Indianapolis Colts Week 9 game has just been flexed to prime time

Colts fans have more to celebrate after their win over the Miami Dolphins this Sunday; they'll be able to watch their team on prime time television in just two weeks. The Vikings are one of the better teams in the NFL this year, so this match could possibly reignite the Joe Flacco vs. Anthony Richardson debate among fans.

The NFL announced today that the Colts-Vikings game has been flexed into Sunday Night Football, and will now kick off at 8:20 pm on NBC. Originally, the game was set to begin at 1:00 pm, with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Philadelphia Eagles battling it out on Sunday Night Football.

It's possible that the league didn't feel like the Jaguars-Eagles was a good enough battle to air on prime time; neither teams are doing particularly well so far. The only other options to replace that game were the Lions vs. the Packers, or the Dolphins vs. the Bills. It seems that the NFL saw the Colts-Viking game as the best option, and it gives the Colts their second prime time game for the 2024 season. The Colts will also be playing Sunday Night Football on Week 11, against the New York Jets.

The Colts-Vikings record is relatively even, currently sitting at 18-18-1. The last time they played each other was in 2022, when the Colts embarrassingly lost a 33-0 lead at halftime, allowing the Viking to beat them, 39-36, in overtime.

This year, the Vikings are 5-1 and just suffered their first loss of the season on Sunday. The Colts, however, have struggled so far this season to prove that they are a team to be taken seriously, and one that could be a playoff contender. This game is one of several in a series of tough opponents for the Colts, and now -- with a prime time audience watching -- the pressure to perform will almost certainly be even higher.