • Tentative game: Indianapolis @ Dallas
  • Prospects: 4-5-1 v. 6-3. You can’t give the Colts too much credit for beating the lowly Raiders, and it might not be a good idea to feature a team that fired its coach, but the Colts are only a game out of the playoffs and a good Cowboys team is almost certainly not being flexed out.
  • Likely protections: Jets-Vikings, Chiefs-Bengals, or nothing (CBS) and Titans-Eagles or Dolphins-49ers (FOX).
  • Other possible games: Jets-Vikings, Titans-Eagles, and Dolphins-Niners all involve two teams over .500 with Chiefs-Bengals probably being disqualified due to the Chiefs being maxed out (though Chiefs-Broncos next week is decently likely to be flexed out), and Genericnames-Giants isn’t far behind. Time (and continued mediocrity-at-best for the inferior teams) has probably run out on Broncos-Ravens and Seahawks-Rams.
  • Analysis: Despite some very good alternatives, I’m honestly not sure this game would be flexed out even if one of the teams involved weren’t the Cowboys. If the Colts can pull the upset this week against the Eagles they’d not only climb back to .500 and in the thick of the playoff race they’d raise the prospect of going on a late-season run, and I definitely don’t think this is getting flexed out then. If the Colts lose to make it 4-6-1 v. 7-3 or 6-4, the most relevant comparison, in terms of demonstrating the unlikelihood of this game being flexed out, might be Week 12 of 2014, when a 7-3 v. 3-6 game kept its spot in the face of two monster unprotected alternatives, both of them locked to a Fox singleheader and one of them being a 4:05 late game. That game involved the Giants, much more of a name team than the Colts, but Jets-Vikings and Titans-Eagles should get decent distribution in the early slot and Dolphins-Niners isn’t so compelling that being locked in the late singleheader is woefully unjust, so I don’t see the league going above and beyond to flex any of these games in.
  • Final prediction: Indianapolis Colts @ Dallas Cowboys (no change).

Week 14 (December 11):

  • Tentative game: Kansas City @ Denver
  • Prospects: 7-2 v. 3-6. The Broncos are not living up to the hype of Russell Wilson’s arrival, and this game is probably too lopsided to keep around.
  • Likely protections: Jets-Bills or Dolphins-Chargers (CBS) and Bucs-49ers or Eagles-Giants (FOX).
  • Other possible games: Eagles-Giants and Jets-Bills would be surefire picks to be flexed in at the moment if they’re left unprotected, and Dolphins-Chargers would be in the running as well if the Chargers weren’t maxed out. Bucs-Niners is good enough to be picked if the two surefire picks are both protected, even if it’s a .500 team against a team barely over that mark, but it’s not the only Bucs game that’s getting into the running with the Bucs climbing back to .500 and the Bucs would be maxed out on primetime appearances with one game being flexed in. Ravens-Steelers and Vikings-Lions are emerging as dark horses but the Steelers and Lions can only get to 5-6 at best by the time the decision has to be made.

Week 15 (December 17):

  • Tentative game: None (3 games to be moved to Saturday). The NFL’s schedule page only says that the Saturday games will be released “at a later date”, but I don’t believe these Saturday flexes have been announced any later than four weeks prior to game day. That being said, I believe when Monday night flex scheduling is instituted next year games will be able to be flexed two weeks in advance, so it wouldn’t surprise me if the decision was delayed for at least one more week.
  • Possible games: Dolphins (7-3)-Bills (6-3), Ravens (6-3)-Browns (3-6), Colts (4-5-1)-Vikings (8-1), Falcons (4-6)-Saints (3-7), Giants (7-2)-Riveras (5-5).
  • Analysis: In his Football Morning in America column this week, Peter King floats the possibility that the NFL might keep Dolphins-Bills on Sunday to save NBC from a mediocre-at-best tentative (see below). As such I’m not going to make a formal prediction here in order to see if the league is thinking the same way. If the decision had to be made right now Colts-Vikings and Giants-Riveras would likely be picked, and if Dolphins-Bills doesn’t make the move the league would have a hell of a time picking between the two remaining games. They could really use a Browns or Saints win this week to make them feel better about leaving Dolphins-Bills on Sunday, though as long as one of them has a better record than the Raiders there’s still an argument to be made to justify it.

