When will the NFL announce Week 18′s Saturday games?

The Eagles face the New York Giants in Week 18 in the final regular-season game at Lincoln Financial Field, but fans with tickets are still wondering when the game will actually be played.

Since 2006, the NFL has waited until the last possible moment to announce the times and TV channels for its final week of games in an attempt to maximize viewership for the matchups with the greatest playoff implications.

Last year, the plan worked. The NFL had a win-and-they’re-in game on Sunday Night Football between the Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers, made more exciting by the fact that a tie would’ve advanced both teams to the playoffs, at the expense of the Pittsburgh Steelers. The game ended up in overtime and nearly ended in a tie, but an ill-timed timeout by Chargers head coach Brandon Staley led to a Raiders field goal as time expired.

The league wants the best game with stand-alone playoff implications to end up on NBC’s Sunday Night Football on Jan. 8 as the final game of the 2022 season.

The NFL will also schedule two games with playoff implications on Saturday, Jan. 7 — at 4:30 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. Both will air on ABC and ESPN, since there is no Monday Night Football game the final week of the season. There is also no Thursday Night Football game on Amazon’s Prime Video in Week 18.

Not until Sunday night at the earliest, during NBC’s broadcast of Sunday Night Football featuring the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. the Baltimore Ravens. The Steelers (7-8) still have a slim chance to win the third wild-card spot in the AFC, while the Ravens are still fighting to overtake the red-hot Cincinnati Bengals (11-4) for the AFC North crown.

But the NFL could wait until Monday to announce its Week 18 games. Week 17′s Monday Night Football matchup features the Buffalo Bills (12-3) taking on the Bengals, which could have a big impact on the AFC’s playoff picture entering Week 18. The Bills can lock up the AFC’s top playoff position with a win and a loss by the Kansas City Chiefs, while the Bengals can clinch the AFC North with a win and a Ravens’ loss or tie.

Joe Ferreira, a former NFL employee who has worked with the league on scheduling and playoff scenarios since the 1990s, said the NFL prefers to announce the final week’s schedule during the second half of Sunday Night Football. But since Monday’s Bills-Bengals game could impact the AFC’s playoff race, Ferreira said it’s possible the NFL will announce the Saturday and Sunday night games first, then announce the times for the Sunday afternoon games during Bills-Bengals on Monday.

“That way at least fans know if they’re going to a game on Sunday afternoon vs. Sunday night vs. Saturday,” Ferreira said.

Yes, but it’s not likely. If the Giants lose to the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, a victory against the Eagles would likely clinch a wild-card spot, the “win and they’re in” scenario the NFL is looking for.

Thanks to the Cowboys’ win against the Titans’ backups on Thursday, the Eagles could enter Week 18 still needing a win to clinch the NFC East if they lose Sunday to the Saints. In that scenario, the NFL would likely schedule the Giants-Eagles and Cowboys-Commanders in Week 18 at the same time.

There’s also the possibility the Vikings and 49ers could enter Week 18 with the NFC’s top playoff seed in play, but each would have to win on Sunday and the Eagles would need to lose to the Saints. Even if that happened, the Eagles would still have a 78% chance to secure the first-round bye, according to FiveThirtyEight.

While much of the Week 18 schedule will be determined by what happens this week, here are a handful of games that could matter for the playoffs in the final week of the season:

Saturday, Jan. 7

Sunday, Jan. 8

Matchups