The first meeting between the current and former Washington quarterback has flex appeal.
The Week 17 game with playoff ramifications between the Kirk Cousins-led Atlanta Falcons and the Washington Commanders with offensive rookie of the year favorite Jayden Daniels has been moved to the Sunday night slot on Dec. 29.
The NBC telecast will kick off at 8:20 p.m. ET from Northwest Stadium in Landover, Md., replacing the original game, Miami Dolphins at Cleveland Browns. Miami and Cleveland will play at 4:05 p.m. ET that day.
The league also flexed three games into a Saturday tripleheader on Dec. 28:
In the “Sunday Night Football” tilt, both teams will still be vying for playoff spots.
Both are also coming off of road wins decided on the game’s final play. At 9-5, Washington holds the NFC’s third and final wild-card spot following Sunday’s 20-19 tense victory at the New Orleans Saints.
The Commanders maintain a one-game lead over the Seattle Seahawks (8-6), followed by the Cardinals and Falcons at 7-7.
Washington, winners of two straight games, is also one back of the Green Bay Packers (10-4), the No. 2 wild-card team. The Rams (8-6) hold the division tiebreaker over Seattle.
Atlanta, alive in the NFC South division race, snapped a four-game losing streak in Monday night’s 15-9 win at the Las Vegas Raiders. The Falcons sit one game behind the division-leading Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8-6).
More flex scheduling news. Week 17 from @nfl345 pic.twitter.com/yTsLhlP6kC
— Brian McCarthy (@NFLprguy) December 17, 2024
Cousins has passed for 3,508 yards with 18 touchdown passes this season, but has one touchdown pass and nine interceptions over his last five games.
Daniels completed 25 of 31 pass attempts and threw two touchdown passes to Terry McLaurin against the Saints. He then watched a potential game-winning two-point conversion by New Orleans with no time remaining land incomplete as Washington clinched its first winning record since 2016. Daniels, the No. 2 selection in April’s draft, has 17 touchdown passes to six interceptions with 3,045 passing yards and 656 yards with six touchdowns on the ground.
The sensational rookie is the latest in a 20-plus year search for a long-term answer at quarterback. One of the more stable periods occurred from 2015 to 2017, when Cousins took over the starting role before signing a free-agent deal with the Vikings. This is also a reunion for Washington coach Dan Quinn, who led Atlanta to the Super Bowl in 2017 only for the Falcons to blow a 28-3 lead in a 34-28 loss to the Patriots.
Atlanta hosts the New York Giants this Sunday and Washington plays at home against the conference-leading Philadelphia Eagles.
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(Photo: Kara Durrette / Getty Images)
