For the only time in the 2013 NFL season, all 16 games will be played on Sunday. Monday and Thursday night football games are done until next year, with just one primetime contest in Week 17.
To adjust for the NFC and AFC playoff races, the NFL has made some changes to the schedule. Four of the 12 postseason spots are still up for grabs, and none of the NFC divisions have been clinched.
Two contests will serve as unofficial title games for their respective divisions, and they were both moved to later in the day. A returning Aaron Rodgers will lead the Green Bay Packers into Chicago for a matchup with the Bears that will determine the NFC North winner. While that game was changed to the late afternoon, the meeting between the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles was flexed to 8:30 p.m. ET. Without Tony Romo, the Cowboys will look to clinch the NFC East crown on the final Sunday Night Football game of 2013.
The New England Patriots will host the Buffalo Bills at 4:25 p.m. ET, since they have a chance at clinching the No.1 seed in the AFC. New England will play at the same time as the Denver Broncos, who currently have home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. The Broncos have a one-game lead over the Patriots, but they would lose the tiebreaker because of their head-to-head matchup.
The New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers will now play in the late afternoon. The game has put been at the same time as the Arizona Cardinals versus the San Francisco 49ers. A win for the Saints at 1 p.m. ET would’ve eliminated the Cardinals from the playoff picture before their game started. Even though New Orleans is battling Arizona for the final NFC wild card spot, they can still take the NFC South with a victory and a Carolina Panthers loss.
Below is the Week 17 schedule after the changes were made.
1 p.m. ET
Carolina Panthers at Atlanta Falcons
Houston Texas at Tennessee Titans
Cleveland Browns at Pittsburgh Steelers
Washington Redskins New York Giants
Baltimore Ravens at Cincinnati Bengals
Jacksonville Jaguars at Indianapolis Colts
New York Jets at Miami Dolphins
Detroit Lions at Minnesota Vikings
4:25 p.m. ET
Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at New Orleans Saints
Denver Broncos at Oakland Raiders
San Francisco at Arizona Cardinals
Kansas City Chiefs at San Diego Chargers
St. Louis Rams at Seattle Seahawks
Green Bay Packers at Chicago Bears
8:30 p.m. ET
Philadelphia Eagles at Dallas Cowboys
NFL Schedule: Week 17 Sunday Games Revised For Final Week Of The 2013 Season
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