Whereas a flex decision made by the NFL hurt the viewership potential of many Green Bay Packers when Matt LaFleur’s team played the Indianapolis Colts in Week 11, a new scheduling change made by the league Monday for Week 14 should help fans in the same conflicted viewing areas.
The NFL moved the Packers’ trip to play the Detroit Lions in Week 14 to the 3:25 p.m. CT timeslot.
The Packers were scheduled to play the Lions at noon on Sunday, Dec. 13, posing a likely television coverage conflict with the Minnesota Vikings, who are scheduled to play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at noon on the same day.
Now, with the two teams separated by timeslot, Packers fans in Western Wisconsin, Minnesota and the Dakotas should get an opportunity to see the team play the Lions on FOX.
The NFL uses the flex power to move games with higher potential viewership around the country to better timeslots. With the Packers chasing the best record in the NFC, the league clearly saw an opportunity to increase total viewers in the late afternoon timeslot by featuring LaFleur’s team, even though the Lions are 4-7 and not likely to be a real playoff contender come Week 14.
The Packers aren’t scheduled to play another noon game until Week 17’s trip to play the Bears in Chicago, although that game could also get flexed.
The NFL also recently scheduled the Packers to play the Carolina Panthers in primetime on Saturday, Dec. 19.
