The NFL also flexes the Bills-Patriots Week 16 game.
By Kyle Silagyi / Billswire.usatoday.com
The NFL has added another national television appearance to the Buffalo Bills’ remaining schedule.
The league announced Sunday night that Buffalo’s Week 15 matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers has been flexed to Sunday Night Football. Kickoff is now scheduled for 8:20 EST on NBC.
The flexed game could have serious postseason implications. At 9-3 and 7-5, respectively, the Bills and Steelers currently occupy the AFC’s two wild-card playoff spots.
The NFL’s decision comes just days after Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen put on a show in a Thanksgiving Day shellacking of the Dallas Cowboys. The game averaged 32.5 million viewers, per CBS, making it the most-watched regular-season contest in three years.
This is the second Buffalo game to be flexed this season. The team’s Week 16 matchup with the New England Patriots was recently flexed to Saturday, Dec. 21, and moved to the 4:30 EST kickoff.
When the Bills’ 2019 schedule was released in April, fans quickly noted that it contained zero primetime games. Given the team’s consistent success and strong performance in its sole nationally televised game, the fact that a late-season game has been flexed into primetime is not all that surprising.