More relevant in the second half of the season than the TV networks predicted months ago, the Bears will be moved to prime time in two weeks.
NBC decided on Monday to flex the team’s Nov. 18 home game against the Vikings to 7:20 p.m. The Bears will appear on “Sunday Night Football” after originally being scheduled for a noon game on Fox.
The Vikings-Bears game replaces Steelers-Jaguars, a matchup that seemed more primed for prime time before Jacksonville got off to a 3-5 start.
That’s the price of success, coach Matt Nagy said.
“When we first got here,’’ Nagy said, ‘‘we talked about how fortunate we were. I’m talking about myself with the team, how fortunate we were to have two prime-time games to start the year. They don’t come easily. The goal as we go is to have a lot of those. That means you’re doing well. To be flexed for that game, a division game, should be exciting to our team and our players.”
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There’s considerable downside. The Bears will have a quick turnaround after their late-night finish — they play a midday game on Thanksgiving Day in Detroit four days later.
“So that’s a super-tight schedule for us,” Nagy said. “But we can’t worry about that. We’ll focus in on what we have this week, and as that time goes, we’ll arrange the schedule and make sure we take care of our guys.”