America needs to watch Falcons vs. Commanders, apparently
Scheduling gets weird at the end of NFL seasons, but the Green Bay Packers’ remaining schedule has stayed intact. On Tuesday, the league announced their schedule changes to their Week 17 slate, which includes the Atlanta Falcons vs. Washington Commanders displacing the Miami Dolphins vs. Cleveland Browns on Sunday Night Football.
The Packers vs. Minnesota Vikings was a protected game, meaning that NBC couldn’t pluck it for Sunday Night Football, but it’s a pretty big surprise that the game wasn’t moved from a 1 p.m. ET kick to a 4:25 p.m. ET kick. Ultimately, though, that’s the decision the television networks made.
The only late games leading up to SNF next Sunday, because of the league playing three Saturday games and two Christmas games on Wednesday, are Dolphins vs. Brown on CBS and Dallas Cowboys vs. Philadelphia Eagles on FOX. I guess the Cowboys’ ratings do well enough even in a bad season that Packers vs. Vikings was left on the back burner.
As of now, there are three games scheduled in Week 17 between two teams projected to make the playoffs if the season ended today. They are the two Christmas games and Packers vs. Vikings, though, Falcons vs. Commanders could be added to the list if the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lose this week while the Falcons add another win.
Anyway, if you have anything to do next weekend, the late slate isn’t exactly must-see TV…
Update:
According to ESPN’s Rob Demovsky, Packers vs. Vikings can still be moved to the late afternoon slot up until next Tuesday. So while Packers vs. Vikings won’t be flexed to Saturday or Sunday Night Football, there’s still a chance that it will move.