The Kansas City Chiefs and New England Patriots were originally scheduled to play the following day. monday night football during Week 15 of the 2023 season. To save our minds from watching Mac Jones or Bailey Zappe throw picks in prime time, the NFL has adopted a flex schedule, shifting the Chiefs vs. Pats game to a 1 p.m. ET time slot. , and replaced it with Eagles vs. Seahawks on Monday night.
At the time, the Eagles were 10-3 and had just made the playoffs for the third straight year. The Seahawks remained in playoff contention until the end of the season. In theory, it would have been a more exciting matchup and probably a better choice for prime time than the original schedule based on all the Patriots games I watched last season.
The reason behind flexible scheduling is that According to the NFLthat it “allows the team to play for prime time.”
In 2006, the NFL implemented a “flexible schedule” procedure for Sunday Night Football. Flexible scheduling ensured quality matchups on Sunday nights all week and gave surprise teams a chance to break into primetime. For the 2024 season, Thursday Night Football will be included in the flexible schedule on a trial basis, in addition to Monday Night Football.
There’s a lot going on in the league’s flex schedule process, with different rules for different days, times of day, and weeks. This is the high point.
How to use
- Sunday afternoon games can be moved between 1pm and 4pm.
- Leagues have flexibility in arranging games. sunday night football Games can be rescheduled twice from Weeks 5 through 10 and “at the discretion of the NFL” from Weeks 11 through 17.
- NFL has flexibility in adjusting games. monday night football Weeks 11 through 17 are at its discretion.
- thursday night football Flex schedules will be available on a trial basis in 2024. The league may move games to Thursday nights up to two times between Weeks 13 and 17.
- If your team is on track, Sunday Night Football, Monday Night Football, or thursday night football During the flexible schedule period, the NFL considers all of these games to be “tentative” due to the flexible schedule.
- Only Sunday afternoon games or games listed as “TBD” can be changed to SNF, MNF, or TNF. Therefore, a Thursday night game cannot be moved to Sunday night.
- As always, the schedule for Week 18 of the 2024 season will not be finalized until after Week 17.
- Leagues must give at least 12 days’ notice if they want to move games to Sunday or Monday nights from Weeks 5 to 13 for SNFs and Weeks 12 to 17 for MNFs.
- for sunday night footballFor Weeks 14 through 17, decisions must be made at least six days before game changes are made.
- for thursday night football, From Weeks 13 through 17, the NFL will announce decisions at least 28 days before the game.
Get ready for Week 15
Given all of the above, Week 15 could be a little ridiculous. The final bye week of the season is Week 14, so all 32 teams will play. Many of these games will be meaningful as things begin to set up for the postseason. And since international play ends in Week 10, everyone resides in the United States and is eligible for flexibility.
Additionally, the league has an additional night game scheduled for Week 15. The current prime time schedule is as follows:
- thursday night football: Chargers vs. 49ers
- sunday night football: Packers vs. Seahawks
- monday night football Doubleheader: Bears vs. Vikings, Falcons vs. Raiders
The earliest we’ll know if the Thursday night game will be rescheduled will be 28 days in advance, but I think that makes it less likely. There’s a lot of football to be played in these 28 days, but it’s hard to predict whether the most high-profile teams will fall into a slump that early.
However, I think the Sunday and Monday games will likely take place, so stay tuned to the end of Week 14 to see what the actual Week 15 schedule will be.
