• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, November 7, 2007

NBC has swapped games for "Sunday Night Football" on Nov. 18--inserting the drama of whether the New England Patriots can continue to stay undefeated, while dropping a ho-hum matchup between a pair of middling teams. Using its rights under the NFL's "flexible scheduling" plan, the network has switched its scheduled Chicago-Seattle game in favor of New England at Buffalo.

With an off-week on Sunday, the Patriots will be 9-0 going into the game as their quest for a perfect season continues. The team has also been the subject of controversy this year--for both attempting to cheat by videotaping another team's sideline and continuing to run up the score in games that it has well in hand--but has also played in two hugely rated games, against Dallas and Indianapolis, respectively.

However, both of those opponents came into their games with New England undefeated, unlike the .500 Bills (although the team has been on a recent hot streak).

NBC's "flex scheduling" rights, which allow it to swap games in favor of a more appealing matchup, start Nov. 18 and are in effect for weeks 11 through 17 of the season.

"The Patriots quest for a perfect season is clearly the biggest story in the NFL," said Dick Ebersol, head of NBC Sports.