Week 15 (December 18):

  • Tentative game: New England @ Las Vegas
  • Prospects: 5-4 v. 2-7, failing to live up to what was already surprisingly modest expectations for a Sunday night game in a week with flexed-in Saturday games; both these teams were expected to be around .500 based on their win totals in Vegas, but the Raiders are one of the worst teams in the league and the Patriots’ record isn’t holding up as well as expected with the Jets being as good as they are.
  • Likely protections: Probably Titans-Chargers (CBS) and Cowboys-Jaguars, Eagles-Bears, or nothing (FOX).
  • Other possible games: See above; this game may not be lucking out as well as I thought. The problem is that Titans-Chargers (now doubly out of the running) is the only game stuck on Sunday involving two teams above .500, though Bengals-Bucs may yet bail the league and NBC out here, with the caveat, as above, that it would max the Bucs out on primetime appearances. Cardinals-Broncos and Lions-Jets are dark horses.

Week 17 (January 1):

  • Tentative game: LA Rams @ LA Chargers
  • Prospects: 3-6 v. 5-4. Decidedly mediocre, and might start getting lopsided. Not too long ago I thought this game might be relatively safe, but it’s definitely in the danger zone now given the alternatives.
  • Likely protections: Vikings-Packers (CBS) and Saints-Eagles, Jets-Seahawks, or nothing (FOX).
  • Other possible games: Jets-Seahawks is a game between two six-win teams that’s currently pinned to the late slot of the singleheader, which means the league is probably more likely to flex it in than Dolphins-Patriots. Colts-Giants, Cardinals-Falcons, Steelers-Ravens, Broncos-Chiefs, and Browns-Snyders are dark horses.

Week 18 (January 8):

  • Tentative game: None (NBC will show game with guaranteed playoff implications).
  • Games to watch: Bucs-Falcons, Patriots-Bills, Ravens-Bengals, Jets-Dolphins, Giants-Eagles, Cowboys-NotIndians, Chargers-Broncos, Rams-Seahawks, Cardinals-Niners.

34 thoughts on “Sunday Night Football Flex Scheduling Watch: Week 10”

  2. I’m very excited to see what the league does for weeks 13-15. Hopefully all three of them get flexed out but I wouldn’t be surprised if they all stay. Week 13 reminds me of 2019 week 12 when the seahawks and eagles were scheduled for SNF and both had winning records but got booted for packers-niners just because that game was so much better. Turned out to be the right decision(even though my packers were blown out) because that ended up deciding the #1 seed and also was the conference championship preview, though ironically seahawks-eagles was a wild card preview. So maybe the alternatives are just a lot stronger week 13 that they’ll flex any of them in for colts-cowboys, but you never know what happens with the cowboys.
    I definitely would enjoy dolphins-bills on SNF week 15, but that makes the Saturday schedule rather lackluster, leaving us with Ravens-Browns, Colts-Vikings, and Giants-Commanders (my guess for order), considering Falcons-Saints is definitely not going to make the cut. I think NFL net will still keep dolphins-bills but it’s something to keep an eye on.

  3. I think weeks 12-13 SNF will stay the same
    Week 14: Bucs-49ers or Jets-Bills
    Week 15: Bengals-Bucs or the best game not going to saturday
    Week 16: N/A
    Week 17: Saints-Eagles or Jets-Seahawks
    Week 18 games to watch for:
    Bucs-Falcons
    Panthers-Saints
    Boys-Commies
    Pats-Bills
    Ravens-Bengals
    Jets-Fins
    G-Men-Eagles
    Cards-9ers

  5. Updated repost:

    Week 12: Pack beating the Cowboys coupled with the fact the Titans can only be flexed in twice due to the fact they have TWO Thursday night appearances (this past Thursday in Green Bay against the Packers and then Week 17 at home against the Cowboys) and already had before this past Thursday night played two prime time games is why Packers-Eagles stayed in Week 12.

    Week 13: If Titans-Eagles IS flexed into SNF, it automatically means their Week 14 game in The Meadowlands against the Giants CAN NOT be flexed in as the Eagles can only be flexed in ONCE. If FOX protected Eagles-Giants in Week 14, then Titans-Eagles is flexed in because after that, there isn’t a game that can be flexed before the final week in all likelihood. Otherwise, Colts-Cowboys stays on SNF UNLESS Dolphins-49ers is flexed in, however, the 49ers can only be flexed in ONCE I believe and that flexed could need to be saved for Week 14 against the Bucs.

