The unexpectedly good form of AFC West rivals Denver and Los Angeles has prompted the NFL to make their Week 16 clash a major alteration to the schedule.

The league has confirmed that the game, due to take place at SoFi Stadium with the Chargers hosting the Broncos will now be played on Thursday night as part of Amazon’s

The switch, which relegates the planned primetime game between AFC North rivals Cincinnati and Cleveland back to the Sunday morass, is the first-ever to involve Thursday Night Football under revised procedures introduced in 2023. Under the new rules, up to two Thursday Night Football games between Weeks 13-17 can be flexed in order to provide the biggest spectacle for the opening slot of the weekend. The league is required to announce the decision 28 days before the Thursday game, hence the advance confirmation of the switch, which could easily inconvenience supporters of the four teams involved.

The Broncos (6-5) and Chargers (7-3) are both squarely in the AFC playoff picture, despite neither necessarily being considered as contenders at the end of 2023. The Browns (3-8) and Bengals (4-7), meanwhile, could both be on the outside looking in by the time Week 16 rolls around, despite Cleveland taking down Pittsburgh in Week 12’s TNF slot, ending their opponent’s five-game winning streak just as they did to Baltimore several weeks ago.

The Broncos, with rookie Bo Nix performing above expectation under center, will look forward to another Thursday Night Football appearance, having comprehensively beaten the New Orleans Saints on the road in Week 7. Denver are already slated to feature on Monday Night Football against the Browns in Week 13. It should be noted that the Broncos would have had to sign off on the switch, so they’re clearly not fazed by it. With their bye week coming late, in Week 14, they will host the Indianapolis Colts before travelling to Los Angeles and can use the week off to plan for two opponents simultaneously.

The Broncos had to sign off on their Week 16 game being flexed to Thursday Night Football because a team cannot be forced to play two Thursday Night road games in a season.

Sean Payton and the Broncos wanted this.

— Zac Stevens (@ZacStevensDNVR) November 22, 2024

Not everyone may be as delighted, however, and we’re not just talking about those fans having to rethink travel and accommodation plans. The Chargers had not been required to play on a Thursday night this season until today’s announcement, and will now face a potentially crucial matchup on short rest (admittedly an issue also facing their opponent). According to boltbeat.com, the switch makes perfect business sense for the league, which has ‘swapped out one divisional game that many thought would have playoff implications to another that actually will have playoff implications’, pointing out that, with no Thursday games on their original schedule, the Chargers were ‘an obvious candidate for this flex’. However, short week games have a tendency to promote injuries and, with the playoffs just a couple of weeks after the flexed fixture, the only saving grace may be that the Chargers are playing at home and will not incur additional penalties in terms of travelling.