The 2023 NFL schedule is out. Check out which teams will receive the primetime spotlight on NBC’s Sunday Night Football package.
While there is a lot of primetime love to go around on the NFL Schedule, the cream of the crop play on NBC’s Sunday Night Football. The package became the league’s marquee showcase in 2006 thanks to the advent of flex scheduling, allowing the NFL to remove matchups that got significantly worse from the date of the schedule release in exchange for games that improved in quality.
NBC will get the league’s most interesting teams at least three times, including the reigning Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs, Dallas Cowboys, and Philadelphia Eagles. The Sunday night stage also lets the NFL showcase the league’s best quarterbacks to expect to see plenty of Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets, Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills, Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals as well as Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens.
Who will play on Sunday Night Football In 2023?
The full Sunday night schedule will be released later today and this post will be updated with all the games, which includes the NFL’s kickoff game and its Thanksgiving night broadcast. Flex scheduling will be in effect from Week 10-Week 17, excluding Week 16 since it involves Christmas, and Week 18’s Game 272 will be selected at the conclusion of Week 17 to ensure it involves the contest with the most meaningful playoff implications.
Two games have been officially announced so far, including the kickoff game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Detroit Lions. The reigning Super Bowl champions traditionally host the first game of the following season to raise their banner but the inclusion of the Lions is interesting since the NFL clearly believes they are going to be a team of great interest this season.
The other officially confirmed game involves the Dallas Cowboys traveling to Santa Clara in Week 5 to take on the San Francisco 49ers in a key NFC showdown. The squads have met in the playoffs each of the past two years with San Francisco winning at home in 2022 and on the road in 2021.
A few other games have been leaked by beat reporters, including a Patriots-Dolphins game at Foxboro in Week 2 that will allow New England to celebrate Tom Brady’s retirement. Green Bay reportedly has a pair of Sunday night games, hosting the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 13 and traveling to take on the Minnesota Vikings in Week 17. Both of those games are in the flex window, giving the NFL some flexibility in the event that Jordan Love isn’t able to keep the Packers relevant.
The last leak right now involves Week 1’s Sunday night opener, which involves Dallas heading to New York to take on the Giants. This is something of a tradition as NBC has had the Dallas/New York opener quite a bit over the years.