    Week 14: Broncos have been a massive disappointment and their game with the Chiefs is almost certain to be flexed out. If FOX DID NOT PROTECT Eagles-Giants, that game is almost certainly moved to SNF UNLESS Titans-Eagles was moved in Week 13 (FOX would have been more likely to protect Bucs-49ers). Keep in mind, while Dolphins-Chargers was the favorite to be flexed, because they are flexed in this week (vs. the Chiefs) the Chargers CAN NOT be flexed in again UNLESS their Week 17 game vs. the Rams is flexed out due to their having two more prime time games (that one and Monday 12/26 at the Colts). If either their Week 14 game (vs. the Dolphins) OR their Week 15 game (vs. the Titans) is flexed in, it means their Week 17 game vs. the Rams MUST be flexed out. Bucs-49ers (if not protected by FOX) could be flexed in with Eagles-Giants replacing it at 4:25 on FOX as well. Jets-Bills would be a candidate EXCEPT the Bills are already maxed out on national TV games.

    Week 15: Pats-Raiders on the surface appeared to be on really shaky ground as the Raiders are 2-7. Titans-Chargers looked like the favorite except again, that means Rams-Chargers MUST be flexed out in Week 17. Because of one team or another being maxed out on national TV games, Unless we ALSO see Rams-Chargers in Week 17 flexed out for Titans-Chargers, Pats-Raiders may wind up staying in by default.

    Week 16 doesn’t have a flex. This is where the NFL should have had the bulk of the games on Monday, December 26 (day after Christmas that is the actual legal holiday for such) though as noted I suspect the station managers of FOX affiliates objected to that due to their having numerous pre-emptions during the World Cup in November and December and the syndicators of shows that normally air on FOX stations in the daytime probably made clear they could not pre-empt for NFL games on 12/26 since the week of 12/26-30 likely is re-airs of shows that first aired during the World Cup pre-empted by FOX affiliates. Otherwise, it would have set up for ESPN/ABC to have a flex that Monday night. If the Christmas Eve slate had been played the day after Christmas instead, FOX likely would have protected one of Giants-Vikings and Eagles-Cowboys. In that scenario, whichever of those games NOT protected by FOX would likely have been the game moved into ESPN/ABC’s Monday night slot.

    Week 17: Rams-Chargers now is in rea; danger of being flexed out, and likely well before that decision would otherwise have to be made because if the Chargers are flexed into Week 14 or Week 15 as noted above, THIS GAME MUST BE FLEXED OUT. Jets-Seahawks right now looks unless one or both collapse it will be the Sunday night game on New Year’s Night. The other candidate would be Dolphins-Patriots, but that would also hinge on whether the Pats are still in contention for a playoff berth by the time that decision has to be made.

    Week 18: If Giants-Eagles is for the NFC East, THAT is the Sunday Night finale. If Jets-Dolphins matters for a wild card or the AFC East no matter what happens in the earlier games on Sunday, THAT can be the Sunday night game (though that is also a candidate for Saturday). If Bucs-Falcons is for the NFC South, THAT can be the SNF Finale as well.

  6. I agree, Walt. Rams vs. chargers game must be flexed out of SNF this season. Also, since the Packers lost against the titans at Lambeau tonight, 27 to 17, and the likelihood of Packers be eliminated from the playoffs this season, Vikings vs. Packers game at Lambeau field week 17 also needs to be flexed out of 3:25 pm CBS and move that matchup to noon with possibly on FOX.

  7. The saints could be very well in second place in the nfc southweek 17 hovering around 500 and CBS may protect titans chargers if it becomes better

  8. Isaiah:

    Those protections I believe have to be done before Week 5, well before it was sure that Titans-Chargers would be a big game. And that could even if so be a case of a “protection override” by CBS because of how bad Pats-Raiders could wind up being (but if so, Rams-Chargers in Week 17 has to be moved because the Chargers are currently maxed out).

  9. It’s frustrating to see some of these games around the holidays, especially since they can’t flex in Week 16. Jags-Jets Thursday night? It’s looking better then it did in August, but still. And Raiders at Steelers Christmas Eve night? Because it’s the anniversary of the Immaculate Reception? Jesus. Wow, can’t wait. The same two teams who played in a famous game almost 50 years ago and they’re going to play on the anniversary of that date? But they both suck? Hey, I’m in… what more could a football fan want?
    Anyway, I have to say I love this site and the great comments from everybody… NFL scheduling is way too important in my life, lol, but I guess we’re all allowed our guilty pleasures.

  10. Love the comments Dean.

    Here’s my repost from the earlier thread.

    Hello NFL SNF Flex Scheduling lovers,

    Here’s my take on things after Week 10.

