Last week, NFL owners approved a one-year trial run for flexible scheduling for Thursday Night Football, with a few very significant restrictions.
Two of the restrictions are (1) the timeframe — only games from Weeks 13-17 are eligible to be flexed in or out of TNF — and (2) that no team will play more than one TNF game on the road (each team can play up to one at home and one away).
With those two caveats in mind, we already know that the Denver Broncos are not currently eligible for TNF flexing this season. The Broncos are scheduled to play in a road TNF game in Week 6. Later in the year, they play on the road from Weeks 13-15 and again in Week 18.
Because they will already have played on the road in Week 6, they won’t be eligible for another road TNF game. Denver’s two home games during the TNF flex window aren’t eligible, either. The first one is already scheduled to be a prime-time Christmas Eve showdown with the Patriots in Week 16.
The other game is a home Sunday afternoon showdown with the Chargers in Week 17. That game won’t be eligible for TNF, either, because Los Angeles is scheduled to play a road TNF game against the Raiders in Week 15, so the Chargers couldn’t play a second road TNF game in Denver.
Of course, if that LA-Las Vegas game is moved out of TNF, the Chargers would then be eligible to play the Broncos on TNF in a flexed game. Clear as mud, right?
As the schedule stands now, Denver is not currently eligible to have a game moved in or out of TNF lineup during the 2023 season. That could change, but it seems unlikely.
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