The Packers’ game in two weeks against the Bears will remain on Sunday Night Football, however.
For the first time in the 2021 season, a game involving the Green Bay Packers has seen its kickoff time moved due to the NFL’s flexible scheduling policy.
In week 15, the Packers will travel to play the Baltimore Ravens. That game was originally scheduled to kick off at 1:00 PM Eastern Time (12 noon Central), but the league has elected to move the intriguing matchup into the late afternoon time slot. As a result, the game will now kick off at 4:25 PM ET/3:25 PM CT instead.
The game will be televised on FOX, which has the national doubleheader for Week 15. However, they previously had just one game scheduled for the late afternoon time slot, a contest between the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams. The Seahawks are struggling mightily and sitting at just 3-8 on the season, however, making the Packers-Ravens matchup a much more desirable one from a TV perspective, since both teams are among the best in their respective conferences.
No other games will change in week 15 as a result of this move, since the other three games in the late time slots are taking place at stadiums in the Mountain or Pacific time zones. Sunday Night Football that week will also remain as-is, with the New Orleans Saints visiting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Packers also will keep their game after the bye week in prime time as scheduled. Following their coming bye, Green Bay will host the Chicago Bears on Sunday Night Football. Although the NFL did flex a pair of games in week 14, they did not change Packers-Bears, which will still kick off at 7:20 PM Central. Instead, the Saints-Jets game moves from the late afternoon to the early time slot, while the 49ers-Bengals contest flips in reverse, from a 12 noon CT kickoff to a 3:25 start.
Green Bay’s week 16 game against the Cleveland Browns, meanwhile, is scheduled for Christmas Day and will not be subject to flex scheduling. The team will finish the season with games against the Minnesota Vikings (set for Sunday night in week 17) and the Detroit Lions (an early kickoff in week 18), both of which are eligible to be flexed.