At the very least before Week 1, not many people thought that the Week 17 matchup between the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers would have so much juice that it would push another major rivalry game in the NFL to an earlier time slot.
But that’s what has become. The NFL announced Monday that the Vikings-Packers showdown will be moved to the late window of Sunday’s NFL games. It will be played at 4:30 PM ET instead of 1:00 PM ET, giving more people the chance to watch a match between two rivals that could impact the upcoming playoffs.
When one play is inflexed, another play must be flexed out. The Week 17 matchup that will be expanded into the early window is the Philadelphia Eagles vs. Dallas Cowboys. While that’s typically an affordable matchup between two rivals from the bitter division that traditionally gets a lot of attention, it’s less of a matchup at this point in the season.
The Cowboys have won four of their last five games but are out of the playoffs. The interest in this game is based on whether the resurgent Cowboys can beat a defeated Eagles team that not only lost their Week 16 game against the Washington Commanders, but also lost their starting QB Jalen Hurts to an early-game concussion.
Ultimately, Cowboys-Eagles has little playoff implications, while Vikings-Packers has the Vikings competing for a possible tie for the No. 1 seed, and the Packers – if they beat the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football and thereby achieving victory. playoff spot – fighting for better playoff seeding. And if the Packers lose to the Saints to close Week 16, they will be fighting for a playoff appearance against the Vikings.