    Main Flex period:

    Week 12 – scheduled game is: G.B.(4-6) @ Phil.(8-1)

    # 1 – Cin.(5-4) @ Tenn.(6-3)

    The only real alternative in my book is Bengals/Titans if they boot my Packers off, which they should. With my Pack beating the Cowboys on Sunday and the Eagles losing tonight against the Commanders, I think there’s ZERO chance the scheduled tentative gets booted now.

    Week 13 – scheduled game is: Ind.(4-5-1) @ Dal.(6-3)

    #1 – N.Y.J.(6-3) @ Minn.(8-1)
    #2 – Tenn.(6-3) @ Phil.(8-1)
    #3 – Mia.(7-3) @ S.F.(5-4)
    #4 – K.C.(7-2) @ Cin.(5-4)
    #5 – Wash.(5-5) @ N.Y.G.(7-2)

    I think Jets/Vikings could be a very nice flex option here and I highly doubt it’s protected, though with the Colts winning and the Cowboys losing this week, the chances are greatly enhanced to keep the scheduled tentative in place. Hopefully the NFL does the right thing.

    Week 14 – scheduled game is: K.C.(7-2) @ Den.(3-6)

    #1 – Phil.(8-1) @ N.Y.G.(7-2)
    #2 – N.Y.J.(6-3) @ Buff.(6-3)
    #3 – Mia.(7-3) @ L.A.C.(5-4)
    #4 – T.B.(5-5) @ S.F.(5-4)

    The tentative scheduled must be replaced. My #1 choice of Eagles/Giants is guaranteed to be protected FOX and likely CBS protected Jets/Bills, though I hope not. My #3 and #4 could also sneak in, but we’ll see. Something does need to replace the tentative scheduled garbage.

    Week 15 – scheduled game is: N.E.(5-4) @ L.V.(2-7) <—will the Raiders be so bad and ruin the Belichick/McDaniels matchup? The answer is starting to look like a big YES!

    Also, 3 of 5 games will move to Saturday and they are:

    Mia.(7-3) @ Buff.(6-3) <—certain to move to Saturday
    Balt.(6-3) @ Clev.(3-6) <—the Browns make this not likely to move to Saturday
    Ind.(4-5-1) @ Minn.(8-1) <—likely to move to Saturday, as there's no other good 3rd choice
    Atl.(4-6) @ N.O.(3-7) <—not likely, in spite of how tight the NFC South is
    N.Y.G.(7-2) @ Wash.(5-5) <—because it's big market teams, it's looking okay at the moment, especially with the Commanders win tonight over the Eagles.

    Last season the decision on the 3 Saturday Week 15 games had to be made after Week 11, but there's nothing in the schedule release about when this decision needs to be made this season. Let's assume it will be after Week 12 or Week 13 this season.

    Week 16 – scheduled game is: T.B.(5-5) @ Ariz.(4-6) <— can't be flexed, as it's set in stone due to being on Christmas, but yuck! Though it did improve after both teams won this past weekend.

    Week 17 – scheduled game is: L.A.R.(3-6) @ L.AC.(5-4) <— very likely to stay, unless the Rams really falter and they are doing that about now and the Chargers have so many injuries that they may follow suit and fall fast.

    Week 18 – no scheduled SNF game and 2 games moving to Saturday

    N.E.(5-4) @ Buff.(6-3) <—can't move to Saturday
    N.Y.J.(6-3) @ Mia.(7-3) <—might be affected by Bills not being able to play on Saturday and could preclude them from doing so as well. If not precluded from moving to Saturday, it has a good chance or possibly SNF.
    Balt.(6-3) @ Cin.(5-4) <—can't move to Saturday, but SNF could be a possibility, though not likely
    Clev.(3-6) @ Pitt.(3-6) <—not looking like a move to Saturday would be in the cards anyway
    Hou.(1-7-1) @ Ind.(4-5-1) <—not a good Saturday game candidate
    Tenn.(6-3) @ Jack.(3-7) <—not a good Saturday game candidate
    L.A.C.(5-4) @ Den.(3-6) <—not a good Saturday game candidate
    K.C.(7-2) @ L.V.(2-7) <—not a good Saturday game candidate
    N.Y.G.(7-2) @ Phil.(8-1) <—looking to be the frontrunner for Game 272 on SNF in Week 18
    Dal.(6-3) @ Wash.(5-5) <—starting to gain on potentially moving to Saturday
    Minn.(8-1) @ Chi.(3-7) <—not a good Saturday game candidate
    Det.(3-6) @ G.B.(4-6) <—not a good Saturday game candidate
    T.B.(5-5) @ Atl.(4-6) <—could be a dark horse for SNF, as it could become a win and in, lose and out game, but I doubt it or maybe I'm starting not to doubt it……..reminds me of Rams/Seahawks on SNF years ago as a clown show win and in and lose and out game
    Car.(3-7) @ N.O.(3-7) <—not a good Saturday game candidate
    Ariz.(4-6) @ S.F.(5-4) <—could be a candidate to move to Saturday, but so early still. Hell, this game is so weird and gets weirder each week
    L.A.R.(3-6) @ Sea.(6-4) <—not looking good to move to Saturday

