The Denver Broncos have had one of their upcoming games 'flexed' into a new day and time later this season. For the first time, the NFL has flexed one of its games into Thursday Night Football.
The Broncos' Week 16 game against the Los Angeles Chargers – originally scheduled for Sunday, December 22 – will now take place on Thursday, December 19. The game will replace what was originally scheduled between the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals, which will now be shifted to that Sunday. It will be the Broncos' second Thursday night game this season, having defeated the New Orleans Saints 33-10 back in Week 7.
But that is where this move gets interesting.
Because it will be the second time the Broncos have had to place a Thursday night game on the road this season, the team had to sign off on the league's idea to reschedule it.
Broncos had to sign off on the Week 16 TNF flex, b/c it's their 2nd TNF road game. They were alerted Tuesday. Interesting element—Denver plays Cincinnati in Week 17 (X-mas week). Bengals got flexed out of TNF. So Denver gains the edge that the Bengals previously had for Week 17.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) November 22, 2024
This means that the Broncos chose to approve that decision, which is strange. It's a divisional road game against a team that they will be contending with for playoff positioning. This move gives the Broncos two fewer days to prepare for the Chargers, who they already lost to once this season.
The Broncos will get some extra rest before having to play the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 17. But in a critical spot on the schedule against a strong team, there doesn't seem to be one good reason why the Broncos didn't tell the league no when approached with this proposition.
It remains to be seen how this game will turn out, but if the Broncos come out sloppy in this one – as many road teams on Thursday nights do – it will be easy to second agreeing to have this game flexed.
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