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The NFL is flexing its first prime-time game of the 2025 season.
The league announced Monday that it is rescheduling the originally slotted “Sunday Night Football” game for Week 16, the Cincinnati Bengals’ visit to the Miami Dolphins on Dec. 21, into that day’s 1 p.m. ET window, where it will be televised by CBS.
Moving into the league’s marquee weekly window on NBC will be the New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens, their game at M&T Bank Stadium sure to have much broader playoff implications. The Bengals and Dolphins are still mathematically alive, though barely so with matching 6-7 records.
The Patriots currently lead the AFC East with an 11-2 record and are virtually tied atop the conference with the Denver Broncos, though the AFC West leaders currently hold the tiebreaker. Though 6-7, the Ravens are one game back of the Pittsburgh Steelers for the AFC North lead.
The NFL has the flexibility to move any Sunday night games scheduled between Weeks 11 and 17. Any switches will generally be made no later than six days prior to kickoff for “Sunday Night Football” games between Weeks 14 and 17. The league’s entire Week 18 lineup is scheduled following Week 17’s conclusion.
The only games the NFL had shifted so far this season were within the Sunday afternoon window.
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