Tag: flex

2 AFC West teams flexed to lead off Week 17 Saturday triple header

Week 17 flex games are now set with the Chargers vs Patriots, Broncos vs Bengals and Cardinals vs Rams on Saturday December 28.

No division in football is more talented this season than the AFC West. With the reigning back-to-back Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs joined in the playoff hunt by the resurgent Los Angeles Chargers (9-6) and Denver Broncos (8-5).

With the latter two looking like they will make some noise in the playoffs, they have both had their Week 17 matchups flexed to Saturday, December 28 as part of the NFL triple header.

The Chargers and Patriots (3-11) lead things off at 10am Pacific (1pm ET). Followed by the Broncos and Bengals (6-8) at 1pm (4pm ET), and finally with the Cardinals and Rams in LA at 5pm (8pm ET).

The Chiefs (13-1) will play on Christmas Day (again). They are in Pittsburgh to face off against the Steelers (10-4). While the Raiders (2-12) will be in New Orleans to take on the Derek-Carr-less Saints (5-9) as part of the regular Sunday slate.

NFL announces Saturday flex decisions for Week 17

The Broncos’ game against the Bengals in Week 17 has been flexed to Saturday, Dec. 28. It will be nationally televised on NFL Network.

The NFL has finalized its Week 17 schedule that will feature three Saturday games on Dec. 28.

As expected, the Denver Broncos‘ game against the Cincinnati Bengals has been set for Saturday with a 2:30 p.m. MT (4:30 p.m. ET) kickoff.

Before the Broncos-Bengals showdown, the Los Angeles Chargers at New England Patriots game will be played at 11:00 a.m. MT. After the Denver-Cincy matchup, the Arizona Cardinals at Los Angeles Rams game will be played at 6:15 p.m.

All three Saturday games will be nationally televised on NFL Network and available to stream on FuboTV.

Two other games that were in contention for the Saturday windows — Atlanta Falcons at Washington Commanders and Indianapolis Colts at New York Giants — have now been scheduled for Sunday, Dec. 29.

After facing the Bengals on the road in Week 17, the Broncos will host the Kansas City Chiefs in their regular season finale in Week 18. Denver will wear its iconic throwback uniform against Kansas City.

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Sean Payton hints Broncos-Bengals game will be flexed to NFL Network

Sean Payton expects the Broncos-Bengals game in Week 17 to be flexed to a Saturday window on NFL Network.

Get ready to watch the Denver Broncos in a pair of nationally-televised games with Christmas right in the middle.

The Broncos are currently scheduled to play the Los Angeles Chargers on Thursday Night Football on Dec. 19. Nine days later, Denver is expected to play the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday, Dec. 28 as part of NFL Network’s triple header of games in Week 17.

“Christmas is always the challenge in the NFL, period,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said during a conference call with reporters on Monday when asked about the team’s upcoming schedule. “All I wanted them to know is we think we’re playing the Bengals on a Saturday. I don’t know if it’s been announced yet or not, but we’re just trying to manage the Thursday game and then the Saturday game so these guys can at least have answers for their wives. That was really the whole point of it.

“The focus obviously for us is this Thursday. For them with family traveling and whatnot… We’re basically going to next week create… Pretend Saturday is a Sunday and work backwards. Tuesday is going to be like a Wednesday for us, you guys. Wednesday will be like a Thursday. Thursday will be like a Friday, and Friday will be like a Saturday, and we’ll travel.”

The Broncos-Bengals matchup is one of five games in contention to be flexed into three Saturday windows on NFLN on Dec. 28. Payton expects the game to be flexed, with an announcement likely coming soon.

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Commanders-Falcons is one of 5 candidates for Saturday flex in Week 17

Washington’s Week 17 game vs. Atlanta could be moved to Saturday.

Could a Week 17 showdown between Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders against Kirk Cousins and the Atlanta Falcons be moved to prime time?

Week 17—Christmas week—has NFL games on four different days: Wednesday, Thursday, Sunday, and Monday. However, that’s the current schedule, as the league can flex multiple games to Saturday. The Commanders’ game against the Falcons is one of five games under consideration.

Washington has had two prime-time games this season: Week 3 against the Bengals on Monday Night Football and Week 11 against the Eagles on Thursday Night Football. Both games were on the road, with Washington going 1-1.

The NFL wanted to flex the Commanders’ Week 6 game against the Ravens to Sunday Night Football, but CBS blocked the move. That week’s Sunday night contest was the Bengals and Giants. Several around the NFL weren’t happy with CBS.

