The Raiders and Texans are the next game on the NFL calendar. (Getty)
Fans looking to take part in their weekly tradition of turning on ESPN to watch Monday Night Football tonight will be disappointed. The NFL regular season ended last night with Sunday Night Football’s matchup between the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions.
The NFL made the entire Week 17 slate of games take place on Sunday. This differs from a traditional week that features games on both Thursday and Monday.
This allowed the league to set the playoff schedule on Sunday night and gives each team relatively the same amount of rest heading into the playoffs. It marks the only Monday of the regular season that the NFL does not have a game.
The attention now turns to the NFL playoffs and the 12 teams remaining. The next game on the schedule takes place on Saturday, January 7 with the Houston Texans taking on the Oakland Raiders. The game kicks off from Houston at 4:35 p.m. Eastern on ESPN. The Seattle Seahawks host the Detroit Lions in an NBC prime time matchup that kicks off at 8:15 p.m. Eastern.
Sunday’s games get started with the Miami Dolphins and Pittsburgh Steelers squaring off at 1 p.m. Eastern on CBS. The New York Giants take on the Green Bay Packers at 4:40 p.m. Eastern on FOX in the last game of Wild Card weekend. Click here to see a breakdown of the full NFL playoff bracket.
Fans can get their fix for football by tuning into college football games tonight. The evening features two iconic bowl games in the Rose and Sugar Bowls. The Rose Bowl kicks off on ESPN at 5 p.m. Eastern. The game features USC and Penn State squaring off in a historic matchup.
Oklahoma takes on Auburn in the Sugar Bowl taking place on prime time. The game kicks off in New Orleans at 8:30 p.m. Eastern on ESPN during the same window fans normally tune in to Monday Night Football.
