The NFL has flexed a “Thursday Night Football” game for the first time in league history.
On Friday, the NFL announced that the Week 16 game between the Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Chargers has been flexed to “Thursday Night Football” on Amazon. The Chargers were originally scheduled to host their division rival on Sunday, Dec. 22. The Cincinnati Bengals were originally scheduled to host the Cleveland Browns on Thursday, Dec. 19 on Prime Video, but that game has been moved to Sunday.
As Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated noted, the Broncos had to agree to the flex since it will be their second Thursday night road game of the season. They face the Bengals in Week 17, which could explain why they were in favor of the swap. Cincinnati would have initially been given extra time to prepare for Denver, but the two teams have traded spots.
Broncos had to sign off on the Week 16 TNF flex, b/c it's their 2nd TNF road game. They were alerted Tuesday. Interesting element—Denver plays Cincinnati in Week 17 (X-mas week). Bengals got flexed out of TNF. So Denver gains the edge that the Bengals previously had for Week 17.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) November 22, 2024
The NFL has had flex scheduling in place for “Sunday Night Football” games for years, but that expanded to both “Monday Night Football” and “Thursday Night Football” more recently. Flexing for “Thursday Night Football” was approved last year.
The Broncos are 6-5 and have been one of the most surprising teams in the NFL this season. The Chargers are 7-3. There could be playoff implications when the two teams meet in Week 16, which is why the NFL chose to flex the game to a primetime national slot.
