What’s going on with the Dolphins-49ers game and what’s in play for start time, TV
Behind the scenes, there will be interesting discussions among league executives (and TV networks) this weekend about what to do with the Dolphins’ home game against the 49ers at 4:25 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 22 and whether it should remain in that marquee time slot as the primary CBS game airing in most of the country.
Before the season, the NFL scheduled Dolphins-49ers for CBS at 4:25, with the expectation that both teams would be playoff contenders in Week 16. But the Dolphins are 6-7 heading into Sunday’s game at Houston, and the 49ers are 6-7 heading into Thursday night’s home game against the Rams.
Between Weeks 15 and 18, the NFL can flex games (but only Sunday games) on a week’s notice. And the NFL plans to see how this weekend’s games play out before deciding, on Sunday night or Monday, whether to leave Dolphins-49ers as CBS’ primary 4:25 p.m. game. (Only CBS has a doubleheader that day; both Fox and CBS have doubleheaders this weekend.)
According to a league source, there’s current sentiment toward keeping Dolphins-49ers in the late-afternoon window instead of 1 p.m., though that’s not certain. Also uncertain is whether it will remain the primary CBS 4:25 p.m. game, something that would be more at risk if both teams lose this weekend.
At the moment, CBS’ only other game in that 4:25 p.m. window is a largely irrelevant Jacksonville-Las Vegas game; that obviously won’t become CBS’ main game at 4:25.
The NFL has only one appealing alternative if it decides to replace Dolphins-49ers as CBS’ primary 4:25 p.m game: Minnesota-Seattle. That game could potentially be moved from 4:05 p.m. on Fox (where it would be regionally televised) to the CBS 4:25 p.m. window (where it would be televised to a much larger audience).
The Philadelphia-Washington game, the best Dec. 22 game on paper, cannot be moved from Fox to CBS because the NFL has assured that Fox will get at least one of the two inter-division matchups for all NFC teams and CBS will get at least one of the two inter-division matchups for all AFC teams.
The first Eagles-Commanders game was carried on Amazon on a Thursday night, so it’s not eligible to be flexed from Fox to CBS.
Besides the aforementioned Eagles and Vikings games, there’s not another game on Sunday afternoon that matches two teams with winning records.
One reason the Dec. 22 schedule is so weak is that three of the best games are being played on other days: Denver-Chargers on Thursday night, Dec. 19 on Amazon; Houston-Kansas City at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 21 on NBC and Pittsburgh-Baltimore at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 21 on Fox.
That weekend, NBC has an underwhelming Tampa Bay-Dallas game on “Sunday Night Football,” and ESPN has an underwhelming New Orleans-Green Bay game on “Monday Night Football.”
CBS’ lead team, Jim Nantz and Tony Romo, would likely call the Dolphins-49ers game if it stays as the primary CBS game in the 4:25 p.m. window.
▪ The NFL has another 10 days to decide whether to shift the Week 17 Dolphins-Browns game from NBC on Sunday night to the afternoon. That seems likely, though it’s possible the game could stay on Sunday night if Miami wins at Houston and home against San Francisco.
▪ In the past, the NFL gave doubleheaders to both CBS and Fox in Week 1 and Week 18. This season, the league is instead doing it in Week 15 and Week 18, which explains why both networks can air 4:25 p.m. games in all of the country this weekend.
Here are this weekend’s regionalization maps; CBS is sending Dolphins-Texans to most of Florida, much of Texas and Shreveport, Louisiana.
This story was originally published December 12, 2024 at 3:34 PM.
