Patriots vs. Dolphins moved to late time slot in Week 18

The final week of an NFL season always features games changing timeslots as the league looks to put key games with playoff implications into primetime and move around the afternoon games. This year, one of the games that got moved between the early slot and the late slot on Sunday afternoon was the New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins game.

Originally slotted for a 1 p.m. Eastern kickoff, the game will now be a 4:25 p.m. game. The switch to the later time slot is part of the league’s balancing of early and late games, while making sure there is not a competitive balance issue between games. The Patriots are still competing with the Buffalo Bills for the AFC East championship. The Bills host the New York Jets on Sunday, with a simultaneous kickoff as the Patriots at Dolphins game.

The full Week 18 schedule is:

Saturday, Jan. 8

• Kansas City Chiefs at Denver Broncos, 4:30 p.m. ET - ESPN
• Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles, 8:15 p.m. ET - ESPN

Sunday, Jan. 9

• Pittsburgh Steelers at Baltimore Ravens, 1 p.m. ET
• Cincinnati Bengals at Cleveland Browns, 1 p.m. ET
• Green Bay Packers at Detroit Lions, 1 p.m. ET
• Chicago Bears at Minnesota Vikings, 1 p.m. ET
• Tennessee Titans at Houston Texans, 1 p.m. ET
• Indianapolis Colts at Jacksonville Jaguars, 1 p.m. ET
• Washington Football Team at New York Giants, 1 p.m. ET
• Seattle Seahawks at Arizona Cardinals, 4:25 p.m. ET
• San Francisco 49ers at Los Angeles Rams, 4:25 p.m. ET
• New Orleans Saints at Atlanta Falcons, 4:25 p.m. ET
• Carolina Panthers at Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 4:25 p.m. ET
• New York Jets at Buffalo Bills, 4:25 p.m. ET
• New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins, 4:25 p.m. ET
• Los Angeles Chargers at Las Vegas Raiders, 8:20 p.m. ET