For the third time in the season’s first four weeks, the Minnesota Vikings are stuck in the late window of NFL coverage, hosting the Miami Dolphins at U.S. Bank Stadium. Seriously, what gives? It’s a real head-scratcher, especially since they are the *only* late game airing on the FOX family of networks this Sunday. Talk about limited options.
FOX’s Late Window Squeeze and Early Game Shuffle
If you’re in that orange area on the 506 Sports map, you’re getting the Dolphins/Vikings game. Awesome for you if that’s what you want, but here’s the kicker: because this game is running locally, your local FOX affiliate won’t even have an early game. That’s a huge bummer for anyone hoping to catch some of the other matchups. All the other games on the FOX map? Those are all locked into the early window. We’re talking about the Los Angeles Rams at Philadelphia Eagles (red zone), the Dallas Cowboys at Houston Texans (blue zone), the Green Bay Packers at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (green zone), and the New York Jets at Chicago Bears (yellow zone). If you’re outside that orange area for the Vikings game, well, good luck, you’re gonna need YouTube TV Sunday Ticket to even watch it.
CBS Dominates Again, Leaving Fans Confused
Equally wild is that CBS gets the doubleheader this week, and get this, it’s for the *second week in a row*. I thought these networks alternated that stuff, right? Apparently not. CBS is absolutely stacked with three late games on their networks, while FOX is left with just the single Vikings-Dolphins matchup. It’s a strange setup that’s got a lot of fans wondering about the logic behind these decisions.
Look, this is football, we want to watch it all! But between limited late windows and doubleheaders messing with local schedules, it’s getting harder than ever. On the bright side, the Open Threads for games the Vikings aren’t playing in are back as regular posts, hitting at 11:30 AM Central on Sunday. Then, the Open Thread for the actual Vikings game drops at the usual 2:30 PM Central, 30 minutes before kickoff. The Vikings *will* be back in the early window in Week 5, but word is some viewers might still get a bit of a raw deal. We’ll find out why in next week’s post, which should drop Wednesday. Get ready to do some channel surfing, or maybe just some serious app-hopping!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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