NFL shifts kickoff time for Broncos-Texans game

Usually, games get moved to the late-afternoon broadcast window to reach a wider audience. But Broncos-Texans will be moved from it for the same purpose.

The Week 13 game originally set to take place at 2:05 p.m. MST will now kick off at 11 a.m. MST — noon CST — at Houston’s NRG Stadium. CBS will remain the broadcast network airing the contest.

Both teams recently emerged into playoff contention after sluggish starts. Houston opened the season 0-2 and sat at 3-4 following a 15-13 loss to previously winless Carolina before reeling off three-consecutive wins, defeating Tampa Bay, Cincinnati and Arizona.

Houston now sits in the No. 6 spot in the AFC playoff race, tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers at 6-4. The Texans win a head-to-head tiebreaker over Pittsburgh.

The Broncos, meanwhile, started 1-5 before a four-game winning streak vaulted them back into the AFC postseason conversation. They sit 10th in the AFC playoff race, one game back of Houston and Pittsburgh and a half-game behind 6-5 Buffalo, which rests at 6-5. Denver currently trails No. 9 team Indianapolis by virtue of a conference-record tiebreaker.

Denver’s conference record of 2-4 does not put them in favorable position for postseason tiebreakers if they reach that level, making head-to-head results critical. The Broncos already have a win over Buffalo in their pocket, but absorbed a Week 1 defeat to Las Vegas, which currently sits a half-game back of the Broncos at 5-6, having not yet had its bye week.

OTHER GAMES FACTORED INTO MOVING BRONCOS-TEXANS

Getting the Broncos-Texans game to a wider audience was a factor in the NFL’s decision. And with the San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles scheduled for a FOX television broadcast of their late-afternoon duel, a Broncos-Texans game airing on CBS during the late-afternoon window would have seen a scant audience.

Broncos-Texans is one of four games to air on CBS in the early-afternoon window Dec. 3. But the other contests on the network in that window are Colts-Titans, Chargers-Patriots and Cardinals-Steelers. Just one of the six teams involved in those games currently has a winning record: the 6-4 Steelers.

Thus, the Broncos game will be the primary CBS game, going to much of the nation. This allows CBS to spotlight not only the emerging Broncos, but Houston quarterback C.J. Stroud.

Houston does not have a prime-time game on its schedule, so this will be the largest audience yet to witness Stroud as a pro.

The NFL also moved the Carolina-Tampa Bay game to the 2:05 p.m. MST start time to make sure it had a late game for TV-contract purposes.

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