Last year, "Thursday Night Football" made the change from the NFL Network to Amazon Prime, and there was some musical chairs of top commentators. A year later, prime-time games are undergoing yet another major change.
"Thursday Night Football" used to be every team's chance to get on prime time at least once as each team was set to play on Thursday exactly one time each. It often led to some uninteresting games, particularly relative to the "Sunday Night Football" and "Monday Night Football" games. Starting in 2023, however, teams can now appear on "TNF" twice during a season, assuring some teams will not have a single prime-time game.
There's also going to be a new day for an Amazon game, albeit not technically in prime time. In addition to the three Thanksgiving clashes, there will now be a game on Black Friday, giving fans four weekday games in the fourth week of November.
MORE: Best games on 2023 NFL schedule by team
Looking to see which games are getting the prime-time treatment in 2023? Here's what you need to know.
'Thursday Night Football' schedule 2023
- Start time: 8:20 p.m. ET
- Live stream: Amazon Prime Video
"Thursday Night Football" games return to Amazon Prime in 2023 after the inaugural season a year ago. The big difference heading into this season is that teams will be allowed to play on Thursday night twice as opposed to previous years where teams were only able to go once to ensure each team had an opportunity to play under the bright lights — which often led to less than optimal games.
This year, the Jets and Steelers each will make two Amazon national appearances, though one of the Jets' games is the 3 p.m. ET Black Friday showdown against the Dolphins.
Al Michaels is back in the booth calling play-by-play. He'll be joined by ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit, who will be providing color commentary.
| Week | Date | Matchup |
| 2 | Sept. 14 | Vikings at Eagles |
| 3 | Sept. 21 | Giants at 49ers |
| 4 | Sept. 28 | Lions at Packers |
| 5 | Oct. 5 | Bears at Commanders |
| 6 | Oct. 12 | Broncos at Chiefs |
| 7 | Oct. 19 | Jaguars at Saints |
| 8 | Oct. 26 | Buccaneers at Bills |
| 9 | Nov. 2 | Titans at Steelers |
| 10 | Nov. 9 | Panthers at Bears |
| 11 | Nov. 16 | Bengals at Ravens |
| 12 | Nov. 24 (Friday) | Dolphins at Jets |
| 13 | Nov. 30 | Seahawks at Cowboys |
| 14 | Dec. 7 | Patriots at Steelers |
| 15 | Dec. 14 | Chargers at Raiders |
| 16 | Dec. 21 | Saints at Rams |
| 17 | Dec. 28 | Jets at Browns |
'Sunday Night Football' schedule 2023
- Start time: 8:20 p.m. ET
- TV channel: NBC
- Live stream: NBCSports.com, Peacock, Fubo
The 2023 NFL season will once again kick off on a Thursday on "Sunday Night Football," plus an interesting schedule wrinkle in Week 16. With Christmas Eve falling on a Sunday, that week will feature an NBC doubleheader of sorts on Saturday, Dec. 23. The Bengals will visit the Steelers in the afternoon on NBC before the network produces a Bills-Chargers game in prime time that will air only on its streaming service, Peacock.
Last year saw Mike Tirico take over for Michaels on play-by-play, and he'll be back again calling games along with color commentator Cris Collinsworth. Melissa Stark will be reporting from the sidelines.
Viewers can watch the games on NBC or stream them through NBCSports.com, the NBC Sports app, Peacock or on Fubo, which offers a free trial.
| Week | Date | Matchup |
| 1 | Sept. 7 (Thurs.) | Lions at Chiefs |
| 1 | Sept. 10 | Cowboys at Giants |
| 2 | Sept. 17 | Dolphins at Patriots |
| 3 | Sept. 24 | Steelers at Raiders |
| 4 | Oct. 1 | Chiefs at Jets |
| 5 | Oct. 8 | Cowboys at 49ers |
| 6 | Oct. 15 | Giants at Bills |
| 7 | Oct. 22 | Dolphins at Eagles |
| 8 | Oct. 29 | Bears at Chargers |
| 9 | Nov. 5 | Bills at Bengals |
| 10 | Nov. 12 | Jets at Raiders |
| 11 | Nov. 19 | Vikings at Broncos |
| 12 | Nov. 23 (Thanksgiving) | 49ers at Seahawks |
| 12 | Nov. 26 | Ravens at Chargers |
| 13 | Dec. 3 | Chiefs at Packers |
| 14 | Dec. 10 | Eagles at Cowboys |
| 15 | Dec. 17 | Ravens at Jaguars |
| 16 | Dec. 23 (Saturday, 4:30 p.m.) | Bengals at Steelers |
| 16 | Dec. 23 (Saturday, 8 p.m.) | Bills at Chargers (Peacock only) |
| 17 | Dec. 31 | Packers at Vikings |
| 18 | Jan. 7 | TBD |
The Week 16 game between the Patriots and Broncos will be broadcast on NFL Network, as NBC will host a Saturday afternoon game one day earlier on its streaming service, Peacock.
