The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Dallas Cowboys will face off on Sunday Night Football in Week 15 after the NFL chose to flex their matchup to primetime.
Cowboys’ Week 15 matchup against Buccaneers flexed to ‘Sunday Night Football’
Tampa Bay and Dallas will meet in primetime in Week 15.
Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports
Jeanna Kelley has been covering the Falcons for The Falcoholic since 2011 and the NFL for SB Nation since 2015.
The matchup between the Buccaneers and Cowboys was initially scheduled for 1 p.m. ET, but what should be a compelling NFC battle with postseason implications will now be played at night. The Pittsburgh Steelers against the Cincinnati Bengals will be moved to 1 p.m. ET.
The Cowboys have already clinched a playoff bid after a Week 13 win over the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday Night Football followed by a Washington loss on Sunday.
So far this season, Dallas has had the most-watched game of the 2016 season, which was the Cowboys’ Thanksgiving Day win over Washington. The Cowboys also had the most-watched Thursday Night Football game of all time (Thanksgiving aside) in Week 13 against the Vikings.
The Week 15 Sunday Night Football matchup will mark the first time in league history that a team has had four consecutive night games, according to Charean Williams of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Following Week 13’s Thursday Night Football win over Minnesota, the Cowboys are scheduled to play the Giants on Sunday Night Football in Week 14. The Week 15 game against the Buccaneers is now a night game, and in Week 16, the Cowboys face the Lions on Monday Night Football.
The Buccaneers seem to be peaking at the right time, with four wins in a row. The Bucs beat the Chargers on Sunday, improving to 7-5, which brings them even with the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC South. The Falcons currently hold the tiebreaker, but the division is within reach for the Buccaneers.
The NFL employs flexible scheduling to bring viewers more engaging primetime games. When the schedule was created, the expectation was that the Steelers and Bengals would be an exciting matchup with postseason implications, but the AFC North has been uncharacteristically weak this season.
The Cowboys and Buccaneers in primetime should give viewers a fun game, and it may have a significant impact on the NFC playoff picture.
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