One downside of not meeting expectations is that a team’s primetime games may be flexed out of their original time slots later in the season.
Cleveland Browns fans are unfortunately affected by a recent NFL decision regarding the team’s Thursday night game against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 16.
Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot shared on X that the Bengals and Browns game has been flexed out of its original time slot and will now be played that Sunday, December 22nd, in Cincinnati, while the Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Chargers game will replace it in the TNF primetime slot.
#Browns and #Bengals have been flexed out of their Week 16 Thursday night game. It will now be played Sunday Dec. 22 in Cincy. #Broncos–#Chargers will replace it in prime time Dec. 19th.
— Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) November 22, 2024
It’s tough to argue the logic behind this, as both the Broncos and Chargers are in the thick of the AFC playoff race, while the 3-8 Browns and 4-7 Bengals have fallen well short of the expectations they had before the season.
It’s nice that the NFL announced this well ahead of time so that it didn’t catch the Browns off guard.
The bright side is that it gives the team a few extra days of rest down the stretch.
That Chargers-Broncos game could determine the wild card spots in the AFC playoff race.
The Browns and Bengals will likely just be playing for pride unless Cincy gets on a winning streak before then.
This won’t be the last game to get flexed, and it might not even be the last Browns game to get flexed because Cleveland is also set to face off against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday Night Football in Week 17.
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