Steelers-Ravens Week 11 Game Won’t Be Flexed to Sunday Night Football
The Week 11 game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens will not be flexed to Sunday Night Football.
The Week 11 game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens will not be flexed to Sunday Night Football, due to league broadcast rules, a team source confirmed to Steelers Now.
The Steelers and Ravens are currently scheduled to play at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 17. The Sunday Night Football game for Week 11 is currently slated to feature the Indianapolis Colts and the New York Jets. With both of those teams struggling, it would seem to be a perfect opportunity to flex a different game into that time slot, but it cannot be the Steelers and Ravens.
When the NFL made the change last season to discontinue the practice of guaranteeing AFC games to CBS and NFC games to Fox, and instead building the best possible schedule for each TV network each week, it retained a clause that CBS is still guaranteed at least one of every AFC divisional matchup, and Fox the same with every NFC divisional matchup.
Because the Steelers and Ravens will play their second game on Fox on Saturday, Dec. 21, the other game between the teams must be played on CBS, eliminating it from consideration for Sunday Night Football.
The Steelers and Ravens could move to the 4:25 p.m. slot next Sunday, but that seems unlikely as the Kansas City Chiefs at the Buffalo Bills is currently in that time slot. NBC could flex the Chiefs and Bills to the night game, which could possibly lead to the Steelers and Ravens moving to the afternoon.
Sunday Night Football is the only game that can be flexed in Week 11. Starting in Week 12, Monday Night Football games can also be flexed, and in Week 13, Thursday Night Football games can be flexed.
The NFL must make a decision on Sunday Night Football for Week 11 by Tuesday.