    Remember, due to Buffalo and Cincinnati playing on MNF in Week 17, they will not be able to play on Saturday in Week 18 and that also leads to the potential of no matchup from the AFC East and AFC North moving to Saturday. But we'll see.

    Go Pack Go this Thursday at Lambeau vs. the Titans! <—-oops!

  11. Dean:

    They probably should have given ESPN that Raiders-Steelers game on Friday 12/23 (the actual 50th anniversary) in lieu of the January 2 Monday nighter. As noted, I would have had the bulk of the schedule on Monday 12/26 instead of Saturday 12/24 as Monday 12/26 is technically the legal holiday for Christmas, however, as noted I suspect FOX affiliates balked at that due to the distributors of syndicated shows that normally air on weekdays telling FOX stations they could not pre-empt then due to multiple pre-emptions during the World Cup and the week of 12/26-30 are repeats of shows that originally were pre-empted during the World Cup (or MLB playoff games) by FOX stations. You could have had Eagles-Cowboys (FOX) and Texans-Titans (CBS) be standalone games on Christmas Eve to accommodate Titans-Cowboys being Thursday night football the following week if necessary (yes, it would have left a very thin schedule for Monday 12/26 but it would have been worth it and perhaps to appease syndicators it could have been agreed CBS had the Monday DH instead of FOX (as FOX would have had Eagles-Cowboys by itself on Saturday) and announced the Christmas Day games after Week 10 with any game on Monday 12/26 eligible to be moved to the ESPN/ABC slot until Week 14. Might be the way the NFL has to consider doing this the next time Christmas falls on a Sunday.

  12. Yes I know the Colts lost to the Eagles at the very end but I don’t want to see them in Primetime against Dallas in week 13 on SNF. I would rather see 49ers Dolphins or Titans Eagles, no thanks on Jets Vikings. Zach Wilson doesn’t draw eyeballs and Vikings just got ran over by the Cowboys in the CBS 325 game. NFL has to flex out Colts at Cowboys in week 13 out of the SNF slot and hopefully in week 14 Chiefs at Broncos gets flexed out as well. Broncos just lost to the Raiders and the Broncos are completely toast. Jets at Bills, Jaguars at Titans, Dolphins at Chargers or Eagles at Giants are all possibilities. Fox will probably do everything in it’s power to protect Bucs at 49ers in the 325 slot.

  13. Why are Morgan’s articles so redundant and cluttered? Makes it impossible to read. Just give the scheduled game and your predictions. Throw in a link to the rules if you want. but to regurgitate the same long useless crap every time is tedious at best. My 2 cents: nobody wants to see the colts or Broncos in prime time again.

  14. And I’ll add a positive note since I’ve bashed some of the holiday football scheduling: Cowboys-Titans is a really nice Thursday night game and the Niners-Seahawks earlier in the month is also looking a lot more pivotal (and exciting) then it did in August.
    I hope down the road they can just flex the best game into sunday night without all of this red tape to consider. I mean, there is so much money out there for everybody involved in the league anyway.

  15. Walt is right The Broncos are a big disapointment this season the chiefs broncos game will likely be flexed out Because nobody wants to watch a 4-8 team that game is garbage and that game is not in the best shape. cowboys colts i hope is flexed out tomorrow but that game is not in the best shape either. But i Could be either right or wrong.

  16. Week 15 Saturday schedule and SNF schedule are going to be some interesting choices for the NFL. Because of the Raiders being pathetic, the NFL is kind of a quandary. Also, because they had no deadline of needing to choose the Week 15 Saturday games after Week 11, this leaves more things up in the air. Unless we’re reading more into this than need be and that the NFL is really prioritizing the movement of the 5 potential Saturday games to actually be played on Saturday and not SNF.

    If the NFL is prioritizing those 5 to Saturday, then the only decent games to move to SNF are Tenn./L.A.C. (likely a max out problem here) or Cin./T.B. If the good games that could move to Saturday are also in the running for SNF, then Mia./Buff. and N.Y.G./Wash. will get consideration for SNF.

