NFL moves Cardinals-Eagles to prime time in Week 15

Posted by Michael David Smith on December 7, 2015, 5:09 PM EST
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The NFL has changed the Week 15 schedule to move the Cardinals-Eagles matchup into prime time.

The previously scheduled Sunday Night Football game between the Bengals and 49ers has moved to 4:25 p.m. ET on CBS, and Cardinals-Eagles will be played in prime time on NBC on Sunday, December 20.

The league also announced that the 1 p.m. ET Buffalo-Washington game in Week 15 has moved from CBS to FOX.

The NFL attempts to put the best matchups in front of the largest audiences, particularly late in the season when playoff berths are at stake. With the 5-7 Eagles still in the NFC East race but the 4-8 49ers out of any realistic playoff contention, Cardinals-Eagles is a better game to put in front of a bigger audience, and that’s what the NFL has done.

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42 responses to “NFL moves Cardinals-Eagles to prime time in Week 15”

  4. I suppose Cards-Eagles and Panthers-Giants are essentially the same game – a team vying for the #1 seed in the NFC against a bad team that is mathematically alive for a playoff spot because they play in a rotten division.

    I’m hoping Tampa is alive for a playoff birth the last week and Bucs-Panthers gets flexed.

  5. Broncos at Steelers a better game in my opinion.

    —

    I bet CBS shares you opinion. Wonder if they protected it from the flex.

  7. sounds like the league is betting the Steelers will be out of contention by then – otherwise Steelers/Broncos is the far better match up.

  10. The rationale here is as follows:

    The Eagles beat the Pats, they must be good. Lets move now, before they give up another 45 points to another middle talent team (Detroit/Tampa)

  11. I’m mildly stunned–with CAR having a good chance to be 13-0 going into Week 15, I thought Panthers-Giants would be flexed. I read somewhere CBS protected Broncos-Steelers, but I thought Fox would protect Cards-Eagles. I’m guessing NBC’s reserving the right to pick up Giants-Eagles in Week 17 (or even Vikings-Giants in Week 16) if need be.

  12. Makes sense. The Bengals will already have clinched the division and the 49ers are out of it.

  13. Makes sense. The Bengals will already have clinched the division and the 49ers are out of it. And most likely the Bengals will blow them out.

  14. Chris, they weren’t looking for a Cardinals game to flex. That’s not the point, so their other matchups are irrelevant to mention.

    And yes, Broncos/Steelers was among the protected games from CBS, as was the Panthers/Giants by FOX. They were not able to flex those games

  15. Much rather see the Bill vs Jets, this will most likely be for a playoff spot….Rex will be in his glory talking to anyone who sticks a microphone in his face……Arizona will already have the 2nd spot locked up and will rest players as that game will not mean anything, and Philly might have a outside shot of winning the division at under 500, even still Arizona will win and it won’t be close…..

  17. There should be a Patriots game on prime time so everyone can see the bad officiating we get just so that they can make weaker teams like Denver and the Eagles look like world champions.

    Tom’s famous pin point accurate micro passing game. ( 3 step drop, five yard pass, and big RAC)
    needs to have honest officiating to work. We are not getting the benefit anymore.

    Enjoy your time now, when the play-offs come, you guys are toast because we are butter !

  18. jvw1982 says:
    Dec 7, 2015 5:54 PM
    Much rather see the Bill vs Jets, this will most likely be for a playoff spot….Rex will be in his glory talking to anyone who sticks a microphone in his face……Arizona will already have the 2nd spot locked up and will rest players as that game will not mean anything, and Philly might have a outside shot of winning the division at under 500, even still Arizona will win and it won’t be close…..
    —————————————–
    Jets play against Cowboys on Saturday. They can’t be flexed.

  19. Apparently none of you have watched the Cardinals in their other prime time games. They’re a fun team to watch & much more explosive than a lot of other NFL teams, (#1 ranked offense).

