The NFL said Sunday that it is implementing flex scheduling for next week’s primetime Sunday Night Football matchup on NBC, jettisoning the planned Los Angeles Rams-Los Angeles Chargers game in favor of a Pittsburgh Steelers-Baltimore Ravens showdown with greater playoff implications.
The Rams-Chargers game, while pitting rivals who share the major Los Angeles media market, won’t be as meaningful. The Chargers are 8-6 but can clinch a playoff spot this Monday with a victory on the road in Indianapolis against the Colts on Monday Night Football; the Rams, the defending Super Bowl champions, are 5-10 and despite a lopsided victory over Denver on Christmas Day have already been eliminated from postseason contention.
As a result, the Steelers-Ravens, featuring fierce rivals still fighting for playoff seeding (Baltimore has clinched a wild card spot), will now kick off January 1 at 8:20 p.m.
ET on NBC. The Rams-Chargers game at SoFi Stadium will now begin at 4:25 p.m. ET/1:25 p.m. PT and be televised on CBS. The NFL’s flex schedule allows the league to “ensure quality matchups” for SNF, broadcast TV’s most-watched show.
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