    My opinion is that NFL is actually emphasizing the potential move of the 3 of the 5 matchups to Saturday and therefore aren’t really in line to be considered for a move to SNF.

    Thoughts anyone?

  18. Can fox still protect giants/eagles week 14 or would that have already have to be submitted? When would they have had to submit the protection by? I’m hoping it does not get flexed in because I’m going to that game. Do not want to go to a night game.

  20. Hello NFL SNF Flex Scheduling lovers,

    Here’s my take on things after Week 11.

    Main Flex period:

    Week 13 – scheduled game is: Ind.(4-6-1) @ Dal.(7-3)

    #1 – Tenn.(7-3) @ Phil.(9-1)
    #2 – Mia.(7-3) @ S.F.(6-4)
    #3 – Wash.(6-5) @ N.Y.G.(7-3)
    #4 – N.Y.J.(6-4) @ Minn.(8-2)
    #5 – K.C.(8-2) @ Cin.(6-4)

    The dog of a game between the Colts and Cowboys will likely stay and we’ll know tomorrow for sure. Last week I had Jets/Vikings as my #1, but it’s fallen to my #4 after what happened to those 2 teams in Week 11. Titans/Eagles would be the way I’d go, but not sure we can. Dolphins/49ers and Commanders/Giants both are better than the tentative.

    Week 14 – scheduled game is: K.C.(8-2) @ Den.(3-7)

    #1 – T.B.(5-5) @ S.F.(6-4)
    #2 – Phil.(9-1) @ N.Y.G.(7-3)
    #3 – N.Y.J.(6-4) @ Buff.(7-3)
    #4 – Mia.(7-3) @ L.A.C.(5-5)

    The tentative scheduled must be replaced. My #1 choice is now Bucs/49ers, as it’s currently a matchup of two 1st place teams and Brady vs. Garoppolo would be interesting. My next 3 choices all lost some luster in Week 11.

    Week 15 – scheduled game is: N.E.(6-4) @ L.V.(3-7) <—will the Raiders be so bad and ruin the Belichick/McDaniels matchup? The answer is starting to look like a big YES!

    Also, 3 of 5 games will move to Saturday and they are:

    Mia.(7-3) @ Buff.(7-3) <—certain to move to Saturday, unless the NFL wants to move this to SNF
    Balt.(7-3) @ Clev.(3-7) <—the Browns make this not likely to move to Saturday
    Ind.(4-6-1) @ Minn.(8-2) <—likely to move to Saturday, as there's no other good 3rd choice
    Atl.(5-6) @ N.O.(4-7) <—not likely, in spite of how tight the NFC South is
    N.Y.G.(7-3) @ Wash.(6-5) <—because it's big market teams, it's looking like a near certainty to move to Saturday or SNF

    As for SNF, my rankings are such:

    #1 – Mia.(7-3) @ Buff.(7-3) <—if Saturday isn't emphasized, but I think it is
    #2 – Tenn.(7-3) @ L.A.C.(5-5) <—max out problems, plus Chargers injuries are ruining this
    #3 – N.Y.G.(7-3) @ Wash.(6-5) <—if Saturday isn't emphasized, but I think it is
    #4 – Cin.(6-4) @ T.B.(5-5)

    Last season the decision on the 3 Saturday Week 15 games had to be made after Week 11, but there's nothing in the schedule release about when this decision needs to be made this season. Let's assume it will be after Week 12 or Week 13 this season.

    I believe Bengals/Bucs has the best chance to move to SNF at this point. The league seems to sort of the Bengals a SNF game after they were flexed out in Week 11.

    Week 16 – scheduled game is: T.B.(5-5) @ Ariz.(4-7) <— can't be flexed, as it's set in stone due to being on Christmas, but yuck!

    Week 17 – scheduled game is: L.A.R.(3-7) @ L.AC.(5-5) <— getting worse week by week and a good chance to be flexed out…….say 60% chance to move

