Tag: flex

Week 16 Sunday Night Football remains the same and that’s puzzling

The flex schedule has been a godsend to NBC. Sunday Night Football is the marquee NFL property and for that reason, the league can flex games that are deemed to be more entertaining to the powers that be. Week 16 should have a game flexed into SNF …

The flex schedule has been a godsend to NBC. Sunday Night Football is the marquee NFL property and for that reason, the league can flex games that are deemed to be more entertaining to the powers that be. Week 16 should have a game flexed into SNF that has playoff ramifications. Instead, we are still stuck with the Chiefs-Bears game. The Bears were officially eliminated from playoff contention this Sunday.

Let’s be honest, the Bears have essentially been eliminated from real playoff contention for a while. The league knew this. NBC knew this. Still, nothing was done. There are rules regarding what games can be flexed — Cowboys Wire does a great job breaking it down here — but those rules only really take away the Saints-Titans game from being flexed.

There’s an obvious choice for a flex game that hits on every necessary rule created by the NFL: Cowboys-Eagles. It’s a late afternoon game. It’s a game between two teams that have a shot at the playoffs. It’s essentially an NFC East championship game. Both teams played on Sunday during a normal timeslot so it’s not like one team has a greater scheduling advantage. This is the one time that fans that aren’t interested in Dallas or Philadelphia as their favorite team are openly clamoring for the NFC East to be put on primetime. It’s amazing this game wasn’t flexed.

The only thing that makes sense is that Fox used some leverage to make sure this game wasn’t moved to the SNF slot. The Chiefs are a nice draw, but they aren’t as popular as Dallas in primetime. The Bears are a big market, but Dallas and Philadelphia are also in the top-10. Plus, Bears fans aren’t invested anymore since their season is officially finished.

So we get a meaningless game on Sunday night. That’s kind of odd.

NFL’s Week 16 Saints-Titans game will not be flexed from original time slot

The NFL will not flex Week 16’s Saints-Titans game, keeping Patrick Mahomes, the Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles in the spotlight

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The NFL and its broadcast partners made preparations to flex its Week 16 game between the New Orleans Saints and Tennessee Titans into a more prominent time slot, but ultimately chose to stick with the schedule as it was already written. The Athletic’s Jeff Duncan first reported that the Saints-Titans kickoff will remain at noon, so visiting Saints fans won’t have to adjust any traveling plans on the fly. The game will be broadcast on FOX.

So instead of a game between an NFC Super Bowl contender that’s seeking a higher playoff seed and a desperate AFC South squad playing for their season, fans tuning into “Sunday Night Football” will catch a matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Chicago Bears. The Chiefs are also jostling for playoff positioning, while the Bears have been mathematically eliminated. The duel between reigning league MVP Patrick Mahomes and Bears passer Mitchell Trubisky will be overseen by Chiefs coach Andy Reid and his former assistant and Bears counterpart, Matt Nagy.

At least the late-afternoon games will be interested. The FOX double-header has not yet been decided, but it’s an easy choice: the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles are set to square off with the NFC East title on the line, which would clinch a playoff berth. The loser would be eliminated from the playoffs altogether. Given each city’s market appeal, it would be shocking if that’s not the game most of America gets.

So where does that leave Saints fans? Flights to Nashville, Tenn. are hardly expensive out of New Orleans, so expect a hefty fan presence at Nissan Stadium on Sunday. But many members of the Who Dat Nation will probably be content to catch this one from home and avoid the heavy holiday traffic altogether.

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NFL won’t flex Saints-Titans into ‘Sunday Night Football’ for Week 16

The Kansas City Chiefs and Chicago Bears will play on Sunday Night Football in Week 16 eschewing the New Orleans Saints and Tennessee Titans

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The New Orleans Saints still haven’t played their Week 15 game, but eyes are already cast forwards on their Week 16 matchup with the Tennessee Titans. And for good reason: the NFL delayed its decision to flex that game into a more prominent time slot, possibly even the coveted “Sunday Night Football” national broadcast window.

However, the Saints and Titans will not be getting that prime-time kickoff, per a report from NFL Network’s Andrew Siciliano. The league and its broadcast partners have agreed to keep the previously scheduled game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Chicago Bears in that slot, which isn’t as compelling a matchup (the Bears are mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, while the Titans need to beat the Saints to keep their hopes alive) but probably easy to develop a narrative around.

With Chiefs coach Andy Reid planning against his former assistant in Bears coach Matt Nagy, and Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky preparing to share the field with a passer he was drafted ahead of but been thoroughly outplayed by in Patrick Mahomes, there’s plenty of material for fans and media to work with over the next week.

So where do the Saints go from here? For now, they’re scheduled to play the Titans at noon, as was previously decided. We’ll find out by close business on Monday whether the game gets flexed into a late-afternoon spot, which is possible with FOX scheduled to broadcast the Saints-Titans game as well as two contests later that afternoon. The Dallas Cowboys-Philadelphia Eagles game is a virtual lock to remain in that time slot given their hefty TV market support and the implications for the NFC East title, but the Arizona Cardinals-Seattle Seahawks contest is very likely to get moved.

