Patriots’ Week 16 game vs. Ravens flexed to Sunday Night Football

New England Patriots

This will mark the second time this season that the Patriots will be featured on Sunday Night Football.

Mike Vrabel and Drake Maye are headed back to primetime on Dec. 21. (Winslow Townson/AP Images for Panini)

By Conor Ryan

December 8, 2025 | 5:43 PM

2 minutes to read

Drake Maye and the New England Patriots are headed to primetime once again this season. 

The NFL announced on Monday evening that New England’s Week 16 matchup against the Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium has been flexed from its 1 p.m. slot on Dec. 21 to Sunday Night Football — with kickoff from Baltimore now set for 8:20 p.m. 

The Patriots and Ravens are replacing Bengals vs. Dolphins in the Sunday Night slot — with that bout between Cincinnati and Miami pushed back to a 1 p.m. kickoff. 

This will mark the second time this season that Maye, Mike Vrabel, and the Patriots will be featured on Sunday Night Football.

New England took on the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium on Oct. 5 in a nationally-televised showdown — as the Patriots came away with a dramatic 23-20 win against their AFC East rival. 

New England will take on the Bills once again this Sunday at Gillette Stadium, with the Patriots presented with a chance to clinch the AFC East for the first time since 2019 if they beat Josh Allen and Buffalo for the second time this season. 

Given the stakes involved in that divisional showdown in Foxborough on Dec. 14, some wondered if that 1 p.m. kickoff would also be flexed into another featured timeslot. But the NFL opted to keep Patriots vs. Bills as the top afternoon game for Week 15 and instead elevated Patriots vs. Ravens the following week. 

While New England could clinch the division with a win against Buffalo, there should still be plenty on the line on Dec. 21 in Baltimore. 

The Patriots’ path to a fruitful playoff run would be far easier if the team secures the No. 1 seed in the AFC and a playoff bye. But Vrabel’s team needs to finish the year strong to overcome a Denver Broncos club that currently sits atop the conference with the same 11-2 record.

The Ravens, meanwhile, might be fighting for their playoff lives on Dec. 21 when they play host to New England. It’s been a rough year for Lamar Jackson and Baltimore — with John Harbaugh’s group dropping to 6-7 on the year after losing to the Steelers on Sunday. 

Despite the intrigue of Maye battling against another top QB in the league in Jackson, Vrabel and Co. aren’t looking ahead — not with a bout with Buffalo and Josh Allen next on the docket. 

“We’re just trying to play for the championship that we have available this week, and I think it’s a great testament to our players that have put us in this position to be able to do that,” Vrabel said of the Bills Monday. “Again, that’s not going to be easy. This is a very good football team. There’s a reason that they’ve won this division five years in a row. A lot of respect for them. 

“They’re never out of it, never down, and they may be down, and just like last week, it’s a football team that understands that somebody’s going to make a play. And then the quarterback is going to give them a chance to the very end.”

Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.

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