I had thought this might happen. I actually tweeted at Chad Finn to see if this would be the case and it turns out to be right. Eagles-Bears has replaced this game as the SNF game.
Week 15 Pats-Ravens flexed from SNF to 4:25 PM
- Thread starter RedOctober3829
- Start date
All I can think of is that Bears/Eagles is going to be a do or die style game for playoffs for both teams. They are each in a division that will send the division winner, but not a wild card entrant, and right now the Eagles have a one game lead and Chicago is tied with Detroit. So it likely has win or go home implications for each team, and the snowball effect on the other teams close is there.
So the game is of interest to both teams playing and all the teams whose hopes ride on the outcome. I'm guessing that is more interesting than the Pats seeding or the Ravens making the wild card.
So the game is of interest to both teams playing and all the teams whose hopes ride on the outcome. I'm guessing that is more interesting than the Pats seeding or the Ravens making the wild card.
I think the reasoning for this move is that the NFL has a deadline for flexing out games and it's something like 10 days beforehand and while both games are certain to be important, the Eagles/Bears game likely will be more important. Those two teams are and will be in a fight to make the playoffs. The Pats likely will be playing "only" for playoff seeding.
EDIT: Yah, more or less what PMB said.
EDIT: Yah, more or less what PMB said.
A. plus the matchup was already flexed onceJerBear said:
B. No one impartial would argue with NBC
McCoy may be the most entertaining player in the league and Foles is a great story.
This is actually the Week 16 game. Week 15 is this coming week and the Pats are at MIA. Might want to change the thread title.
JerBear said:
Amazingly no, per 506sports.com. They protected Dallas @ Washington. They must have done that before the season started, because it makes no sense to do that now.
Don't forget market size... Among Nielsen DMAs, Chicago (#3) and Philly (#4) are a lot bigger than Boston (#7) and Baltimore (#27).
Takes a game away from FOX (Bears/Eagles) and gifts an extra one to CBS (Pats/Baltimore)
Edit: ifmanis, for one, did not forget market size!
Takes a game away from FOX (Bears/Eagles) and gifts an extra one to CBS (Pats/Baltimore)
Edit: ifmanis, for one, did not forget market size!
As many have stated, Philly-Chicago is a more important game for playoff implications. So is Arizona-Seattle and Carolina-NO. But since they just had Carolina-NO on SNF they weren't going to do it again. Arizona-Seattle would have been very interesting too.nattysez said:
Market size is very important too as MJ said.
Does this mean that the Pats game will be the 4pm national game?
Other games at that slot:
Pittsburg vs Green Bay (4:25)
Oakland vs San Diego (4:25)
Giants vs Detroit (4:05)
Arizona vs Seattle (4:05)
I am thinking I am good for getting local coverage of the game being on the east coast.
Other games at that slot:
Pittsburg vs Green Bay (4:25)
Oakland vs San Diego (4:25)
Giants vs Detroit (4:05)
Arizona vs Seattle (4:05)
I am thinking I am good for getting local coverage of the game being on the east coast.
RedOctober3829 said:
Is Arizona/Seattle really a more important game? Arizona and Baltimore cancel each other out, as 2 teams fighting for the last playoff spot in their conference. Seattle will have likely wrapped up the #1 seed, whereas NE would be fighting for the #2 spot. Considering the markets and the rivalry, I don't see any way SEA/ARI is a more important or desirable game than NE/BAL.
Edit: Not that it really matters, of course. Purely academic.
Ordinarily the America's team #2 v. America's team #3 would get national coverage, this time, with Pitt sucking, not sure.RSFnFL said:
My guess is everyone except California and Upper Midwest (everything between Harrisburg and Minneapolis) gets Pats but not sure.
RSFnFL said:
Dan to Theo to Ben said:
This was my question as well. I'll be with the in-laws outside Allentown, PA, so I'm trying to figure out what the chances are that we'll get the game on local TV.
The 506 folks seem to agree with DtTtB that Pats/Ravens will be the national game:
Here's hoping that "midwest" doesn't include Eastern PA, though I fear it will.
It should be the national 4:25 game. Steelers-Packers would be the other option, but with both teams teetering on playoff relevance I can't see it. The only place outside of California and Pitt/GB areas that might not get the game is NYC. I'm not positive if because the Giants game is on that they get the exclusive window in their area.RSFnFL said:
I didn't say AZ-SEA is a more desirable matchup for TV than NE-BAL. My first indication was that PHI-CHI would get the slot.Hendu for Kutch said:
#1 reason for the flex was that the CBS 4:25 games in Week 16 were terrible. PIT-GB and OAK-SD. NE-BAL becomes a sizable upgrade for CBS while the NBC change is either a wash or possibly a mild upgrade. Protected games were PIT-GB on the CBS side and DAL-WAS on the FOX side. The protections are declared after the Week 4 games.
The flex rule was never really intended to help CBS or FOX when they have a weak afternoon schedule but that's essentially what happened here.
The flex rule was never really intended to help CBS or FOX when they have a weak afternoon schedule but that's essentially what happened here.
RedOctober3829 said:
The Giants are on the road so there's no protection. The national CBS game will be shown in NYC.
Mugsys Jock said:
I'm surprised that Philly's a bigger market than Boston. Is there a flaw in the criteria that you (or anyone else) knows of, or am I just a rampant homer that wants to think that Boston is way better than Philly in every conceivable way? FWIW, I've been to Philly and I did notice a lot of size, layout, and other similarities, with the big difference being Philly seemed to have more seedy looking areas (but that too could be a personal or sample size bias).
You guys are going to be sick of Chip Kelly after NBC gets through blowing him.
The reality is, he's a breath of fresh air and his players believe in Chip and his staff. Winning cures all ills.
