Patriots-Texans Week 14 matchup flexed to Sunday night

Week 14's game between the New England Patriots and Houston Texans has been flexed into the Sunday Night Football time slot, the NFL announced Sunday evening.

Previously, the Seattle Seahawks and Baltimore Ravens were scheduled to square off for the evening game. New England and Houston were originally slated to play at 1 p.m. ET.

It's possible the league wanted to avoid a contest in which the Ravens played without quarterback Joe Flacco, who suffered a season-ending ACL and MCL injury in Week 11.

The new marquee game pits J.J. Watt, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, against last season's Super Bowl MVP, Tom Brady.