Bears/Vikings Week 17 game will kick off at noon Central

As it has done in Week 17 in recent years, the National Football League has shuffled the schedule for the final week of the regular season to add as much drama as possible.

Thankfully, since it appears that there will be very little drama surrounding the Minnesota Vikings. . .after all, they’re already in the playoffs. . .their game against the Chicago Bears has been slotted as part of the early window on Sunday afternoon, meaning that it will air on FOX with a noon Central time kickoff.

If the Vikings beat the Green Bay Packers on Monday Night Football tomorrow night, the NFC North title will be decided in that early window, as the game between the Packers and the Detroit Lions at Ford Field will be taking place at the same time as the Bears/Vikings game. Both teams will be at 11-4, and the Vikings will need a win over the Bears coupled with a Green Bay loss to win their third NFC North title in five years. If the Packers beat the Lions, the Vikings will be a Wild Card team regardless of the results of their game.

Most of the early games don’t have a whole lot riding on them, as the league has shifted the more meaningful games to the late Sunday window. As expected, Sunday Night Football will showcase what might be a battle for the #1 seed in the NFC with the Seattle Seahawks hosting the San Francisco 49ers.

Here is the full Week 17 NFL schedule.

Early window (noon Central) games on FOX

• Minnesota Vikings at Chicago Bears
• Green Bay Packers at Detroit Lions
• Cleveland Browns at Cincinnati Bengals
• New Orleans Saints at Carolina Panthers
• Atlanta Falcons at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Early window (noon Central) games on CBS

• Miami Dolphins at New England Patriots
• New York Jets at Buffalo Bills
• Los Angeles Chargers at Kansas City Chiefs

Late window (3 PM Central) games on FOX

• Philadelphia Eagles at New York Giants
• Washington Redskins at Dallas Cowboys
• Arizona Cardinals at Los Angeles Rams

Late window (3 PM Central) games on CBS

• Tennessee Titans at Houston Texans
• Pittsburgh Steelers at Baltimore Ravens
• Indianapolis Colts at Jacksonville Jaguars
• Oakland Raiders at Denver Broncos

Sunday Night Football on NBC

• San Francisco 49ers at Seattle Seahawks