Patriots-Steelers won't be flexed out of Thursday Night Football in Week 14

BOSTON -- The New England Patriots played in front of an international audience on Sunday. They scored six points. The team did not put forth an incredibly entertaining product, and with a 2-8 record and questions about who the starting quarterback might be going forward, it's unlikely to get better.

As such, there's been plenty of wondering in the football world if some of those prime-time games in December might get flexed out of the national windows in order to draw more viewers to the television. But for at least one of them, there won't be a change.

ESPN's Mike Reiss confirmed Monday that the Week 14 Thursday Night Football game featuring the Patriots at the Pittsburgh Steelers will not be moved out of the slot.

This year marks the first year that the NFL can flex games out of Thursday slots, though the decision must be made four weeks in advance in order to allow everyone as much time as possible to adapt to the game moving to Sunday. With the Patriots and Steelers scheduled to play Dec. 7, Reiss astutely noted that less than 28 days remain until that game kicks off.

Like the Patriots, the 6-3 Steelers have one of the worst offenses in the league, but Amazon and the NFL decided there's enough appeal in the two franchises to draw in a solid audience. Other games that could have been appealing to swap in for Pats-Steelers were few and far between, though the Chargers at Ravens and Seahawks at 49ers at least presented some intriguing options. Last year, the Patriots outlasted the Steelers 17-14 in a game that wasn't heavy on scoring but featured eight combined punts and four field-goal attempts.

That game kicks off a three-week stretch where the Patriots play in prime time. 

In Week 15, they'll travel to Denver to face the Broncos on Christmas Eve. With that game set to air on NFL Network, it's not eligible to be flexed out like a normal Sunday Night Football game on NBC would be.

And in Week 16, they'll host the Chiefs on Monday Night Football. That game is still eligible to be flexed, and the NFL must make a decision 12 days prior to Dec. 18. But with Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and ... Taylor Swift in the mix, it's unlikely that ESPN would opt to take the Chiefs out of a prime-time window, no matter who the opponent may be.

The other three scheduled Patriots games -- at the Giants in Week 12, home vs. the Chargers in Week 13, at Buffalo in Week 17 -- are all scheduled for Sunday 1 p.m. kickoffs. The Patriots' Week 18 home date with the Jets remains TBD, though with both teams under .500, it looks to be a safe bet to be a Sunday 1 p.m. start as well.