Add two more prime time games to the 49ers’ schedule.
Their Week 12 home game against the Green Bay Packers has been flexed to Sunday Night Football. Kickoff is now slated for 5:20 pm Pacific Time instead of the original 1:25 pm time. Seahawks at Eagles was the original Sunday night matchup.
The 49ers’ loss to the Seahawks put the 8-2 Packers only a half game behind San Francisco for first place in the NFC standings.
San Francisco doesn’t have an easy Week 11 matchup. They’ll face the Arizona Cardinals, who pushed the 49ers to the bring in Week 9 before the 49ers eventually prevailed 28-25 in Arizona.
Green Bay is idle with a bye week.
That leaves two scenarios on the table for what’s now a huge Sunday night game. Either the 49ers and Packers are both 8-2 and jockeying for a first-round playoff bye, or the 49ers are a game up on the Packers with a chance to create separation, or allow Green Bay into the race.
The Week 16 showdown with the Rams at Levi’s Stadium, which did not have an official kickoff time, has been given a 5:15 pm Pacific Time start on Saturday, Dec. 21. That game will air on NFL Network.
That one could wind up determining the division winner depending on how the rest of the season shakes out. The 49ers got the better of the Rams, 20-7, in their first matchup in Week 6 in Los Angeles.
This is quite a departure for the 49ers, who had their Sunday Night Football game against the Rams last year flexed out in favor of a more competitive, meaningful matchup.
Prime time kickoffs should only add to the electricity of two extremely big games for the 49ers in their push for a playoff spot.