At this point there’s no official word from the league or FOX on whether the Saints will get flexed into a later time slot, so keep an eye out for updates. We’ll know soon enough.

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NFL delaying decision to flex Saints-Titans, per report

The NFL schedule can flex games into better time slots, and the New Orleans Saints’ game with the Tennessee Titans is under consideration.

The NFL’s schedule is largely written in stone, but the ability to flex certain games into more prominent time slots is one of its more intuitive features. Per a report from The Atheltic’s Katherine Terrell, the NFL’s Week 16 kickoff between the New Orleans Saints and Tennessee Titans is under consideration for a move into the limelight. But a decision won’t be made just yet.

Per NFL rules, the corporations under contract to broadcast games are allowed a 12-day window with which to decide whether a game will get flexed into a different time slot — except in Week 17, when that decision is made in just 6 days. However, in this case all parties involved (the NFL and the relevant broadcast partners) agreed to reach a decision in 6 days rather than the full 12-day allotment. That’s obviously not great for fans who have to adjust their travel plans on such short notice, but that’s showbiz.

So why are they taking this approach? It probably hinges on whether the Titans can maintain their spot in the crowded AFC playoff race with a win over the AFC South-rival Houston Texans this week. If Tennessee keeps up their four-game winning streak and knocks off the Texans, they would be in position to win their division with another victory over the Saints the following week.

With a loss, the Titans would be on the outside looking in, and be ranked beneath the Pittsburgh Steelers for a Wild Card spot. Tennessee would essentially be playing for their season when the Saints visit a week later, which would make for terrific drama from the broadcaster’s perspective. But at this stage, it’s tough to say which direction things go. Which is probably how the NFL wants it — increased curiosity means more fans tuning into Sunday’s Titans-Texans game.

Many fans were surprised when the NFL chose not to flex last Sunday’s game between the Saints and San Francisco 49ers, but The Athletic’s Jeff Duncan reports that it wasn’t an option. FOX controlled that kickoff’s broadcast rights, and protected the game from being flexed out of the noon time slot they had chosen.

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NFL won’t flex Week 14’s Saints-49ers game

The NFL won’t flex its Week 14 game between the New Orleans Saints and San Francisco 49ers despite implications for the NFC playoff picture.

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The NFL will not flex Week 14’s game between the New Orleans Saints and San Francisco 49ers despite the matchup’s big playoff implications, the Saints announced Monday. Right now, the 49ers are the projected top seed in the NFC playoff picture, while the Saints trail them by a game. A head-to-head win would give the Saints a tiebreaker should both teams finish the season with the same record, guaranteeing the road to Super Bowl LIV runs through New Orleans.

It’s a shame that the NFL is keeping the game in its early afternoon time slot, which means a noon kickoff in the central time zone. The game won’t reach as many viewers as it would in more prominent time slots. CBS is likely to feature the Kansas City Chiefs’ visit with the New England Patriots in the late afternoon slot, while Sunday Night Football is scheduled to show the Seattle Seahawks’ road game against the Los Angeles Rams.

Keeping the Rams in prime-time is a puzzling decision to say the least. They’re a distant third-place in their own division at 6-4, and could very well see their season end against the Baltimore Ravens on Monday Night Football. In three night games this season, Rams quarterback Jared Goff has completed a combined 61% of his throws while scoring three touchdown passes against four interceptions. If he continues to play poorly, L.A. is at real risk of missing the playoffs after losing last year’s Super Bowl.

All of that said, it benefits the Saints to host the 49ers earlier in the day. West Coast teams have to adjust to an abbreviated schedule on game days when moving out east, forcing them to wake up earlier or risk having fewer hours with which to prepare. Considering how dominantly San Francisco is playing right now, Saints fans should hope for any advantage they can get.

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Seahawks vs. Eagles in Week 12 flexed from Sunday night to early slot

The Seattle Seahawks and Philadelphia Eagles will no longer meet Sunday night in Week 12, with the game slated to start at 10:00 a.m. PT.

The Seattle Seahawks’ matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 12 has been flexed out of prime time.

The NFL announced the schedule change on Tuesday, which will now feature the 49ers and Packers in the 5:20 p.m. PT time slot, pushing the Seahawks and Eagles up to a 10 a.m. PT kickoff — Seattle’s fourth early game of the season.

The Seahawks were initially slated for four straight prime-time games. Seattle is now entering its bye week.

 

Seattle is 5-0 on the road for the first time in franchise history and 3-0 in 10 a.m. start times this year, so perhaps this news isn’t as daunting as it seems.

The Eagles were the Super Bowl champs two years ago but went just 9-7 last season and are only 5-4 in 2019, perhaps a factor in moving the game.

Additionally, the 49ers and Packers are two of the strongest teams in the NFC, and their matchup should be a good battle for supremacy in the conference.

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