By The Associated Press
NEW YORK — The Saints and Detroit Lions are moving to prime time.
The Dec. 4 game between the Saints and Lions will be played on “Sunday Night Football” on NBC, which in the latter stages of the season can use “flex scheduling” to change its game to a more attractive matchup.
Kickoff is set for 7:20 p.m. at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
The Colts-Patriots matchup was originally in that slot, but the NFL previously announced it was shifting that matchup to earlier in the day under the league’s flexible scheduling policy.
Indianapolis is 0-10 without injured quarterback Peyton Manning, robbing the matchup with Tom Brady and the Patriots of its luster. Instead, the meeting between two playoff contenders — the 7-3 Saints and 7-3 Lions — would take its place.
