Changes to flex scheduling
The NFL introduced two major changes to the flexible scheduling procedure. First, the league will be able to "cross-flex" games between CBS and Fox, enabling CBS to televise NFC away games (for the first time since 1993), and Fox to broadcast AFC away games (for the first time since 2011, and all-AFC matchups for the first time ever). The league can "cross-flex" some of these games before the start of, or during, the season. The first game affected by this "cross-flexing" change was the Week One contest between the Buffalo Bills and Chicago Bears at Soldier Field, which aired on Fox instead of CBS; all four of the Bills' interconference games (including their Week 5 game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field) will air on Fox this year, and in week 6, an all-AFC matchup, again involving the Bills (this time a division rivalry game against the New England Patriots) was moved to Fox, exacerbating financial problems at Buffalo's CBS affiliate WIVB-TV. An all-NFC matchup between the Carolina Panthers and Seattle Seahawks was given to CBS. The aforementioned Detroit Lions-Chicago Bears Thanksgiving game was also given to CBS instead of Fox.
On April 23, 2014, the league announced a second major change to the flexible scheduling procedure: Games may be flexed into the NBC Sunday Night time slot as soon as week 5. NBC will be allowed to flex up to two games between weeks 5 and 10, while the same rules applies for the remainder of the season.
