NFL schedule change: Cowboys/Giants at 1 PM ET in Week 17, Washington visits Eagles on primetime

We have just about reached the final week of the 2020 regular season for the National Football League and, amazingly, the Dallas Cowboys are in the hunt for the NFC East title. While the Cowboys are in the mix for their fourth division crown in the last seven seasons, they are not in the driver’s seat. Dallas needs to beat the New York Giants in Week 17 and have the Philadelphia Eagles take down the Washington Football Team if they want to win the NFC East.

In case you were unaware, the NFL schedules purely divisional games in Week 17 so as to induce as much drama as possible in the regular-season finale given that divisions, like the NFC East in this case, are sometimes on the line. The league also leaves the exact time that games will be played up to determination following Week 16 so as to get the most action in the most watched spots.

There was thought that the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns could wind up in the Week 17 Sunday Night Football slot for an AFC North battle if things had come to that, but they did not as the Steelers have already won that division. It appears as if the most appealing game in the NFL’s eyes is indeed Washington and Philadelphia as the former has a win-and-in scenario while the latter has one of the league’s rising figures in quarterback Jalen Hurts.

The Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants will play at 1 PM ET like they did in 2018 when their game was inconsequential as the Cowboys had already locked up the East. Assuming Dallas wins, which we must assume in order to find a path for Dallas to win this thing, they will have to wait about seven or so hours to know their fate as it will hang in the balance of their other two divisional foes.

Get ready to watch some football next week. A lot of it.