For 2024, the Pittsburgh Steelers are featured in four primetime games this season. But there’s no guarantee that’s how many they end up with. As posted by Twitter user René Bugner, two Steelers’ primetime games could be flexed out at the league’s discretion.
The two are: the Steelers Sunday night Week 5 game against the Dallas Cowboys and the team’s Sunday night Week 7 contests against the New York Jets. Both are at home.
NFL Flexible Scheduling | 2024 season
The list of all NFL prime-time games from week 5 to 17 that can potentially be flexed. pic.twitter.com/uh6kBqEzGA
— René Bugner (@RNBWCV) May 19, 2024
The two games aren’t on Pittsburgh’s flex list are the Monday night Week 8 game against the New York Giants and the Thursday Week 12 game against the Cleveland Browns. Of the four, only the Browns’ game is on the road, a small but bonus for the Steelers’ otherwise gauntlet of a schedule.
The league has expanded flex rules in recent years to avoid lackluster matchups, though there’s restraints and hesitancy to frequently pull those levers.
The reason why the Thursday night game can’t be flexed is a provision that allows the NFL to only flex Thursday night games from Weeks 13-17 (there are no Thursday night games in Week 18, which would potentially allow a Wild Card team extra rest over everyone else). And Monday night games can only be flexed Week 12-17, meaning the Steelers’ Week 8 contest isn’t eligible. The NFL began allowing Monday night contests to be flexed beginning in 2023. There must be advanced warning in both cases, Monday and Thursday, the latter needing at least 28 days notice, a compromise needed to gain owner approval. Steelers’ President Art Rooney II came out against the idea of flexing games. The NFL gave Pittsburgh two of them last season, though neither were flexed in or out.
Of course, it’s possible a Steelers’ non-primetime game could be flexed in depending on their success and the matchup. For example, the Philadelphia Eagles-Seattle Seahawks Week 15 game was flexed to Monday night, replacing the Kansas City Chiefs-New England Patriots, shifted to Sunday at 1 PM/EST. The NFL’s gamble paid off, the Seahawks scoring the winning touchdown with less than 30 seconds left, making for one of the most exciting games of the season.
While not technically primetime, the Steelers also play the Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas Day. That game will kick off at 1 PM/EST. While the NFL said they considered making that a primetime slot, the Chiefs’ already heavy primetime schedule and the loss of international viewers had it been a night game convinced the league to play it in the afternoon. For the first time on Netflix, the league doesn’t want to cut out any potential market.
Flex possibilities are a footnote on anyone’s schedule. And for a Steelers’ 18-week slate that looks like climbing Mount Everest, discussing which games might be flexed is like complaining about snow in your shoe. But while unlikely, it’s a note to file away once the season gets going.
