This is the first season of the Crossover game in the NFL. While you won’t notice if you go to the stadium, you will notice if you watch on television.

As this is the first year of a new television contract, it means a change in flex scheduling that first came to the NFL in 2007. Previously, the league could move games starting in Week 11 on Sundays to improve the Sunday Night Football schedule. Occasionally, a game would be moved to the 4:25 p.m. ET window for either CBS or Fox, but the flex was instituted to benefit NBC’s Sunday Night Football schedule.

Now with the 2014 season marking the beginning of a new television contract among the networks, it marks a change to flex scheduling. The NFL can start flexing in Week 5, but can only do so twice through Week 10. Then in Week 11, the league can flex any game through the end of the season as it has since 2007.

The major change here is that the flex can now benefit CBS and Fox as well. It also means that traditional rules go out the window. It used to be that Sunday afternoon AFC games would be aired solely on CBS and NFC contests exclusively on Fox. And for interconference games, the “visiting” network would produce the broadcast so for instance, if Miami played at San Francisco, it was CBS’s property and if the reverse occurred, San Francisco at Miami, it was Fox’s.

This season, the NFL has allowed Crossover or “Cross flex” games, meaning CBS can air NFC games and Fox to show AFC games. There have been a few minor examples already this season. In Week 1, Buffalo at Chicago which would have been on CBS under the old rules was aired on Fox. In Week 2, Atlanta at Cincinnati which would have gone to Fox, went to CBS and in Week 4, Carolina at Baltimore was on CBS. Next week, Buffalo at Detroit which would have been on CBS will be on Fox.

This is being done to improve the schedules for CBS and Fox so one network won’t have all of the intriguing games for that week and also to ensure one won’t have more games than the other.

On Sunday, the NFL announced its first flex of the 2014 season and it will occur in Week 6 on October 12. The NFL is moving Chicago at Atlanta from 1 p.m. ET to the 4:25 p.m. national window. To replace that game at 1 p.m., the NFL is shifting New England at Buffalo from CBS to Fox. That’s correct, Fox will air New England at Buffalo so Fox stations in New England and Western New York will have the rare opportunity to broadcast the home team in their markets.

And with Fox taking Pats-Bills it means that CBS and Fox will have four games each in the early Sunday afternoon window.

This is how the updated schedule will look for Week 6:

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9 (WEEK 6)

(Byes: Kansas City, New Orleans)

INDIANAPOLIS AT HOUSTON 8:25 PM (ET) CBS/NFLN

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 12

GREEN BAY AT MIAMI 1:00 PM (ET) FOX
*NEW ENGLAND AT BUFFALO 1:00 PM (ET) FOX (formerly CBS)
CAROLINA AT CINCINNATI 1:00 PM (ET) FOX
PITTSBURGH AT CLEVELAND 1:00 PM (ET) CBS
DETROIT AT MINNESOTA 1:00 PM (ET) FOX
DENVER AT N.Y. JETS 1:00 PM (ET) CBS
BALTIMORE AT TAMPA BAY 1:00 PM (ET) CBS
JACKSONVILLE AT TENNESSEE 1:00 PM (ET) CBS
SAN DIEGO AT OAKLAND 4:05 PM (ET) CBS
WASHINGTON AT ARIZONA 4:25 PM (ET) FOX
*CHICAGO AT ATLANTA 4:25 PM (ET) from 1 p.m.
FOX
DALLAS AT SEATTLE 4:25 PM (ET) FOX
N.Y. GIANTS AT PHILADELPHIA 8:30 PM (ET) NBC

MONDAY, OCTOBER 13

SAN FRANCISCO AT ST. LOUIS 8:30 PM (CT) ESPN

If you’re wondering when CBS will air an NFC game, it’s slated to air Washington at San Francisco in Week 12 on November 23 at 4:25 p.m. and then Chicago at Detroit on Thanksgiving Day at 12:30 p.m. which for now will be the first all-NFC games on the network since 1994. There could be an all-NFC game moved to CBS before then.

It may be a shock at first to see all-AFC games on Fox and all-NFC games on CBS, but once the kickoff begins, fans will watch and forget about which network is televising the contest.

[NFL Communications]

About Ken Fang

Ken has been covering the sports media in earnest at his own site, Fang's Bites since May 2007 and at Awful Announcing since March 2013.

He provides a unique perspective having been an award-winning radio news reporter in Providence and having worked in local television.

Fang celebrates the four Boston Red Sox World Championships in the 21st Century, but continues to be a long-suffering Cleveland Browns fan.

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