PHILADELPHIA (WIP/KYW Newsradio) — We’ve got our first Monday Night Football flex ever … and it has given the Birds another national TV appearance.
The NFL announced Thursday afternoon that it changed the MNF matchup for Week 15, moving Patriots-Chiefs out of the Monday night slot and moving Eagles-Seahawks, which was scheduled for 4:25 pm EST Sunday, into the MNF game.
Pats-Chiefs will instead air at 1 p.m. Sunday, and be televised on FOX, which was set to have Eagles-Seahawks.
The switch also makes the Birds’ trip to Seattle the second of three straight national games for Philly as they play the Cowboys on Sunday Night Football in Week 14 and then the Giants on Christmas Day, and their seventh overall in a solo window.
For Eagles fans, the flex means what was usually an all-day party has turned into a late night for people working the next day and for kids who have to get up early for school.
Fan Chris Kim, however, says this isn’t the first time his two young kids are staying up on a school night to watch their team in action.
"We let them stay up for the Eagles games. Don’t tell their teachers," said Kim. "But the season has been tough with all the late games, and they’ve been going to some of them too. They went last week and didn’t get home until midnight, or past midnight."
Scheduling changes don't matter to Kim's son Ethan, who says watching the games with his family is something that brings them together. "I just love our Birds," he said. "This is our thing and this is just a thing that I love, that our family loves."
Lifelong Eagles fan Tamz, from West Philly, says the schedule change could be a positive for the players.
"If it goes from a Sunday to a Monday, maybe it’s a little bit better because we get a little more rest," he speculated. "Maybe the guys get a little bit healthier, especially at this point in the season."
The Eagles, currently 10-1, are the top seed in the NFC as of now, and could have a playoff berth already wrapped up by the time Week 15 rolls around, while the 6-5 Seahawks are fighting to stay alive in the playoff hunt. They are currently sixth in the NFC, a half-game ahead of the idle Vikings – and will be rooting for Philly this weekend, hoping the Birds can take down the 49ers, whom they trail by two games in the NFC West.
Philly could also theoretically be playing for the division title in that Monday Night clash as well if the Birds can beat Dallas next weekend and complete a season sweep of the Cowboys.