The NFL announced Monday that it will broadcast the Week 11 game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Chargers in California on NBC's “Sunday Night Football” at 8:20 p.m. ET. Because of this, the New York Jets now host the Indianapolis Colts outside of primetime at 1:00 p.m. ET on CBS.

In Jim Harbaugh's first season in Los Angeles, the Chargers (5-3) have bolstered one of the league's stingiest defenses and quarterback Justin Herbert has had a strong performance following the team's bye in Week 5. The Bengals (4-5) are fighting for a place in the playoffs, especially quarterback Joe Burrow and wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase.

The flexible play gives each team two consecutive primetime games against the Baltimore Ravens – Cincinnati plays Baltimore in Week 10 on “Thursday Night Football” and Los Angeles plays the Ravens in Week 12 on “Monday Night Football”.

Go deeper

Why Chargers rookie Tarheeb Still was a “gift from the football gods.”

This is the second Sunday Night Football flex of the season, the first coming in Week 9 when the Colts-Minnesota Vikings matchup was moved to prime time. This time, the Colts will be moved to a day game against a Jets team that has already played a full slate of games in 2024.

The NFL introduced flexible scheduling for “Sunday Night Football” in 2006. This process allows for high-impact Sunday night matchups every week and allows teams to play their way into prime-time games. In the 2024 season, this can also be used as a test for ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” and Amazon Prime’s “Thursday Night Football”. Only Sunday afternoon games can be moved to prime time slots.

In the case of Sunday Night Football, it may only be used twice in Weeks 5-10 and, at the NFL's discretion, in Weeks 11-17. From weeks 5 to 13 the change must be announced no later than 12 days before the game, while from weeks 14 to 17 the decision will be made no later than six days before the game. The Week 18 game will be determined at the end of Week 17.

Required reading

(Photo: Jason Miller/Getty Images)