The reality is, he's a breath of fresh air and his players believe in Chip and his staff. Winning cures all ills.
Well, I think there's a question of boundary.Zososoxfan said:
According to the 2012 Census data, It is bigger:
- Philadelphia "metro statistical area": 6.0 million
- Boston "metro statistical area": 4.8 million
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Metropolitan_Statistical_Areas
That said, I'm not quite sure how they're defining the Boston metro area for the purposes of the TV market. It seems like Boston's statistical area doesn't include Worcester, Hartford, CT, or Portland, ME (but does include Rhode Island?).
Anyway, I think the Philadelphia "area" boundaries are complicated by the presence of New Jersey and Delaware suburbs, whose residents may not have any real affiliation with Philadelphia for sports watching purposes.
South Jersey fans, for the most part, are Philly fans. Delaware is to Philly as Rhode Island to Boston. Small and close. Biggest city in Delaware, Wilmington, only 30 miles from Philly.dynomite said:
For the purposes of fandom, I think Combined Statistical Area is a better measure of the potential fan base size - http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_combined_statistical_areas
The Boston CSA - which includes Worcester - is 7.9 million people while the Philly one is 7.1 million.
That said, NJ and Delaware suburbs are absolutely Eagles territory. There's a reason the NJ DMV sells Eagles-logo vanity plates.
The Boston CSA - which includes Worcester - is 7.9 million people while the Philly one is 7.1 million.
That said, NJ and Delaware suburbs are absolutely Eagles territory. There's a reason the NJ DMV sells Eagles-logo vanity plates.
This makes a lot more sense... basically by flexing out the Pats/Ravens, NBC now has their choice of games for week 17 from both networks. If they hadn't, they would have only been able to pick a FOX game. http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/12/11/report-obscure-broadcast-contract-term-drove-week-16-flex-decision/
Kind of dumb
Kind of dumb
There are a bunch of satellite DMAs beyond the major market. I probably missed a few, but something like...Zososoxfan said:
BOSTON: Hartford/New Haven (#30 -- 1.0 million), Providence (#53 -- 615k), Portland (#90 -- 395k), Burlington (#98 -- 318k), Augusta (#112 -- 264k), Springfield (#214 -- 257k), Bangor (#156 -- 140k)
PHILADELPHIA: Lancaster/Harrisburg/York (#43 -- 720k), Wilkes Barre/Scranton (#54 -- 585k), Altoona (#103 -- 291k), Wilmington (#131 -- 194k)
Suggesting overall the New England region may add more than the Philadelphia region, but Philly's probably still at least as big overall.
And here's a new wrinkle if, like me, you enjoy overthinking this to death:
NBC owns its stations in Chicago (WMAQ) and Philadelphia (WCAU), where the NBC affiliates are not O-&-O's in Boston (WHDH is owned by Sunbeam) and Baltimore (WBAL is owned by Hearst). Obviously a game featuring the local teams scores colossal markets in the attached market, and NBC gets to keep national AND local revenue where it owns the station. That's actually a pretty significant chunk of change.
NBC owns its stations in Chicago (WMAQ) and Philadelphia (WCAU), where the NBC affiliates are not O-&-O's in Boston (WHDH is owned by Sunbeam) and Baltimore (WBAL is owned by Hearst). Obviously a game featuring the local teams scores colossal markets in the attached market, and NBC gets to keep national AND local revenue where it owns the station. That's actually a pretty significant chunk of change.
Philly Inquirer with a clear explanation of why the Week 16 game was flexed. By using Eagles-Bears, it narrows gap between games taken overall from FOX and CBS to one, allowing the league to choose from the entire schedule in Week 17.
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/sports/eagles/More-on-why-the-Eagles-Bears-game-was-flexed-to-Sunday-night.html
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/sports/eagles/More-on-why-the-Eagles-Bears-game-was-flexed-to-Sunday-night.html
Yep, little hope of a chargers blackout with the raiders coming to town. Luckily there aren't many late games so the red zone might carry more of the Pats.
I'm a little surprised that Saints @ Panthers doesn't get more TV coverage - that game will likely decide the division and those are two of the better teams in football.
crystalline said:
Strange that the Boston market gets MIN@CIN instead of NO@CAR. I suppose the Bengals game has #2 seed and playoff implications for the Patriots... but how many people are really going to sit through all 4 quarters of a Bengals/Vikings game?
EDIT:
Also, an interesting addendum to this:terrynever said:
On Bill Simmons & Cousin Sal's football podcast this week, Sal brought up the possibility that, if the Cowboys were to win earlier in the day, the Eagles might rest their starters against the Bears.
If the Cowboys win, the Week 17 PHI@DAL game will be "win & in" no matter what the Eagles do that night, and the winner of the NFC East is locked in to either the #3 or #4 seed in the NFC.
1) Whatcha got? Rest Foles, Shady, and others for the Week 17 showdown? Go all out for the #3 seed? (The #5/6 seeds are still up in the air between the Panthers, 49ers, and Saints)
2) If this comes to pass, I would pay $1 to be a fly on the wall at NBC when Matt Barkley starts warming up on the Philly sideline.
Most every week I bitch about the very existence of the Oakland Raiders. Nothing different this week. Redzone it'll be.dynomite said:
Doesn't Belichick always deny he's going to rest starters and then Doug Flutie drop kicks an extra point?
It wouldn't surprise me if both teams play their starters (especially in the 1st half), but if the game doesn't matter I would be surprised if they're out there in the 4th quarter.
It wouldn't surprise me if both teams play their starters (especially in the 1st half), but if the game doesn't matter I would be surprised if they're out there in the 4th quarter.
Bears clinch division with a win tonight.PaulinMyrBch said:
Eagles on the other hand, game is meaningless for them.