NFL: Panthers at Saints game Dec. 8 flexed to Sunday night by NBC

Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints will host the Carolina Panthers in a battle for first place in the NFC South on Dec. 8. The game has been moved to Sunday Night by the NFL and NBC. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)
Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints will host the Carolina Panthers in a battle for first place in the NFC South on Dec. 8. The game has been moved to Sunday Night by the NFL and NBC. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

NEW YORK, New York (AP) — The NFL has switched the Carolina Panthers’ game at New Orleans against the Saints on Dec. 8 from early afternoon to a 7:30 p.m. CDT kickoff on NBC’s “Sunday Night Football.”

The Atlanta Falcons-Green Bay Packers game originally scheduled to be played that night was moved to noon on FOX as part of NBC’s flexible scheduling policy. The NFL announced the schedule switch on Sunday night.

The game is an NFC South showdown between Drew Brees and the division-leading Saints (9-2) and Cam Newton and the surging Panthers (8-3), who have won seven in a row.

It’s the first of two games in three weeks between the rivals. New Orleans plays at Carolina on Dec. 22.