For 20 years, the NFL did Sunday night football marquee primetime game on NBC weekend. Flexible scheduling has been one of SNF’s selling points on NBC, with the league’s ability to replace missing games with high-quality matches. For several years, SNF has opened the flexible scheduling window in Week 5 instead of at the end of the season.
However, the 2-5 Philadelphia Eagles and 1-4-1 Washington Chiefs are unchanged this weekend, although there are more compelling and dynamic games on the Week 8 Sunday schedule. Is this another case of NFC East bias? Well, it’s a little more complicated than that, and it’s mostly the NFL’s own doing.
Satisfying FOX and CBS: Auto defenses for divisional games, extended weekly expectations
As soon as possible, the SNF replacement options identified are the games of division competition:
- Cleveland Browns (5-2) at Pittsburgh Steelers (5-2)
- Minnesota Vikings (6-0) at Detroit Lions (4-2)
- Kansas City Chiefs (5-1) at Denver Broncos (5-2)
There is only one problemAll three of these matches have already taken place or will take place in prime time.
The Browns beat the Steelers Thursday night football The Chiefs beat the Broncos in Week 4. Monday night football In Week 1, the Vikings are scheduled to host the Lions Sunday night football In the 15th week.
Under the current broadcast deal that begins in 2023, there are significant changes to schedule protection rules that prevent FOX and CBS from winning marquee games on NBC, ESPN/ABC and Prime Video. In the year Unlike in 2016, NBC switched to the Broncos in November and had the Broncos in December. FOX and CBS have the rights to broadcast one of the two divisional rivalry games that are normally televised.. That makes those three games off-limits for flexing into any prime-time window.
FOX and CBS are given expanded coverage beyond the divisional games. Both are allowed to defend one game a week In a flexible window (except week 18). Those protections are separate from self-defense for divisional performances.
FOX would have the Vikings over the Lions anyway, while CBS would have the Baltimore Ravens over the Buffalo Bills. If Ravens-Bills is unpredictable and inconsistent, it will probably be when the Ravens play a Thursday night game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, as usual the NFL does not make SNF to TNF rotations.
Another flexible option is smell.
Sometimes you get lucky with the schedule and other times you don’t. If you eliminate the self-contained divisional games and the Ravens against the Bills, you are left with the following options:
- Atlanta Falcons (3-4) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-5)
- Arizona Cardinals (2-5) at Dallas Cowboys (3-4)
- New England Patriots (4-3) at Miami Dolphins (1-6)
- Indianapolis Colts (2-5) at Jacksonville Jaguars (4-2)
- Tennessee Titans (1-6) at Cincinnati Bengals (4-2)
- Las Vegas Raiders (3-4) at New York Jets (2-5)
- Los Angeles Chargers (0-6) at Los Angeles Rams (3-4)
Ike’s zero games between teams above .500 in this set, and somehow the Falcons just over the Bucs, seems to have significant playoff implications for both teams due to the perpetually sorry nature of the NFC South. During this NFL regular season, roster decisions are made at least 12 days in advance, so the Falcons and Bucs were never considered.
The NFC East is somehow still within reach for the Eagles and Chiefs.
If you have to sell the Eagles on the Chiefs as a necessity, look no further than the state of the NFC East.
The first place New York Giants have a bye, so they remain 4-2-1 heading into Week 9, while the Dallas Cowboys are hot on the heels at 3-4. A Philadelphia win would put the Eagles just one behind the Giants in the win column, while a Chiefs win would put them exactly two games back of the Giants, even though they are in a much better position. If anyone in the commanders knows about the concept of stopwatch When they faced New York a few weeks ago.
Other than that, this could be Dan Quinn’s last game as head coach if he loses again. That is as mandatory.
The NFL has made changing bad plays very difficult outside of prime-time.
Practice this until at least the end of the 2029 season, when the NFL can opt out of its current media rights deal. Between the tighter FOX and CBS protection rules, expanded independent windows for international games, the proliferation of late-season national Saturday starts, previously scheduled shows like Thanksgiving Eve on Netflix, Black Friday on Prime Video and Christmas Day doubleheaders on Netflix, there are more time slots and rights holders to satisfy. This also means that for better matches outside of prime time like Eagles vs. There are fewer ways to launch bad games like Commanders.
Ironically, the NFL has made the original intent of a flexible schedule inflexible.
