Dec 17, 2022; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson (18) reacts to his catch during the fourth quarter against the Indianapolis Colts at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports.
If you made airline reservations to depart Minneapolis soon after the Minnesota Vikings’ game against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 9, it’s time to tweak them.
Originally scheduled for a noon CST start, the NFL flexed the Vikings’ showdown with Indianapolis to the primetime Sunday Night Football spot on November 3rd. The teams will now kick off at 7:20 pm CST on Sunday, November 3rd.
NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero tweeted Monday, one day after Minnesota lost its first game of 2024 to the Detroit Lions: “Flex! The Week 9 Indianapolis Colts at Minnesota Vikings game will move to Sunday Night Football on NBC. The Jacksonville Jaguars at Philadelphia Eagles game will be played at 4:05 p.m. ET on CBS.”
The switch now plops the Vikings into primetime for back-to-back weeks, as Minnesota will travel to Los Angeles this week for Thursday Night Football and follow that up with Sunday Night Football 10 days later.
On December 16th, Minnesota will host the Chicago Bears for Monday Night Football, so the primetimers have totaled three.
Why the flex? Simple — the Vikings are a hot ticket right now. The club is 5-1, ranks third overall per DVOA, and is trending toward the postseason. The Colts have a 4-3 record through seven games and rank 19th per the same DVOA metric. The league will have two teams in the time slots with .500 records or better.
Minnesota is due for a primetime victory, losing three in a row last season after toppling the San Francisco 49ers in Week 7. The Vikings lost night games to the Denver Broncos, Chicago Bears, and Green Bay Packers down the stretch of 2023. Many onlookers frequently criticized former quarterback Kirk Cousins in the past as Minnesota’s primetime culprit, but the purple team lost three in a row under the lights without him last year.
Kevin O’Connell’s team has an 88% of reaching the postseason in 2024 per DVOA, and that percentage did not dip much after the Week 7 loss. Indianapolis has a 40% shot per the same metric.
Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold said after the loss to Detroit, “It’s still early in the season. Obviously, Detroit is a good football team. Green Bay is a really good football team. Chicago is a good football team. We’re just going to continue to put our heads down and work. That’s all we know how to do.”
“We have a short week this week and got a lot of guys in there already recovering and getting ready for Thursday [against the Rams]. It’s a quick turnaround. We’ve just got to continue to – as we do all the time, but especially this week – put our heads down and move on to the next one,” he added.
Change your calendars for Week 9. If you show up at the originally scheduled time of noon, you’ll be tailgating all day.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.