(AP)
How’s this for irony: In the worst year for competitive primetime games in recent NFL history, it’s almost certain the league won’t flex a single game to Sunday Night Football.
Last year, the league flexed three games. In the seven years of flex scheduling, there have been 12 games moved to the primetime slot. But after Monday night, there are only four weeks left in this NFL season (can you believe it?) and it seems almost impossible that the league will change a single game. (The Week 17 NBC game isn’t determined until after Week 16, to best ensure the final-game matchup. As such, it won’t apply in the following discussion.)
Here’s how the SNF schedule looks for the next three weeks and the probability of any getting flexed out for a better game:
Sunday, Dec. 7 (Week 14): New England Patriots at San Diego Chargers
This game is already locked into the schedule, possibly because Fox (which can protect games along with CBS) saved Philadelphia-Seattle for next week. But this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Given San Diego’s resurgence — the team is 8-4 after Sunday’s victory over the Ravens — and the prospect of a fiery Phil Rivers jawing with Tom Brady, this could be must-see TV.
Sunday, Dec. 14 (Week 15): Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles
(AP)
There are better odds of me winning Super Bowl MVP than this game getting flexed. Last year the 3-8 Washington Redskins were scheduled to play the 4-7 New York Giants on Sunday Night Football and it stayed there. If the NFC East can keep its NBC placement with that sort of mediocrity, there’s zippy chance a possible battle for first-place would get moved, even if it was just a recreation of that Mark Wahlberg movie about that walk-on guy.
Sunday, Dec. 21 (Week 16): Seattle Seahawks at Arizona Cardinals
(AP Photo/Paul Connors)
This would be the only minor question mark, except it’s not. The only other decent game on the schedule is Indianapolis at Dallas, which is protected by CBS. All the other game are barely worthy of local broadcasts, let alone national broadcasts. At worst, the Cardinals are 9-5 in this, so it’s a natural fit either way. In other words, 2014 is going to be the first non-flexed year.
Sunday, Dec. 28 (Week 17): ???
It was only two years ago RG3 was the toast of Week 16 ‘SNF.’ (AP)
It wouldn’t be fun to talk about flex scheduling without guessing which game will get the nod for the final, unplanned Week 17. For the past three years, the game has been the de facto NFC East championship, but that’s impossible this year since the Eagles and Cowboys don’t play. And this game doesn’t necessarily have to be a game between great teams; just one that is guaranteed to have meaning after the other 15 games of the day are play. In that case, it’s a complete crapshoot.
Possible candidates: Cleveland at Baltimore, Detroit at Green Bay, Carolina at Atlanta, San Diego at Kansas City, Buffalo at New England, Cincinnati at Pittsburgh, Arizona at San Francisco.
That’s a pretty solid lineup. Though Detroit-Green Bay is intriguing, I say Green Bay pulls away and makes that one moot. So given the jumble in the AFC North, let’s go with one of those: Cleveland at Baltimore, with Johnny Football at the helm.
Oh, how that would have the NFL and NBC drooling.
(AP)
