Perhaps the top flex candidate for much of the season has officially been moved out of Sunday Night Football.
On Monday, the NFL announced that it would flex a Week 16 matchup between the Cincinnati Bengals and Miami Dolphins out of NBC’s Sunday Night Football window in favor of a game between the New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens.
Flex: Patriots-Ravens has moved into the week 16 Sunday night slot and Bengals-Dolphins has moved out.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 8, 2025
The Week 16 game between the Bengals and Dolphins looked destined for a flex the minute quarterback Joe Burrow went down with a long-term injury in Week 2. While Burrow’s recent return has certainly made the Bengals a more competitive team, a tough loss to the Bills on Sunday dropped Cincy to 4-9 and firmly out of the playoff hunt.Miami, for its part, has staged a nice mid-season comeback, having won its last four games. However, sitting several games out of a potential Wild Card slot at 6-7, the Dolphins also don’t look likely for a postseason bid.
On the other hand, both the Patriots and Ravens will still be playing meaningful football come Week 16. The Patriots currently stand two games clear of the Bills in the AFC East and are firmly in the picture for a first-round bye. And the Ravens are still in a heated divisional battle with the Steelers, sitting just one game out of first place in the AFC North.
This is precisely the type of situation that flex scheduling is meant for: placing nationally relevant games into nationally televised windows, and minimizing the number of irrelevant games that go out to national audiences.
As a result of the shift, Bengals-Dolphins will now be played at 1 p.m. ET.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.