After the Seattle Seahawks traded quarterback Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos in 2022, the two teams faced off on Monday Night Football in Week 1 that season.
This offseason, the Broncos cut Wilson and he signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Wilson is now set to return to Denver to face his former team in Week 2, but the game won’t be in a prime-time window.
The Broncos-Steelers showdown on Sept. 15 is set for 2:25 p.m. MT on CBS and because it’s so early in the season, it’s not eligible to be flexed. So why is Wilson’s return to Denver locked out of prime time?
Part of the reason could be that CBS likely wanted to “protect” the game. NBC (Sunday Night Football), ESPN (Monday Night Football) and Prime Video (Thursday Night Football) often get many of the NFL’s best matchups, leaving leftovers for CBS and Fox on Sunday afternoons. Consequently, networks can “protect” a game each week and while there hasn’t been official confirmation of it, CBS might have exercised that right for the Wilson Bowl.
Interestingly, Kirk Cousins returning to Minnesota to face the Vikings is not scheduled for prime time, either. Minnesota is set to host the Atlanta Falcons in Week 14, and Fox likely wants that game protected as well.
While Wilson and Cousins returning to face their former teams did not get prime time treatment from the NFL’s schedule makers, Sean Payton’s return to New Orleans did. The Saints will host the Broncos on Thursday Night Football in Week 7.
It’s also worth noting that while the Denver-Pittsburgh game won’t be at night, it could end up being close to nationally televised if CBS opts to broadcast it across most of the country (which seems likely). So there will be plenty of football fans tuning in when Wilson faces the Broncos in Week 2, it just won’t be an evening game.
