Sports

Why is there no Thursday night NFL game this week?

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The final week of the NFL regular season is slightly different from the typical schedule football fans have become accustomed to over the first 17 weeks of play. 

First of all there’s no game on Thursday night, with Amazon Prime Video’s initial season — featuring announcers Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit — already complete.

The league doesn’t have a Thursday night game on the final week of the regular season because it doesn’t have any scheduling flexibility with those games, and it doesn’t want teams who could be competing for a playoff spot to have a short week of preparation.

However, the NFL does have two nationally televised Week 18 games on Saturday, both on ABC/ESPN.

The Kansas City Chiefs (13-3) are at the Las Vegas Raiders (6-10) at 4:30 p.m. ETThe Tennessee Titans (7-9) visit the Jacksonville Jaguars (7-9) at 8:15 p.m. ET

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The Chiefs have already clinched the AFC West division title and are currently a half-game ahead of the Buffalo Bills in the race for the conference’s top seed (and first-round playoff bye). However, Buffalo beat Kansas City during the regular season and would hold the tiebreaker if the two teams finish with identical records.

The AFC South title will be on the line when the Titans and Jaguars meet in Jacksonville, despite both teams sporting losing records. 

This post appeared first on USA TODAY