"They're just making up rules": Ex-Eagles star questions Bengals-Broncos Week 16 flex decision

The Denver Broncos and Cincinnati Bengals will be trading places in their schedule this season. According to journalist Adam Schefter, the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals showdown will be swapped with the Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Chargers Week 16 showdown.

The timing comes in the shadow of the Broncos' 38-6 dominating win over the Atlanta Falcons on November 17. The playoff implications of the two current wild card seeds are the selling point, but there are cons. Former Eagles star Chris Long sympathized with those impacted by the unprecedented decision on the "Green Light with Chris Long" podcast moments after the Schefter post on November 22.

"They can do that? They're just making up the rules now, and that's tough for coaches, it's tough for players...," Long said.

Another con of the decision is flexing a game from Sunday to Thursday and effectively pay-walling it behind Amazon Prime. A game that might have previously been free for much of the nation is now locked away.

Players and coaches now will need to retool their schedules for both teams, moving their timelines up that week by several days. Fans also will need to alter or cancel their travel plans to go to the game. The move from a weekend to a weekday could rule out entire chunks of an otherwise full stadium.

Either way, Bo Nix's blowout win over the Falcons might have felt good in the moment, but it came with unintended consequences.

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Bo Nix's Broncos suddenly on deck for two primetime games in short span

Bo Nix at Atlanta at Denver - Source: Imagn

With Denver now getting a surprise new primetime appearance, their schedule looks much different. The team was already scheduled to have a primetime showing against the Cleveland Browns on Monday Night Football on Monday, December 2.

Now, with the Week 16 showdown getting moved to Thursday, December 19, Bo Nix and Courtland Sutton will have three games in 17 days. The Broncos will face the Browns on December 2, the Colts on December 15, and the Chargers on December 19.

They also will have a bye and a mini-bye to work with during the stretch. However, it is set up to be an unorthodox schedule for the team which has had just one primetime game so far this season.

Will the rookie shine under the bright lights in December or will Broncos fans be left with a lump of coal?