NFC North battle flexed to Sunday night as NFL adjusts regular-season finale

Ron Clements

NFC North battle flexed to Sunday night as NFL adjusts regular-season finale image

The Packers and Lions will be playing for the NFC North championship in primetime.

The New Year's Day game in Detroit originally scheduled for a 1 p.m. kickoff will now start at 8:30 p.m. ET, the NFL announced Sunday.

It will be Game 256, the final game of the 2016 regular season. Regardless of what happens in Detroit's game Monday night at Dallas (12-2), next Sunday's game between the Packers (9-6) and Lions (9-5) will decide the NFC North. 

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Two other games — and possibly a third — were moved. 

Two other 1 p.m. kicks have been moved to 4:25 p.m. ET. The Giants (10-5) and Redskins (8-6-1) game in Washington could have playoff implications and will get the late afternoon kickoff. Though the Falcons already have wrapped up the NFC South and the Saints (7-8) have been eliminated, their game at the Georgia Dome also was pushed back from 1 to 4:25. 

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The Seahawks (9-5-1) and Falcons (10-5) are battling for the No. 2 seed in the NFC. With the Seahawks playing a late game at San Francisco (2-13), the NFL wants the Falcons and Seahawks to play simultaneously. 

The kickoff time for New England's regular-season finale in Miami is contingent on the results of Sunday's games. It will start at 4:25 p.m. ET unless the Steelers (9-5) and Chiefs (10-4) win Sunday, in which case the Patriots-Dolphins game will remain at 1 p.m. ET. The Dolphins (9-5) hold the final wild-card spot in the AFC, a game ahead of the Ravens (8-6) and Broncos (8-6), the respective Sunday opponents for the Steelers and Chiefs. Losses by the Ravens and Broncos would eliminate them from playoff contention. 

Ron Clements