What channel is Sunday Night Football on this week?

The NFL's Christmas week schedule is loaded with a ton of great games, including Thursday Night Football, two games on Saturday, a full Sunday schedule and a tripleheader on Christmas Day headlined by a massive 49ers-Ravens showdown on Monday night.

There is one wrinkle to the viewing patterns for football fans, however, as Sunday Night Football won't be airing in its traditional slot on NBC. There is, however, a game on tap for Sunday night for fans who are used to a full day of football.

Who is playing on Sunday night for Christmas Eve?

The final game of the day on Christmas Eve will take place in Denver as the 7-7 Broncos fight to keep their playoff hopes alive against the 3-11 New England Patriots. The Broncos are coming off a tough loss in Detroit in Week 15, losing 42-17 as their defense allowed Jared Goff to throw for five touchdown passes, but they are still just a game out of the final Wild Card spot in the AFC.

The Patriots are playing out the string as they have been officially eliminated from playoff contention and had their previous game against Kansas City flexed out of Monday Night Football in favor of a more competitive Eagles-Seahawks contest. That game went about as well as expected for New England, which lost by 10 in a game that could have reached blowout territory before Andy Reid opted to have his team kneel in the red zone to kill the clock instead of trying to pile on more points.

What channel is the Sunday night game on for Christmas Eve?

The Sunday night game will not air on NBC, which will do its weekly NFL telecast on Saturday in order to uphold the network's long standing tradition of airing It's A Wonderful Life on Christmas Eve. NFL Network will televise the contest from Denver with kickoff scheduled for 8:15 p.m. ET.