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NFL flexes 49ers-Packers to primetime in Week 12 for Eagles-Seahawks

Sorry, Seattle Seahawks and Philadelphia Eagles fans. You’ve been demoted.

The NFL announced on Tuesday that the Week 12 Eagles-Seahawks matchup slated for “Sunday Night Football” on Nov. 24 has been bumped to 1 p.m. ET. In its place, NBC will broadcast an NFC showdown of the now-division leading Green Bay Packers and San Francisco 49ers.

The Eagles-Seahawks game isn’t exactly a trash matchup. Both teams could very likely be contending for their respective divisions in Week 12.

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But the Eagles are fading, and Packers-49ers looks like a sure thing in terms of being a high-stakes clash that could potentially be the difference in who earns the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs.

The league is doing its best to ensure that its marquee time slot delivers.

Saturday slate in December announced

The NFL also announced a three-game Saturday slate for Week 16 on Dec. 21. The Houston Texans will visit the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at 1 p.m. ET, the Buffalo Bills will visit the New England Patriots at 4:30 p.m. ET and the Los Angeles Rams will visit the San Francisco 49ers at 8:15 ET.

NBC and the NFL are betting on the 49ers and Packers potentially playing for home-field advantage in the playoffs. (Quinn Harris/Getty Images)
NBC and the NFL are betting on the 49ers and Packers potentially playing for home-field advantage in the playoffs. (Quinn Harris/Getty Images)

The NFL implementing schedule flexibility for “Sunday Night Football” is one of the league’s best decisions over the years.

For our younger readers who may not remember when ESPN hosted the primetime slot on Sundays, those games regularly consisted of bad teams playing games with no stakes— a miserable way to end a football Sunday.

Thanks to schedule-flexing, viewers will get an upgrade from a good matchup to a great one.

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