The NFL today announced the beginning of its late-season Saturday slate of games that will air on NFL Network.
Football Morning in America’s Peter King wrote about the complicated nature of the NFL’s flex scheduling and how the league has to weigh all of its television partnerships before making a decision on the possibility of flexing games.
The league decided the Saturday, December 17th schedule would be:
-Indianapolis at Minnesota (1:00 PM ET)
-Baltimore at Cleveland (4:30 PM ET)
-Miami at Buffalo (8:15 PM ET)
That schedule then places the New York Giants and Washington Commanders game into the league’s premier time slot of Sunday Night Football. According to King, that was the outcome NFL Network was hoping for.
“The NFL may do its in-house network a solid and allow Dolphins-Bills to highlight the day and get plugged into the 8:15 Saturday night slot. NFL Network is praying for that,” King wrote before the schedule was announced.
He added that putting the best game possible onto Sunday Night Football is the league’s goal.
“But the NFL is more concerned with putting the best game it can on Sunday night. CBS has likely protected Bengals-Bucs in the Sunday doubleheader window, leaving Miami-Buffalo clearly the only choice—if the NFL is willing to diminish its Saturday lineup for Sunday night. I hear the league may be.”
