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No Thursday Night Football in Week 18 as NFL Shifts Finale to Saturday and Sunday

The league left Thursday empty to avoid short-rest games under post-Week 16 limits on TNF flexing.

Overview

  • There is no Thursday game this week; Week 18 opens Saturday with Panthers at Buccaneers at 4:30 p.m. ET, followed by Seahawks at 49ers in prime time.
  • The Sunday night finale features the Ravens at the Steelers with the AFC North title and the No. 4 seed on the line.
  • The NFL waited until last Sunday night to lock in Week 18 dates and times to place the highest-stakes matchups in national windows.
  • League rules allow Thursday flexing only between Weeks 14 and 16, a constraint used to avoid playoff-impact games on short rest.
  • Amazon finished its regular-season TNF slate on Christmas and will carry a wild-card game on Prime Video with Al Michaels, Kirk Herbstreit and Kaylee Hartung when the playoffs begin Jan. 10–12.