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NFL Flexing Their Fariness Card On Bengals-Steelers

The NFL was all about being fair when selecting the Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers for Sunday Night Football in Week 17

It sounds like the NFL was trying to make it up to FOX by going ahead and selecting the Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers for the Week 17 Sunday Night Football game instead of the Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons.  The Bengals and Steelers have already clinched playoff spots.  The winner of the Panthers and Falcons is in and the loser is out.

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Per profootballtalk.com the NFL has taken the Week 17 game away from FOX, so this year they wanted to be fair and take one from CBS.  So my question is, did someone from Fox complain?  Did someone from CBS make someone at the NFL mad?  I mean, if they really wanted to consider fairness, then why take a game away four years in a row?  One game does not equal four.

Maybe this means that the NFL is already planning on stealing a Week 17 game in 2015 from CBS if it can?  If I were CBS, I guess I would be on alert.  They can explain fairness all they want.  This has to be more about popularity and ratings.  It is simple as that.

The Panthers and Falcons are playing for an NFC South title.  The Bengals and Steelers are also playing for a division title in the AFC North, however both teams have already clinched a playoff spot.  The winner gets the division and the loser gets a wild-card.

This just goes to show that ratings will trump actual game drama any day, even when the playoffs are on the line.  It should still be a good game in Pittsburgh but even facing a seven-win NFC South division winner the biggest drama will be in the Georgia Dome Sunday night, if I’m being fair.

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