Wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald and the Cardinals will now play the Cincinnati Bengals on "Sunday Night Football" on Nov. 22.
Halfway through the NFL season, the Cardinals are 6-2 and the Bengals are 7-0. It makes their matchup a premier one later this month at University of Phoenix Stadium.
That goes for the national audience too. Monday, the Nov. 22 game was officially "flexed" to NBC's "Sunday Night Football" with a 6:30 p.m. kickoff, instead of its original 2:05 p.m. start time. The original "Sunday Night Football"
telecast was supposed to be San Diego against Kansas City.
It means the Cardinals will play on NBC's showcase back-to-back weeks, with the game at Seattle Nov. 15 also to be a "Sunday Night Football" telecast. The Cardinals are only the seventh team to be featured on "Sunday Night Football" in back-to-back weeks since NBC got the broadcast in 2006. Most recently, that was the Philadelphia Eagles in the final two weeks of 2013.
On the current NBC incarnation of the Sunday night games, the Cardinals have played four times. The first three came in 2009, the year after the team made the Super Bowl. They had a home game against the Colts and a road game against the Giants on the original Sunday night schedule, and then were "flexed" on their home game against the Vikings.
Last season, the home game against the Seahawks was picked for Sunday night and the NFC West title was on the line. But injuries had forced third-string Ryan Lindley in at quarterback, and the Cardinals lost, 35-6.
The only other time the Bengals have visited University of Phoenix Stadium, it was also for a "Sunday Night Football" telecast, although that was a preseason game in August, 2014.
While the Cards only have the game against the Seahawks between now and the game against the Bengals, Cincinnati will play home games against the Browns and Texans, in which both the Bengals will be favored.
