Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott made it clear how he feels about the Ravens’ game against the Miami Dolphins at M&T Bank Stadium on Dec. 31 and what time he would like it to be played.
“I’ve told any and everybody that we want it on @SNFonNBC because that’s where it belongs!” Scott posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Tuesday in response to a claim that Scott and Police Commissioner Richard Worley approached the team and the league about keeping the game in the afternoon because of security concerns. “While they’re at it, they can go ahead flex the final game against [Pittsburgh] too. We want the smoke!”
However, the NFL will not be “flexing” the 1 p.m. game to Sunday night, or a later time slot, a source with direct knowledge of the decision confirmed to The Baltimore Sun on Thursday.
The league had up until six days before the game to make the change, which meant an announcement could have come, at the latest, after the Ravens-San Francisco 49ers game on Monday night. But that decision has already been made.
The Miami Herald first reported the news.
Currently, the Ravens (11-3) and Dolphins (10-4) have the top two records in the AFC, and the Week 17 game could be for the coveted top seed in the conference, which comes with the first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. That would make it an appealing game for a Sunday night audience on NBC.
However, it also would have meant a third-straight prime-time game for the Ravens, who played on Sunday night against the Jacksonville Jaguars and will play on Christmas night against the 49ers.
It’s also possible CBS chose to protect the game. With the Kansas City Chiefs-Cincinnati Bengals game already slated for 4:25 p.m. on the network, it would be attractive to keep its lineup as is given the playoff implications of that game — and the likelihood of a Taylor Swift appearance in Kansas City spilling into the evening hours.
Either way, that means the current Sunday night game that week will stay as is with the 7-7 Vikings taking on the 6-8 Green Bay Packers in Minnesota.
Moving the game to Sunday night also would have presented some complications locally. Notably, it would coincide with the city’s New Year’s Eve festivities that are slated to begin at 8 p.m. with live music at the Inner Harbor Amphitheater and conclude with a fireworks and drone show.
