There won't be many games to be flexed Thursday Night Football, but the chances of it happening have grown with the latest rule change. The NFL used to have to make the decision on whether or not to flex a game to Thursday Night Football essentially a month before the game, 28 days to be exact. That notice has been amended to 21 days in advance. With more time to deliberate, the league should feel more confident about which games to flex.
There's a limitation on when and how frequently the league can make this decision. The NFL can make this switch twice a season, and only between Week 13 and Week 17. In the two years they've had this at their disposal, the only switch was swapping Cincinnati Bengals versus Cleveland Browns for the Los Angeles Chargers versus Denver Broncos. That's the entire point of the switch.
Games played on Thursday night have a terrible stigma for being low quality. All Thursday night games are aired on Amazon Prime, and are the only game of the day. You don't want one of your primetime games to be viewed as skippable on a consistent basis, especially not at the end of the season when games mean even more.
You've seen the NFL put more effort into their scheduling, but the season doesn't always pan out the way we thought it would before the season. Dropping the notice from 28 days to 21 days gives the league a better grasp on the trajectory of teams. Making a switch a month in advance is a bit risky, unless the game is between two of the better teams in the league.
Though the notice is just a week later, it gives the NFL a better chance to ensure they're putting quality games on Prime Video. That's important from an entertainment standpoint, as well as satisfying a lucrative sponsor.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: NFL lowering notice to flex TNF from 28 to 21 days prior
