Eagles schedule could change as the NFL eyes a couple of late-season flex opportunities

With five games remaining and the Eagles (10-2) eying their fourth straight playoff berth, the Birds’ schedule could see a late-season flex. But it’s probably not the game you’re thinking of.

The Eagles have been demoted twice this season — out of a national 4:25 p.m. window in Week 8 against the Cincinnati Bengals (4-8), then off Sunday Night Football the following week against the Jacksonville Jaguars (2-10).

It could happen again in Week 17 on Dec. 29, when the Birds host the Dallas Cowboys (5-7) at Lincoln Financial Field. That game is scheduled to air at 4:25 p.m. in Fox’s national window, but the NFL is considering moving it to 1 p.m. to make way for a much better game between the Green Bay Packers (9-3) and Minnesota Vikings (10-2).

Mike North, the NFL’s vice president of broadcast planning, said there’s a “reasonable” chance a move could happen if Eagles-Cowboys “doesn’t still warrant 100% of the country watching the game,” but the NFL has until Dec. 24 to make a decision.

“Maybe Dallas is on a five-game winning streak, and we keep that game right where it is, and it goes to 100% of the country,” North said.

Here’s the Eagles’ remaining TV schedule, which as of now includes two nationally televised games:

Week 17 is tricky, thanks to the addition of two Christmas Day games — Kansas City Chiefs (11-1) at Pittsburgh Steelers (9-3) at 1 p.m., followed by Baltimore Ravens (8-5) at Houston Texans (8-5) at 4:30 p.m. There also is a pool of 10 teams and five games that have yet to be scheduled that week. Three of those games will end up on Dec. 28 on the NFL Network, while the rest will be on Sunday.

One of those games could end up being flexed into Sunday Night Football in Week 17, which currently features a less-than-appealing matchup between the Miami Dolphins (5-7) and Cleveland Browns (3-9). One option to replace it would be would be Atlanta Falcons (6-6) vs. Washington Commanders (8-5), which features teams likely fighting for playoff spots. Same goes for Arizona Cardinals (6-6) vs. Los Angeles Rams (6-6), who are in a tight three-way race with the Seattle Seahawks (7-5) in the NFC West.

“We’re looking at everything … trying to reward teams that have played their way into bigger TV windows,” North said. “Always want to make sure our fans see playoff teams before we actually get to the wild card round.”

One game North and his team are eyeing is Week 16’s Sunday Night Football matchup between the Cowboys and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-6). Two weeks ago, it seemed like an obvious flex candidate, but the Bucs have won two straight games and are locked in a battle for the NFC South with the Falcons, who are suffering through a three-game losing streak. The Cowboys also have won two straight, though their playoff chances remain so remote they’re almost not worth mentioning.

“I would not be stunned if Tampa-Dallas stays on Sunday night,” North said.

If the NFL decided to flex, it has a potential blockbuster game on the schedule between the Eagles and the Commanders, who still have a shot at winning the NFC East if the Birds flounder in the next few weeks. That game technically is locked in on Fox because the first Eagles-Commanders game streamed on Amazon’s Prime Video (Fox is guaranteed at least one divisional game of all NFC teams), but North said the league probably could hash out an agreement with the network if the situation warranted it.

“I’m not saying we’re going to do this, but in theory, you could make a case that if Fox were to lose the Philly-Washington game that day, get back the Tampa-Dallas game, still have a Detroit-Chicago game in the early window and Minnesota-Seattle in the late window, Arizona playing for something, Atlanta playing for something, it’s hard to say Fox’s Sunday afternoon would be ruined,” North said. “Our partners are nothing if not amenable to a conversation.”

The league already made a big decision involving Week 16 last month, when it flexed a Thursday Night Football game for the first time. That put an AFC West matchup between the Denver Broncos (8-5) and Los Angeles Chargers (8-4) into a national window, replacing Browns-Bengals.

“Because of the implications and the inconveniences of moving three days like that for all four teams involved, that’s a decision we made four weeks out,” North said. “Man, anything’s possible in this league over four weeks, so I hope we made the right decision by the time we get there.”

For years, the NFL could only flex in and out of Sunday Night Football games. But owners changed the rules in 2022 to allow games to be flexed into Monday night and again in 2023 for Thursday night. Last season, the league moved the Eagles’ Week 15 game against the Seahawks from Sunday afternoon to Monday night, making for a much better prime-time game but also inconveniencing thousands of Birds fans.

The Eagles’ final game of the season is against the lowly New York Giants (2-10) at the Linc, hardly a game worthy of a big national TV window. But where it ends up depends on what happens over the next four games.

If the Birds drop a few games and suddenly find themselves in a tight battle for the NFC East with Washington, then Eagles-Giants and Commanders-Cowboys likely would be scheduled to play concurrently on Sunday, Jan. 5 at 1 p.m. or 4:25 p.m. The same situation applies to the Detroit Lions (11-1), whom the Eagles trail by a game in the race for the NFC’s top playoff seed.

North said there’s one scenario in which the Eagles could be scheduled for Saturday in Week 18 — they’ve locked up the NFC East but are still chasing the Lions for the No. 1 seed. Detroit plays the Minnesota Vikings (10-2) that week in a game that could decide who wins the NFC North.

“Maybe [the Eagles] play on Saturday in a game that when they take the field, they know they have to play to win, and then hope Minnesota beats Detroit on Sunday, and the Eagles can get the one seed that way,” North said.