  21. They’ve flexed the Cardinals numerous times now.

    They are thinking the Super Bowl is going to be the Cardinals vs the Patriots and they want the Cards to be more visible.😎

    The Cardinals are the most balanced team in the NFL this years. They WILL win the Super Bowl! Carson Palmer will be named the MVP and he will retire after the game.😆

  22. Amazing paradox going on here – son Michael takes over running the team from horrendous owner, father Bowtie Bill, gets new incredible stadium built, turns perennial loser into winner, morphs into franchise where everybody now wants to play/coach. Up in Santa Clara, nephew Jed takes over what was once a proud franchise run by Uncle Eddie D., one of the greatest owners of all time, and proceeds to run it into the ground, with a little help from his parents, who gave him a head start. Great time to be a Cards fan, tragic to be a 49er Faithful.

  24. I couldn’t care less about the tv ratings and don’t care when they start these games — as long as it isn’t 09:00 a.m. est because they’re playing them in England.

  25. The nfl is really trying to push the cardinals. Must be why they let the officials give them the game last week vs 49ers.

  26. peytonwantsaflag says:
    sounds like the league is betting the Steelers will be out of contention by then – otherwise Steelers/Broncos is the far better match up.
    ____________________

    CBS and Fox each get to protect a game on their schedules. CBS wasn’t going to let that matchup get away, the same for Fox with Panthers/Giants. Cards/Eagles is the best draw available for NBC, a very good playoff bound Arizona squad that people outside that market will want to watch and an NFCE team will always draw ratings because of the size of the markets in that division if nothing else

  29. Giants/Panthers or Broncos/Steelers seem like better games to have in prime time. Maybe the networks refused to give those games up. From what I gather, CBS and Fox have to agree to giving up the game.

    Week 16 between GB and Arizona would have been great for snf and i wonder if that was taken into account and if they asked Fox about it and Fox said no way they’d give it up. They’ll probably push Jets/Pats to snf instead. Lame

  30. Makes sense. Whiner “Fans” have stopped going to games and have had empty seats for weeks. Any way they can tarp off 2-1/2 decks of a new stadium?

  35. gallopinggilmore says:
    Dec 7, 2015 8:21 PM

    Great, Go Eagles! Why don’t they switch up any MNF games??
    ——————————

    Because MNF is irrelevant.

    Being on cable is probably the main reason.

  36. “Makes sense. Whiner “Fans” have stopped going to games and have had empty seats for weeks. Any way they can tarp off 2-1/2 decks of a new stadium?”

    ———————————————————–

    Did it ever occur to you that the 9er fans have stopped going to the games out of protest to the organizational dysfunction of Jed York and Trent Baalke? Seems to me most people would be able to put that one together, let alone someone who follows the bay area sports teams.

    The 49er Faithful still support their team, but the only way they can “hold Jed York personally accountable” like he said to do when they got rid of Harbaugh, is to stop attending games in the shiny new stadium that Harbaugh built.

  37. This matchup in 2 weeks won’t have the same gusto with the bengals coming off a 55-6 thrashing dealt by the Steelers.

  38. You idiots at the NFL realize that the NYG play at 1pm and the Rochester and Syracuse markets televise the NYG on Fox.
    It happened this week with NYJ at NYG it was on CBS and a bunch of NYG fans were pissed they couldn’t watch their team in the Syracuse market.
    Now being Fox is NFC at least in the Syracuse market but also possible in Rochester all the Bills fans that watch every week won’t be able to watch the Bills.
    Who the hell is the moron at the NFL that made this call? Bills get screwed by the NFL again. STUPID MOVE MORONS at the NFL!

  39. I guess someone expects the Cardinals to play as horrendous as the Pats did versus the Eagles? Relax everybody, the Eagles are the same team we all thought they were. The Pats had a bad day, it happens. When its 45-7 in the 3rd quarter, I don’t think anyone is going to care that this was the game that got flexed

  41. Wow! Thumbs up and down again…

    Giants/Panthers, especially if Panthers still in the hunt for the perfect season. Broncos/Steelers seems like the safe play, insofar, as both will likely be playing for something other than draft picks…

  42. gallopinggilmore says:
    Dec 7, 2015 8:21 PM
    Great, Go Eagles! Why don’t they switch up any MNF games??
    —————————————-
    The logistics of changing a game 3 hours is much different than changing a full day, especially for those that travel.

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