The NFL has shuffled the Week 16 schedule to move a better game into the Sunday Night Football prime time slot.
The December 23 49ers-Seahawks NFC West battle that was originally scheduled for a 4:25 p.m. Eastern kickoff on FOX has now become an 8:20 p.m. kickoff on NBC. That means San Francisco will play on Sunday nights in back-to-back weeks, with the 49ers taking on the Patriots on Sunday night in Week 15.
The Chargers-Jets game that had initially been scheduled for NBC prime time has now been moved to a 1 p.m. kickoff on CBS. The league also moved the Week 16 Giants-Ravens game from a 1 p.m. kickoff to a 4:25 p.m. kickoff.
Flexible scheduling is used late in the season to put the best games in the time slots when the most people will be able to watch. The final schedule for Week 17 will be announced at the conclusion of Week 16.