NFL Flexes Three Games, Announces Week 11 Schedule Changes
The NFL announced on Monday that it was changing the start times for three Week 11 games.
The NFC North matchup between the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears was flexed from a 1 p.m. ET start time on FOX to the Sunday Night Football slot on NBC. The Bears (5–3) sit atop the division with a half-game lead over the Vikings (5–3–1). The prime time game between the two will be the first time in seven years that the rivalry is featured on Sunday night.
The league also announced Nov. 18 schedule changes for the Eagles-Saints and Steelers-Jaguars matchups. Rather than playing at 1 p.m. ET on FOX, the Eagles and Saints will face off at 4:25 p.m. on the same channel. The Eagles (4–4) currently sit one game out of first place in the NFC East. The Saints (7–1) are on a seven-game winning streak and lead the NFC South.
The Steelers and Jaguars will play at 1 p.m. ET on CBS after being removed from their Sunday Night Football slot. The Jaguars (3–5) are tied for last in the AFC South while the Steelers (5–2–1) are ranked first in the AFC North.
The changes come under the league's primetime flexible scheduling element, which was implemented in 2006 and was modified in 2014 to allow the NFL to reschedule games between Weeks 5 and 17.
