NFL punts Eagles, Commanders out of prime time Week 16

The NFL is punting the Eagles and Commanders Week 16 clash out of prime time.

The league announced Tuesday that it's flexing the game between the Bears and Packers at Solider Field on Saturday, Dec. 20, into the 8:20 p.m. time slot and moving the last year's NFC Championship game rematch between the Eagles and Commanders at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Md., into the rare 5 p.m. kickoff slot.

Those are the only two NFL games on that Saturday and both will be carried by Fox.

There's plenty of national allure to see the Bears, who beat the Eagles on Black Friday to improve to 9-3 and jump into the NFC's top seed, play their NFC North rivals, the Packers, who at 8-3-1 can still overtake the Bears to win the NFC North and also grab the No. 1 seed.

The Eagles (8-4) are losers of two straight but can still win the NFC East and get the No. 1 seed in the NFC, but the Commanders (3-9) can only play the role of spoilers. They're on a seven-game losing streak although they just lost in overtime to an excellent Broncos team, 27-26, in prime time Sunday night.

Interestingly, the NFL and NCAA will be competing for an audience that day, as three first-round college football playoffs games are also slated that day – kickoffs at noon, 3:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.

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