Time Change: Cardinals at Cowboys Week 17 Kickoff Moves to 'Flex'

What will be on the line when the Cards and Cowboys meet in the penultimate week of the regular season?

FRISCO - The importance of an intra-conference battle between two division leaders and seemingly serious title contenders? That merits a "flex.''

And so it is done, the NFL having announced on Thursday morning that in the second-to-last game of the regular season - Week 17 of 18 - the Arizona Cardinals, who are scheduled to play at the Dallas Cowboys, will be part of the afternoon slate that day.

The game on Jan. 2 at AT&T Stadium has been moved to a 3:25 p.m. CT kickoff. The telecast will remain on FOX. ...

But some other things do change.

It would figure as a bit of an advantage for the home-standing Cowboys to play host to a team from a different time zone who, under the previous plan of a 12 p.m. CT kickoff, would have had their body clocks struggling to adjust to a "morning'' game.

That advantage is lost ... But with playoff positioning in play, being at home against another contender at that time of year means an edge to Dallas.

What will be on the line when the Cards and Cowboys meet in the penultimate week of the regular season?At present, Arizona is 10-3 and is currently the NFC's No. 3 seed while holding a one-game lead in the NFC West. Meanwhile, the Cowboys are 9-4 and are the conference's No. 4 seed but are perched just one game back from the top spot while being up three games up in the NFC East.

There is one bye spot in each conference. That's still a mathematical target for both teams as well ... but there is business to take care of before the now-afternoon business on Jan. 2.

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