The NFL has unveiled its full 18-week slate for the upcoming 2023 regular season, so every team in the league now knows its path forward. For some, that path includes a large number of games in front of the entire country as they've been slotted inside a prime-time window on either Thursday, Sunday, or Monday night. However, there are also teams that the NFL isn't putting on that high of a pedestal at this point. Four teams were not given a single prime-time game this season: Colts, Cardinals, Texans, and Falcons.
What do these teams have in common? They were all inside the top 10 of the NFL Draft just a few weeks ago, meaning that they weren't particularly competitive in 2022. Combined, these teams went 18-48-2 last season and it doesn't seem like the league is expecting that to change much this coming year.
While none one of these teams is currently slated to have a prime-time game, that doesn't necessarily mean that they won't end up there. The NFL does have the ability to flex games throughout the year. For "Sunday Night Football" a team can be flexed up to prime-time twice between Weeks 5-10. From Weeks 11-17, the NFL can flex teams at their discretion. On top of Sunday night, the NFL has added the ability to flex "Monday Night Football" games from Weeks 12-17 this year as well. So, if any one of these teams finds itself in a playoff push or is in a high-profile game, it could end up in a national window.
The Colts and Texans are an intriguing watch this season after both of these franchises selected quarterbacks inside the top five of the NFL Draft. Houston selected former Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud No. 2 overall and Indy brought aboard Florida's Anthony Richardson with the No. 4 pick. If one or both of these players burst onto the scene as a rookie, it could draw the attention of a national audience. As for the Cardinals, they are a team in a transition phase as they bring in first-year head coach Jonathan Gannon and have quarterback Kyler Murray still recovering from his torn ACL, so it's not surprising to see the NFL not propping them up at this point.
Meanwhile, the Falcons are arguably the most interesting team of this bunch that is without a prime-time game. Atlanta's win total for the 2023 season is currently set at eight wins at Caesars Sportsbook, which is much higher than these three other clubs and higher than teams like the Bears and Patriots that have multiple prime-time windows. Of course, Chicago and New England bring with them a bigger audience given their storied history, but from a football standpoint, there's a case to be made that the Falcons should have at least one game in front of the country. They are currently second in the odds to win the NFC South at +260 behind the Saints (+115). If they are knotted up in the standings late in the year, it wouldn't be shocking to see the NFL flex them into prime-time.
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