The Commanders did have one of their games flexed this season. In the Week 8 meeting with the Chicago Bears, the No. 1 overall pick (Caleb Williams) faced the No. 2 overall pick (Daniels), and the game was moved from 1 p.m. ET to the late afternoon 4:25 p.m. kickoff.

Here are the five games under consideration to be flexed in Week 17:

  • Atlanta Falcons at Washington Commanders
  • Arizona Cardinals at Los Angeles Rams
  • Denver Broncos at Cincinnati Bengals
  • Indianapolis Colts at New York Giants
  • Los Angeles Chargers at New England Patriots

The NFL has a tripleheader scheduled for Saturday, with three games on that day. Of the above games, Washington-Atlanta seems to have the most playoff implications. The Commanders hold the No. 7 seed in the NFC playoff picture, while the Falcons are one game behind the Buccaneers in the NFC South.

The Cardinals-Rams is also a meeting with playoff implications for both teams, as they are locked in a battle with the Seahawks and 49ers to win the NFC West. The Chargers, Broncos and Colts are all in the playoff mix, while the Bengals are on the outside looking in. The Giants and Patriots are two of the NFL’s worst teams.

As it stands now, it looks like the Commanders and Falcons will meet on Saturday.

Broncos-Bengals is one of 5 candidates for Saturday flex in Week 17

The Broncos-Bengals game is one of five candidates to be flexed to one of three Saturday windows in Week 17.

The Denver Broncos (8-5) have already played in two nationally televised games this season and they’ve been flexed into a third. Soon, they could be flexed into a fourth.

Two weeks ago, the NFL flexed the Broncos’ Week 16 Sunday afternoon game against the Los Angeles Chargers from Dec. 22 up to Thursday Night Football on Dec. 19. That marked the first TNF flex in NFL history.

Denver’s game in Week 17 is a candidate for a national spotlight as well.

The Broncos’ game against the Cincinnati Bengals (4-8) is one of five games in contention to be flexed into one of three Saturday windows in Week 17.

The other candidates are the Arizona Cardinals (6-6) at Los Angeles Rams (6-6), Los Angeles Chargers (8-4) at New England Patriots (3-10), Indianapolis Colts (6-7) at New York Giants (2-10) and Atlanta Falcons (6-6) at Washington Commanders (8-5).

Three of those games will be played on Saturday, Dec. 28. The remaining two will be played on Sunday, Dec. 29. Of those games, Broncos-Bengals, Cardinals-Rams and Falcons-Commanders appear the most likely candidates to potentially have playoff implications for both teams involved (if Cincinnati wins a few upcoming games).

The NFL will have three games on that Saturday with MT kickoffs at 11:00 a.m., 2:30 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. Unless the Bengals are eliminated from playoff contention before then (and maybe even if they are), the Cincinnati-Denver game appears to be a strong candidate to get flexed.

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Amy Trask says NFL should refund fans after ‘Thursday Night Football’ flex

The NFL flexing ‘Thursday Night Football’ games is bad news for fans with non-refundable flights and hotel rooms.

Last week, the NFL announced that the Los Angeles Chargers’ game against the Denver Broncos in Week 16 had been flexed from Sunday, Dec. 22 to Thursday, Dec. 19. It marked the first Thursday Night Football flex in NFL history.

Because it involved changing the day of the game, not just the time, the NFL made the decision with a 28-day heads up for fans (the usual flex window is 12 days). Having nearly a month to change plans won’t help fans who had booked non-refundable flights and hotels to attend the Broncos-Chargers game on the original date (or fans who planned to attend the originally-scheduled TNF game).

May Trask, the former CEO of the Raiders who now works for CBS Sports, has suggested that the NFL should reimburse fans when a TNF game is flexed.

“There are business reasons for flexing games, but I believe it appropriate to reimburse fans who can’t adjust to a schedule flex for reasonable out of pocket costs,” Trask tweeted on Sunday.

Trask is certainly not alone in her stance.

The NFL is unlikely to refund anyone. Traveling fans would be wise to only book refundable flights and not prepay for hotels in the second half of the season because the NFL’s flex scheduling caters to television ratings, not fans traveling to attend games in person.

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NFL might not be done flexing Broncos games this season

The NFL might not be done flexing Broncos games this season.

When the NFL announced the 2024 schedule earlier this year, the Denver Broncos were only given two initially-scheduled prime-time games: Thursday Night Football against the New Orleans Saints in Week 7 and Monday Night Football against the Cleveland Browns in Week 13.

Since then, the Broncos have been flexed into a third prime-time window. Denver’s road game against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 16 was moved from Sunday afternoon to a Thursday Night Football slot.

