Falcons-Panthers game kickoff time moved

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- As the Falcons continue to shine on the field, the NFL has taken notice.

The League announced today that the Sunday, November 23 game between the Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons at the Georgia Dome has been moved to a 4:15 p.m. EST start time and will be featured nationally as part of Fox Sports' doubleheader coverage. The original kickoff time for this game was 1 p.m. ET.

The NFL has routinely moved compelling games between 1:00 p.m. ET and 4:15 p.m. ET on Sunday afternoons to ensure national coverage.

In 2006, the NFL implemented for the first time in its history a primetime "flexible scheduling" element on Sundays in Weeks 10-15 and in Week 17. Flexible scheduling ensured quality matchups on Sunday night in those weeks and gave surprise teams a chance to play their way onto primetime.

The 2008 NFL schedule will again utilize flexible scheduling in Weeks 11-17. The NBC Sunday night time slot for "flex" weeks will list the game tentatively scheduled for Sunday night.

Only Sunday afternoon games are eligible to be moved to Sunday night, in which case the tentatively scheduled Sunday night game will be moved to an afternoon start time. Flexible scheduling will not be applied to games airing on Thursday, Saturday or Monday nights.

Just as the six major college football conferences have done for many years, the NFL will have the flexibility to move the start times of games on Sundays, using a 12-day notice format.

For example, a game scheduled for a Sunday could move from a 1:00 p.m. ET kickoff to an 8:15 p.m. start, but the change would be made and announced no later than the prior Tuesday, 12 days prior.

Sunday afternoon games, as in the past, can still be moved between 1:00 and 4:05 or 4:15 p.m. ET; this is the case with the November 23 Panthers-Falcons contest.

In Week 17, in order to ensure a Sunday night game with playoff implications, the decision to move the start time may be made on six days notice.

For more information regarding the NFL's flexible scheduling, visit the Flexible Scheduling 101 section on NFL.com.