As I’m sure you’re aware, the NFL reserves the right to pick a game for its Sunday night telecast for the last seven weeks of the season. My brother and we decided to turn this into our own competition. As the director of the competition, I unfortunately did not make sure that my brother (Derek) was informed of the proceedings. So the competition is lost and I humbly and shamefully hand over the 2009 soft crown to my younger brother. Save the winner.

However, the show must go on. These are Derek’s predictions:

Week 11: San Diego vs. Denver (The comeback against the Giants could be the sign of a close race in the AFC West down the stretch. Plus, these two teams don’t really like each other, which always makes for good football.)

Week 12: pittsburgh vs. Baltimore (Even with the Ravens fading, these games are too good to pass up. The other games to choose from aren’t really worth replacing a good old division slugfest.)

Week 13: Minnesota vs. Arizona (This is a draw with New England and Miami already scheduled to play. Either one could be picked, but they can’t pass up the opportunity to have the two oldest quarterbacks in the game go head-to-head) for NFC supremacy. We know about the Vikings, but when the cards are on, they’re tough to beat).

Week 14: Denver vs. Indianapolis (I’d say San Diego vs. Dallas, but San Diego might be over the prime time threshold. If not, that’s my pick. Eagles vs. Giants is a possibility, but the Giants are in trouble No “I don’t think Fox will give up Atlanta vs. New Orleans, so I’ll take this one. CBS will fight to keep it, but I think SNF wins. Two division leaders possibly fighting for the No. 1 spot in the AFC” . , that’s some great stuff right there!)

Week 15: atlanta vs. Jets (Again, if it wasn’t for San Diego’s monopoly on primetime games, I’d bet my money on them vs. the Bengals. The other games really suck. Because my Carolina guys are dropping faster than the Obama’s approval rating, that game be scrapped, though Brett Favre’s love affair could keep him in. This game is simply a potential matchup of two wild-card teams, though I really doubt the Jets will remain in the race for week 15).

Week 16: Denver vs. Philadelphia (You can’t pass up B-dawk’s trip back to Philly in a Broncos uniform. For the first time ever, the Philadelphia Eagles crowd will show an opposing player what the ” brotherly love.” This might not be possible due to the prime time rule, but it’s another week of bad matchups.)

Okay. First of all, thanks brother. Before I include my selections, I must educate my readers on how flexible programming works. Without completely boring you, essentially it is. Flexible scheduling begins in week 11 and continues through the end of the season. NFL broadcast affiliates (CBS and FOX) are entitled to screen one Sunday Night Football (SNF) game each week, except week 17. Flex play will be announced twelve days in advance, except week 17, when It will be announced in six days. before the game. Teams are limited to a maximum of four SNF appearances throughout the season and a total of five primetime games on all networks. However, there is an exception for three teams to make six prime-time appearances in a season.

There is also a split clause in the Flex programming structure. Long story short, CBS and FOX have the rights to at least one out of every two division matchups. For example, the Giants and Cowboys played on SNF in the second week. Therefore, their next matchup is guaranteed for FOX. Also, the Broncos and the Chargers met on Monday Night Football (MNF). As a result, their second direct matchup is guaranteed for CBS. I can’t find out if CBS or FOX still need to protect these games to keep them for Flex weeks or not, but I’m going to assume they don’t. Well that was fun. Do you see how fun it is to learn? I feel good now, very good. Maybe that’s why my wife is in medical school. Although, if I told her I wanted to talk about the Flex programming format, she would stop hearing “flex” and immediately open a 39 pound book to show me a detailed picture explaining how muscles flex. About 14 seconds later, she was making me really hot and starting to pass out. This actually happens, but I digress. In my Flex programming selections…

Week 11: I really had this right, I promised. I know you won’t believe me, but it’s true. I predicted that FOX would protect the Falcons at the Giants and CBS would protect the Colts at the Ravens game. The Broncos’ Chargers would be ineligible due to the aforementioned split clause. Therefore, the obvious choice would be Eagles at Bears.

Week 12: The FOX slate sucks, so they’ll probably guard the Redskins at Eagles. They’re already guaranteed the Vikings/Bears game because that same matchup is on MNF a few weeks later. CBS will protect the Colts at the Texans or the Steelers at the Ravens. My guess is that they protect Pitt’s showdown in Bal. Thus, Manning and the Colts make their sixth and final prime-time appearance.

Week 13: There are four decent games this week and only three are eligible. The Cowboys at Giants are untouchable through the split clause. I think CBS will protect the Patriots in Miami. If FOX protects the Vikings at Cardinals, the only other intriguing matchup is Eagles at Falcons. It will be one of those two games. FOX will likely pick Favre, so it will be PHI at ATL.

Week 14: Lots of big games this week. FOX will probably protect the Eagles at Giants because they have the rights to the Saints at Falcons (previous meeting on MNF) and Packers at Bears (previous meeting on SNF). Based on my projections, the matchup between the Broncos and Colts would be ineligible due to Indianapolis’ peak prime-time appearances. I wish this wasn’t so. The Flex game will depend on who CBS wants more; the Dallas Cowboys or Brett Favre. I hope they pick the Chargers over the Cowboys so we can all see the Bengals over the Vikings in prime time. They both deserve the airtime.

Week 15: This week is a wild card. FOX will protect the Packers at Steelers and CBS will protect the Bengals at Chargers. So SNF will have to choose between Pu-Pu Platter of Bears at Ravens, 49ers at Eagles, Falcons at Jets or Vikings at Panthers. I doubt they’ll go to Favre two weeks in a row, so assuming they’re both still somewhat alive in their respective wild-card runs, I’d guess Bears vs. Ravens.

Week 16: If last week was the Pu-Pu Platter, this week is a smorgasbord of Whopper Wednesday (that’s a good thing). Unfortunately for FOX, all the good games belong to CBS. FOX will probably protect the Panthers at Giants. CBS will have to choose between Texans at Dolphins, Broncos at Eagles, Jets at Colts and Ravens at Steelers (not sure if they can protect this game again or not). If CBS can’t protect the Ravens at Steelers, I think that’s the game we’ll see on SNF, but only if the Ravens don’t get picked for week 15. If they are, I think we’ll see the Texans at Dolphins or Broncos at Eagles. I think it will be the Ravens at Steelers. (Broncos at Eagles if Ravens at Steelers ineligible.)

Week 17: All games are eligible. Protection is not granted for any of the networks. I couldn’t find if the split clause still applies in week 17, so I’ll assume it doesn’t. I think SNF will ultimately choose between three games; Eagles at Cowboys, possibly for the NFC East, Giants at Vikings, with a playoff spot or seed at stake, or Patriots at Texans for playoff placement and a possible wild-card spot for Houston. My money is in Eagles in Cowboys.