What Week Can the NFL Flex Games?

The NFL schedule is always subject to change, but there are certain weeks where the league can flex games in order to showcase the best match-ups. So, what week can the NFL flex games?

Introduction

The NFL has the option to “flex” games between Weeks 10-15. This means that the league can choose to move a game from its originally scheduled time and place it during prime time on Sunday night. The NFL must give both teams at least six days notice before making any changes.

What Week Can the NFL Flex Games?

The NFL can flex a game in any week except for the season’s opening week and the last two weeks of the regular season. A game can only be flexed into Sunday Night Football, not out of it. The NFL has the option to flex a game as late as six days before kickoff.

Week 11

The NFL has the option to “flex” out a game on Sunday Night Football set for Week 11.

This means the league can choose to move any one of the following games to Sunday night, per NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport:

Buccaneers at Rams
Cowboys at Vikings
Giants at Eagles
Packers at Steelers
Titans at Colts
The NFL has until 4 p.m. ET on Sunday to make a decision on which game will be flexed into primetime.

per NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport: Buccaneers at Rams, Cowboys at Vikings, Giants at Eagles, Packers at Steelers, Titans at Colts

Week 12

The NFL can begin flexing games (moving them from Sunday afternoon to Sunday night) as early as Week 5. However, it rarely happens that early. In general, the NFL waits until at least Week 8 to start making changes, as that’s when the league feels it has a better idea of which teams are good and which teams are struggling.

The NFL can flex a game up to 12 days before it’s scheduled to be played. So, for a game that’s supposed to be played on Sunday, December 13, the league could move it to Sunday night as late as Monday, December 1. The league almost always makes its final decision on which games will be flexed into primetime on the Tuesday prior to the game in question.

Week 12 is one of the most likely weeks for games to be flexed, as it’s the first week of December and there are typically several good match-ups at this point in the season. This year, there are several compelling games that could potentially be moved into primetime in Week 12, including Packers vs. Giants, Steelers vs. Chargers, Falcons vs. Saints, and Chiefs vs. Raiders.

Week 13

The 2020 NFL season will be the 101st season of the National Football League (NFL). Originally scheduled to begin on September 10, the season will instead commence on September 10, due to the postponement of the start of the season due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The regular season will end on January 3, 2021.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in March 2020 that he was “optimistic” that the preseason and regular season would go as planned, but that the league was prepared to make adjustments if necessary. In July 2020, Goodell stated that while it was “realistic” that all games could be played in their originally scheduled locations, some games could be moved to other stadiums or even shifted to neutral sites if needed.

The NFL is currently planning to use a 17-week schedule format for the 2020 season, with each team playing 16 games and having one bye week. Each team will play every other team in their respective conference twice (once at home and once on the road), while also playing every team from the opposite conference once. The league is currently planning to have a Week 13 “flex scheduling” period (which could potentially involve moving games out of their originally assigned time slot and into Sunday afternoon) in order to allow for more marquee matchups during that week.

Week 14

The NFL can flex games starting in Week 14, which is the second week of the playoffs. After that, the NFL can flex a game each week through the Super Bowl.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the NFL can flex games as late as week eleven or twelve of the NFL season. This gives the NFL a lot of flexibility when it comes to scheduling games. The NFL can also flex games earlier in the season, but this is typically done to avoid a conflict with another major sporting event.