    Week 18 – no scheduled SNF game and 2 games moving to Saturday

    N.E.(6-4) @ Buff.(7-3) <—can't move to Saturday
    N.Y.J.(6-4) @ Mia.(7-3) <—might be affected by Bills not being able to play on Saturday and could preclude them from doing so as well. If not precluded from moving to Saturday, it has a good chance or possibly SNF.
    Balt.(7-3) @ Cin.(6-4) <—can't move to Saturday, but SNF could be a possibility…….
    Clev.(3-7) @ Pitt.(3-7) <—not looking like a move to Saturday would be in the cards anyway
    Hou.(1-8-1) @ Ind.(4-6-1) <—not a good Saturday game candidate
    Tenn.(7-3) @ Jack.(3-7) <—not a good Saturday game candidate
    L.A.C.(5-5) @ Den.(3-7) <—not a good Saturday game candidate
    K.C.(8-2) @ L.V.(3-7) <—not a good Saturday game candidate
    N.Y.G.(7-3) @ Phil.(9-1) <—looking good to be a Saturday game or perhaps SNF if things pan out
    Dal.(7-3) @ Wash.(6-5) <—starting to gain on potentially moving to Saturday and quickly!
    Minn.(8-2) @ Chi.(3-8) <—not a good Saturday game candidate
    Det.(4-6) @ G.B.(4-7) <—not a good Saturday game candidate
    T.B.(5-5) @ Atl.(5-6) <—could be a dark horse for SNF, as it could become a win and in, lose and out game……..reminds me of Rams/Seahawks on SNF years ago as a clown show win and in and lose and out game
    Car.(3-8) @ N.O.(4-7) <—not a good Saturday game candidate
    Ariz.(4-7) @ S.F.(6-4) <—not a good Saturday game candidate
    L.A.R.(3-7) @ Sea.(6-4) <—not looking good to move to Saturday

    Remember, due to Buffalo and Cincinnati playing on MNF in Week 17, they will not be able to play on Saturday in Week 18 and that also leads to the potential of no matchup from the AFC East and AFC North moving to Saturday. But we'll see.

    Go Pack Go on Sunday Night Football in Philly! And Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

  21. I’m anxious to see what the league decides tomorrow. Also, I know that there was no official release of when the week 15 saturday games had to be decided, but in the past few years it was always the Tuesday after week 11. I’m hopeful that they announce them tomorrow because 1. logistics would be quite difficult if they only annoucned it 2-3 weeks in advance and 2. it would clear up a lot about what we’ve been speculating in the week 15 SNF pats-raiders clunker and whether that can be replaced. My take is no, and we will see colts-vikings, giants-commanders, and dolphins-bills moved to saturday, leaving pats-raiders on SNF week 15. Regarding week 13, I really hope titans-eagles or dolphins-niners is flexed in because those games are unequivocally better than colts-cowboys, but with the colts not looking too bad last couple weeks and the cowboys embarrassing the vikings, my prediction is this stays. it takes a lot to flex the cowboys out of SNF and I don’t think it’s enough unfortunately.

    Hope all goes well tomorrow and we hear some exciting news!

  22. If the NFL priorities NFL Network. I wonder if NBC would be willing to flex out Colts-Cowboys because there isn’t any good games in Week 15 to replace Patriots Raiders, So I think they may put Cowboys-Jaguars in that spot even though the Jags are 3-7, because the Raiders are also 3-7 and there’s no other candidates could the NFL flex out Colts-Cowboys and replace it with Dolphins-49ers and then replace Patriots-Raiders with Cowboys-Jaguars so Dallas dosent lose a Sunday Night game

  24. Not good that it’s 3 here in the NY area and they haven’t announced anything yet. Guess that means we’re stuck with the Cowboys crap. Maybe the colts can make it interesting like they did against my eagles. Being an eagles fan I wanted see Eagles Titans flexed in because given the giants injuries I don’t think eagles giants in week 14 is as strong as it was a few short weeks ago.

  28. Yeah, the Week 15 thing is definitely interesting. Might not come down the pike until after Week 13, which is the usual time for the Week 15 SNF decision to be made. Things that make you go hmmmmmmm.

  29. Per Philly Inquirer (a real source, not Walt’s imaginary friend at the Network who tells Walt 60 minutes has say so on NFL scheduling), the Eagles-Giants game is UNPROTECTED and likely to replace Broncos-Chiefs

    “The Eagles’ Week 14 matchup against the New York Giants (7-3) on Dec. 11 is currently scheduled for Fox’s regional 1 p.m. window, but is an obvious flexible scheduling target, considering the media markets and how tight the NFC East is at the moment.

    The game is unprotected by Fox, meaning the NFL is free to move it to NBC at 8:20 p.m.”

    https://www.inquirer.com/eagles/eagles-schedule-nfl-flex-rules-nbc-sunday-night-football-20221122.html

  30. You’re right that eagles vs giants game week 14 is unprotected by Fox of this season, Walt’s mom. Anyhow, I would be really thrilled if Packers vs Vikings game at Lambeau week 17 New Year’s Day gets flexed out of 3:25 pm game cbs and switch it to noon and cross flex that to Fox thanks to GB not having a good season and the likelihood of GB eliminated in the playoffs this season.

