Cardinals vs Panthers week 8 match up gets flexed out of the 'Game of the Week' on Fox.

The NFL season has not gone according to plan for the Arizona Cardinals. It has not gone exactly how the Carolina Panthers imagined either, so the rematch of the NFC Championship game from last season is now not your “Game of the Week” on Fox.

Instead, the NFL announced today, that they will move the October 30, 2016 match up of the Cardinals heading east to visit the Panthers, to 1pm ET, instead of the scheduled 4:25pm ET.

That means the “Game of the Week” for Fox will instead be between the Green Bay Packers and Atlanta Falcons, in Atlanta.

This is the opposite of what many expected for the Cardinals, as during the Bruce Arians era, most of the flexing of schedules has been in order to get the Cardinals in a prime time slot.

Instead, with two porous offenses, and struggling defenses, plus mounting injuries to, the NFC Championship Game rematch is just another game on the schedule.

Of course, for the Arizona Cardinals this also means they will be playing another early game on the east coast, which has not been the formula for success for the Cardinals, and that does not even take into account the Cardinals struggles in Carolina.

On the other hand, maybe by that time, most players will be back and healthy, Carson Palmer and the offense will find their rhythm and the defense will continue to make plays.

In any case, what looked like a marquee week eight NFL match up is now just another game on the Sunday slate for non Cardinals and Panthers fans.