NFL sets Week 18 schedule: Chargers-Raiders as 'SNF' finale with Chiefs-Broncos, Cowboys-Eagles on Saturday – USA TODAY
The NFL has set its schedule for its first ever Week 18 of the regular season.
The Los Angeles Chargers and Las Vegas Raiders will close out the campaign on “Sunday Night Football” at 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC with a win-and-in game for one of the two remaining playoff slots in the AFC.
The Chargers scored a 28-14 win over the Raiders in the two AFC West foes’ first meeting in October.
The league has also moved two other contests to Saturday slots.
The Kansas City Chiefs will hit the road to face the Denver Broncos at 4:30 p.m. ET. The Chiefs currently stand as the No. 2 seed in the AFC after falling to the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, but Kansas City still has a chance to seize home-field advantage in the AFC. The Broncos, meanwhile, have already been eliminated from the postseason race. Denver has the second-longest active playoff drought in the NFL at six seasons, trailing only the New York Jets.
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The Dallas Cowboys will then face the Philadelphia Eagles at 8:15 p.m. ET. The Cowboys have already clinched the NFC East, but are looking to improve their seeding for wild-card weekend after Sunday’s loss to the Arizona Cardinals sent them from the No. 2 slot to No. 4. The Eagles, meanwhile, also sealed a spot in the postseason on Sunday thanks to their own win over the Washington Football Team as well as victories by the San Francisco 49ers and Green Bay Packers.
Both Saturday games will be broadcast on ESPN and ABC.
Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz on Twitter @MikeMSchwartz.