  31. I said IF FOX DID NOT PROTECT Eagles-Giants, that was a PRIME candidate to be on Sunday night in Week 14. With no change for Week 13, this leads me to suspect FOX did protect Titans-Eagles, and with wanting to save certain teams for potential flexes (especially week 15 where Pats-Raiders is looking like a potential snoozer AND the NFL knowing if they flex the Chargers into Week 14 or 15 they MUST flex out Rams-Chargers on New Year’s Night (Week 17), the NFL has to be careful knowing some teams are already maxed out on flexes.

  33. This is an updated repost of what I did above:

    Week 13 wound up having no change (Colts-Cowboys stays). I suspect given some teams are already maxed out on flexes later and the NFL wanting to save some teams for flexes and because of scheduling also played into this.

    Week 14: Broncos have been a massive disappointment and their game with the Chiefs is almost certain to be flexed out. Reports are FOX DID NOT PROTECT Eagles-Giants, so it looks like that game is almost certain moved to SNF. Bucs-49ers looked like a prime candidate to be flexed if FOX did not protect it, however, the 49ers are in Seattle for a Week 15 Thursday nighter and the NFL likely didn’t want to have a team on TNF the following week playing on SNF. Dolphins-Chargers would have been the favorite to be flexed, however, because the Chargers were flexed in for week 11 (vs. the Chiefs) the Chargers CAN NOT be flexed in again UNLESS their Week 17 game vs. the Rams is flexed out due to their having two more prime time games (that one and Monday 12/26 at the Colts). Jets-Bills would have been a candidate EXCEPT the Bills are already maxed out on national TV games (I believe ALL Thanksgiving games are considered prime time appearances even if they are on CBS or FOX).

    Week 15: Pats-Raiders on the surface appeared to be on really shaky ground as the Raiders are 3-7. Titans-Chargers looked like the favorite except that means Rams-Chargers MUST be flexed out in Week 17. I’m wondering if the NFL is holding off on the Saturday games in Week 15 because Giants-Commanders may be needed for Sunday Night Football (likely on Saturday leaving the NFL with Falcons-Saints as the 1:00 PM ET game, Colts-Vikings as the 4:30 PM ET game and Ravens-Browns as the 8:15 PM ET game because I believe with the Bills maxed out on national TV games, Dolphins-Bills can’t be moved to Saturday.

    Week 16 doesn’t have a flex. This is where the NFL should have had the bulk of the games on Monday, December 26 (day after Christmas that is the actual legal holiday for such) though as noted I suspect the station managers of FOX affiliates objected to that due to their having numerous pre-emptions during the World Cup in November and December and the syndicators of shows that normally air on FOX stations in the daytime probably made clear they could not pre-empt for NFL games on 12/26 since the week of 12/26-30 likely is re-airs of shows that first aired during the World Cup pre-empted by FOX affiliates. Otherwise, it would have set up for ESPN/ABC to have a flex that Monday night. If the Christmas Eve slate had been played the day after Christmas instead, we likely would have seen Texans-Titans (CBS at likely 2:00 PM ET) and Eagles-Cowboys (likely on FOX at 5:30 PM ET) be standalone games on Christmas Eve due to the Titans hosting the Cowboys the following Thursday. Thus likely also would have meant Raiders-Steelers would have been a 4:30 PM Christmas Day game on NFL Network and the Packers-Dolphins and Broncos-Rams games moved to Monday 12/26. Giants-Vikings likely would have been protected by FOX with Bengals-Patriots the most likely game to be flexed to MNF in that scenario.

    Week 17: Rams-Chargers now is in real danger of being flexed out. It could be we that is the case likely well before that decision would otherwise have to be made if the Chargers are flexed into Week 15 (vs. the Titans) since as noted above, if that happened THIS GAME MUST BE FLEXED OUT. Jets-Seahawks right now looks unless one or both collapse it will be the Sunday night game on New Year’s Night. The other candidate would be Dolphins-Patriots, but that would also hinge on whether the Pats are still in contention for a playoff berth by the time that decision has to be made.

    Week 18: If Giants-Eagles is for the NFC East, THAT is the Sunday Night finale. If Jets-Dolphins matters for a wild card or the AFC East no matter what happens in the earlier games on Sunday, THAT can be the Sunday night game (though that is also a candidate for Saturday). If Bucs-Falcons is for the NFC South, THAT can be the SNF Finale as well.

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