'Monday Night Football' schedule 2023
- Start time: 8:15 p.m. ET
- TV channel: ESPN
- Live stream: ESPN app, ESPN+, Fubo
Joe Buck and Troy Aikman are back for a second year on ESPN calling play-by-play and providing analysis, respectively, after their first season away from Fox in 2022.
ESPN will once again double down on "Monday Night Football" in Week 2, but this year will also do the same in Week 3 and Week 11 with one clash on ESPN and the other on ABC. The rest of the year, the Monday games will be carried by ESPN and can be streamed on the ESPN app, through ESPN+ or with Fubo, which offers a free trial.
Select Monday games will also feature the alternate Manningcast broadcast on ESPN2 that will feature brothers Peyton and Eli Manning calling games.
| Week | Date | Matchup |
| 1 | Sept. 11 | Bills at Jets |
| 2 | Sept. 18 (7:15 p.m., ESPN) | Saints at Panthers |
| 2 | Sept. 18 (8:15 p.m., ABC) | Browns at Steelers |
| 3 | Sept. 25 (7:15 p.m., ABC) | Rams at Bengals |
| 3 | Sept. 25 (8:15 p.m., ESPN) | Eagles at Buccaneers |
| 4 | Oct. 2 | Seahawks at Giants |
| 5 | Oct. 9 | Packers at Raiders |
| 6 | Oct. 16 | Cowboys at Chargers |
| 7 | Oct. 23 | 49ers at Vikings |
| 8 | Oct. 30 | Raiders at Lions |
| 9 | Nov. 6 | Chargers at Jets |
| 10 | Nov. 13 | Broncos at Bills |
| 11 | Nov. 20 | Eagles at Chiefs |
| 12 | Nov. 27 | Bears at Vikings |
| 13 | Dec. 4 | Bengals at Jaguars |
| 14 | Dec. 11 (8:15 p.m., ABC) | Packers at Giants |
| 14 | Dec. 11 (8:15 p.m., ESPN) | Titans at Dolphins |
| 15 | Dec. 18 | Eagles at Seahawks |
| 16 | Dec. 25 | Ravens at 49ers |
| 17 | Dec. 30 | Lions at Cowboys |
| 18 | Jan. 6 (4:30 p.m., ESPN/ABC) | TBD |
| 18 | Jan. 6 (8:15 p.m., ESPN/ABC) | TBD |
NFL teams with most prime-time games in 2023
The Chiefs and Cowboys each lead the way with six prime-time games. Nine other teams have five prime-time games.
The Jets, whose last "Sunday Night Football" appearance came in 2011, have five prime-time games after the arrival of Aaron Rodgers, while the Raiders were interestingly given five prime-time games despite their struggles last season.
Here's a look at which teams have at least five prime-time games.
| Team | Games |
| Chiefs | 6 |
| Cowboys | 6 |
| Bills | 5 |
| Jets | 5 |
| Chargers | 5 |
| Raiders | 5 |
| Eagles | 5 |
| Giants | 5 |
| Packers | 5 |
| Vikings | 5 |
| 49ers | 5 |
NFL teams with no prime-time games in 2023
Revised scheduling rules for this season no longer require each team to play in a prime-time game. Four teams fell victim to the new rule: The Colts, Texans, Falcons, and Cardinals.
Rookie QBs C.J. Stroud and Anthony Richardson won't get a chance to play under the lights, barring a flexed game late in the season, though Richardson will play in a standalone game in Germany if he is the Colts' starter.
The Falcons arguably have the highest expectations of any team shut out of prime time. While QB Desmond Ridder is a question mark, Atlanta took major steps to improve its roster and is playing in a wide-open NFC South.
The Cardinals have low expectations after hiring a new regime to lead the franchise. With Kyler Murray set to miss a portion of the season, Arizona is at serious risk of falling to the bottom of the NFC.
