The NFL has flexed its first game of the season.
The league on Monday moved the Cincinnati Bengals-Los Angeles Chargers matchup in Week 11 to “Sunday Night Football” on NBC. In exchange, the game between the New York Jets and the Indianapolis Colts scheduled for Nov. 17 was then moved to 1 p.m. ET.
Though the Jets are coming off a win, the NFL’s decision to flex the them out of prime time shouldn’t come as much of a surprise at this point in the season. The Jets just snapped a five-game losing skid with a 21-13 win over the Houston Texans on Thursday night, which only improved them to 3-6 on the year. The team fired head coach Robert Saleh last month, and veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers has struggled for most of the season. Their offense finally clicked Thursday night, which kept them alive in the postseason race, but it’s going to take a significant turnaround to pull that off.
The Colts aren’t looking much better, either. The Minnesota Vikings beat them 21-13 on Sunday night, which marked their second straight loss and moved them to 4-5 on the year. The team opted to start quarterback Joe Flacco on Sunday, too, after Anthony Richardson’s struggles. Richardson was reportedly failing to understand the “gravity of the job” of a starting quarterback and wasn’t preparing well enough, either, which led to the switch. He also said he took himself out of their Oct. 27 loss to the Texans briefly because he was “tired.”
The Bengals-Chargers game, at least on paper, is sure to be significantly better. The Bengals have won three of their last four games and are fresh off a five-touchdown outing from Joe Burrow in their blowout win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday. The Chargers just beat the Browns 27-10 on Sunday, too, to pick up their third win in their last four outings and move to 5-3 on the season.
All four of the teams involved in this flex have work to do in order to secure a playoff berth this season, some more than others. But a matchup between Burrow and Justin Herbert is undoubtedly more compelling for fans in two weeks.