The NFL has already announced that the Eagles-Vikings game originally scheduled for tonight's Sunday Night Football slot will be postponed to Tuesday night at 8 p.m. Eastern, likely due to safety concerns for fans that would have been forced to travel to the game in heavy snow tonight. But how fair is that?
Eagles-Vikings Postponed: Is A Tuesday Night Game Unfair To Philadelphia?
This game only has playoff ramifications for the Eagles, who can clinch the NFC East with a win. But the time off helps the Vikings with injuries more than it does Philadelphia: Minnesota could have Hall of Famer-to-be Brett Favre starting on Tuesday, which it might not have been able to count on tonight. And moving a game to Tuesday means that both teams will have abbreviated weeks heading into Week 17; for the Eagles, who will be jockeying for playoff positioning at the very least, that's a bad break.
Of course, the NFL must serve many masters, and while the Eagles and Vikings both create many millions in value for the league, the league's broadcast partners are the folks who are paying for that value. NBC was likely unwilling to move today's game to Monday night and have it compete with ESPN's showdown between the Falcons and Saints; ESPN likely felt the same way. And thus, the Eagles have to deal with a decision made by their superiors for reasons beyond their control.
Fair? Probably not. But who ever said the NFL was?
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