Dec. 21 match in hot TV slot
By David Scott
dscott@charlotteobserver.com
Posted: Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/panthers/story/405631.html
It's official: The Carolina Panthers have become a national story.
The Panthers will play the New York Giants in the NFL's Sunday night time slot on NBC on Dec.21.
The league considers the Sunday night game its premiere matchup each week – ahead even of “Monday Night Football” on ESPN (another national showcase where the Panthers just beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 38-23).
The game, with an 8:15 p.m. kickoff at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., will feature the teams with the NFC's two best records currently – the reigning Super Bowl champion Giants at 11-2 and the Panthers at 10-3 – and will likely have huge ramifications for home-field advantage in the playoffs.
The game was originally scheduled for 1 p.m. on Fox, but the league has the flexibility to change attractive late-season games with playoff implications to more optimum TV times.
Like Monday night's resounding victory, the Panthers' game-time/network switch with the Giants also comes at the expense of the Buccaneers. Tampa Bay was originally scheduled to play the San Diego Chargers in the Sunday night game, but that's been moved to 1 p.m.
The Panthers' home game Sunday against the Denver Broncos has already been changed from 1 p.m. to 4:15 p.m.
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