That might not be the Broncos’ last game in prime time this season.

After the Chargers game, Denver will go on the road to take on the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 17. If the Bengals can secure a few wins and stay alive in the playoff hunt, that game would be a perfect candidate for a national spotlight. In addition to the possibility of a Sunday Night Football flex, the Broncos-Bengals game could also be a candidate for a nationally-televised Saturday window.

And if Denver needs to win in Week 18 to make the NFL playoffs, a home game against the Kansas City Chiefs could also be an intriguing candidate for either SNF or one of two Saturday windows that weekend.

As things stand now, the Broncos have a MNF game in Week 13 and a TNF game in Week 16. It wouldn’t be shocking to see the NFL add a SNF or Saturday game to Denver’s schedule before the end of the year.

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Broncos moved to prime-time in NFL’s first-ever ‘Thursday Night Football’ flex

For the first time in NFL history, a game has been flexed to Thursday Night Football. The Broncos will now face the Chargers in primetime.

For the first time in NFL history, a Sunday afternoon game has been flexed to Thursday Night Football.

The Denver Broncos‘ road game against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 16 has been flexed from Sunday, Dec. 22 to Thursday, Dec. 19, the NFL announced Friday. The original TNF matchup was set to see the Cincinnati Bengals host the Cleveland Browns. That game was moved to an afternoon slot on Dec. 22.

The Broncos previously played on TNF in Week 7 when they went on the road and defeated the New Orleans Saints 33-10. Denver is also scheduled to play on Monday Night Football against the Cleveland Browns in Week 13.

NFL rules prevent a team from being given two TNF away games when the initial schedule is released in the spring, but in-season flexes are allowed. So after playing in New Orleans on a short week earlier this season, the Broncos will play in Los Angeles on a short week later this year.

It is perhaps less-than-ideal for Denver from a competitive perspective, but it’s a sign that the league views the Broncos as an entertaining team worthy of a national spotlight. That’s quite a change from recent seasons.

Thursday Night Football is available to stream on Prime Video.

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NFL makes ‘Monday Night Football’ flex decision for Week 13

The NFL has opted to keep the Broncos-Browns game as the ‘Monday Night Football’ matchup in Week 13. No flex.

The NFL has made a decision on the Monday Night Football matchup for Week 13.

The Denver Broncos (6-5) hosting the Cleveland Browns (2-8) will remain the MNF game after the league opted not to flex it out of the prime-time window. Denver will host Cleveland on Monday, Dec. 2.

The game will be nationally televised on ESPN beginning at 6:15 p.m. MT and available to stream on fuboTV (try it free). Unfortunately, there’s no ManningCast scheduled for the Broncos-Browns game.

First things first, Denver will go on the road to face the Las Vegas Raiders (2-8) in a Sunday afternoon game on Nov. 24. After that, the Broncos will play on MNF before a bye in Week 14.

If Denver is going to make the NFL playoffs this season, beating the next two winnable games on the schedule will be key. The Broncos will have four games remaining after the bye, including a big road game against the Cincinnati Bengals (4-7) in Week 17. If both teams are still in the playoff hunt, the Broncos-Bengals game will be a candidate to get flexed into a nationally-televised window.

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NFL makes ‘Sunday Night Football’ flex decision for Week 11

The NFL won’t flex the Broncos-Falcons game to ‘Sunday Night Football’ in Week 11.

The Denver Broncos‘ showdown with the Atlanta Falcons in Week 11 will remain an afternoon game.

The Broncos-Falcons game was a candidate to be flexed from a 2:05 p.m. MT timeslot on CBS to a 6:20 p.m. MT Sunday Night Football window on NBC. Following Denver’s ugly loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, the NFL has decided to go a different route.

The Cincinnati Bengals (4-5) and Los Angeles Chargers (5-3) have been flexed into the SNF window for Week 11, the league announced Monday. That matchup was picked over the Broncos (5-4) vs. Falcons (6-3).

The original SNF game scheduled for Nov. 17 featured the Indianapolis Colts (4-5) against the New York Jets (3-6). To make room for the Bengals-Chargers game, the Colts-Jets matchup was flexed to 11:00 a.m. MT on CBS.

Denver’s game against Atlanta will remain an afternoon kickoff on CBS. The Broncos have one more scheduled prime-time game this season — a Monday Night Football showdown with the Cleveland Browns in Week 13.

The NFL is also yet to finalize dates and times for Weeks 17 and 18. Denver could be flexed to a Saturday for either of those two weeks later this season.

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