NFL Week 17: How To Watch Texans vs. Chargers, Eagles vs. Bills and More Games From Anywhere
SOURCE:CNET|BY:Matt Elliott
See which games are on in your area this weekend, and find out how to watch any game on the Saturday or Sunday schedule -- no matter where you live.
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See which games are on in your area this weekend, and find out how to watch any game on the Saturday or Sunday schedule -- no matter where you live.
Matt Elliott Senior Editor
Matt Elliott is a senior editor at CNET with a focus on laptops and streaming services. Matt has more than 20 years of experience testing and reviewing laptops. He has worked for CNET in New York and San Francisco and now lives in New Hampshire. When he's not writing about laptops, Matt likes to play and watch sports. He loves to play tennis and hates the number of streaming services he has to subscribe to in order to watch the various sports he wants to watch.
Kevin Lynch is a London-born, Dublin-based writer and journalist. The author of Steve Jobs: A Biographic Portrait, Kevin is a regular feature writer for a number of tech sites and the former Technology Editor for the Daily Mirror. He has also served as editor of GuinnessWorldRecords.com and has been a member of the judging panel for the BAFTA British Academy Video Game Awards.
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Just two weeks are left in the regular season, and there is still much to be decided. Only the Eagles have clinched a division title, leaving the other seven divisions still up for grabs.
The last Wild Card spot in each conference remains undecided. The Texans have the inside track for the seventh seed in the AFC and could also catch the Jaguars in the AFC South, leaving the Colts and Ravens each clinging to long odds to make the playoffs. In the NFC, the Packers have lost their last two games, keeping the Lions' slim chances alive for the conference's final playoff spot.
The weekend slate begins on Saturday with the Chargers taking on the Texans at 4:30 p.m. ET (1:30 p.m. PT) on NFL Network, followed by the Packers and Ravens at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT) on Peacock.
On Sunday, we have the usual lineup of games on CBS and Fox, concluding with Sunday Night Football on NBC and Peacock. The biggest game on Sunday is probably the Eagles and Bills in Buffalo at 4:25 p.m. ET (1:25 p.m. PT) on Fox. The Eagles have already won the NFC East, but the Bills still have much to play for as they try to catch the Patriots in the AFC East.
If you find yourself less interested in the games that are being broadcast in your area or your access is blocked because of an internet location glitch, you have another option to watch another game that doesn't require subscribing to something like NFL Sunday Ticket or NFL Plus or searching the internet for a sketchy website: You can use a virtual private network. With a VPN, you can watch any of this weekend's games from anywhere.
C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans bring a seven-game winning streak into their game on Saturday in Los Angeles against the Chargers.
David Eulitt/Getty Images
How to watch NFL Week 17 from anywhere using a VPN
If you find yourself unable to view this weekend's games locally because of incorrectly applied blackout restrictions, you may need a different way to watch. That's where using a VPN can come in handy. A VPN is also the best way to stop your ISP from throttling your speeds on game day by encrypting your traffic. Plus, it's a great idea for when you're traveling and find yourself needing to connect to a public Wi-Fi network, where you'll want to add an extra layer of privacy for your devices and logins.
With a VPN, you're able to virtually change your location on your phone, tablet or laptop to get access to the game. So if your internet provider or mobile carrier has stuck you with an IP address that incorrectly shows your location in a blackout zone, a VPN can correct that problem by giving you an IP address in your correct, nonblackout area. Most VPNs, like our Editors' Choice, ExpressVPN, make it really easy to do this.
Don't miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.
Using a VPN to watch or stream sports is legal in any country where VPNs are legal, including the US and Canada, as long as you have a legitimate subscription to the service you're streaming. You should be sure your VPN is set up correctly to prevent leaks. Even where VPNs are legal, the streaming service may terminate the account of anyone it deems to be circumventing correctly applied blackout restrictions.
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Plan out your weekend football viewing
Two games are happening on Saturday this week. The first game will be broadcast nationally on NFL Network, and the second game will be streaming exclusively on Peacock.
NFL Week 17 Saturday schedule
Away team
Home team
Time (all times ET)
TV channel/streaming service
Houston Texans
Los Angeles Chargers
4:30 p.m.
NFL Network
Baltimore Ravens
Green Bay Packers
8 p.m.
Peacock
Sunday has seven games happening, starting at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT), on CBS and Fox, followed by two games in the late window, before we then get to the Sunday night game on NBC and Peacock.
NFL Week 17 Sunday schedule
Away team
Home team
Time (all times ET)
TV channel
Streaming service
Pittsburgh Steelers
Cleveland Browns
1 p.m.
CBS
Paramount Plus
New Orleans Saints
Tennessee Titans
1 p.m.
CBS
Paramount Plus
Seattle Seahawks
Carolina Panthers
1 p.m.
CBS
Paramount Plus
Jacksonville Jaguars
Indianapolis Colts
1 p.m.
Fox
Fox One
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Miami Dolphins
1 p.m.
Fox
Fox One
New England Patriots
New York Jets
1 p.m.
Fox
Fox One
Arizona Cardinals
Cincinnati Bengals
1 p.m.
Fox
Fox One
New York Giants
Las Vegas Raiders
4:05 p.m.
CBS
Paramount Plus
Philadelphia Eagles
Buffalo Bills
4:25 p.m.
Fox
Fox One
Chicago Bears
San Francisco 49ers
8:20 p.m.
NBC
Peacock
How to watch NFL Week 17 in the US
If you don't want to subscribe to a live TV streaming service, you can watch the CBS games with Paramount Plus, the Fox games with Fox One and the NBC games with Peacock.
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Paramount/CNET
Football fans can stream CBS' Sunday afternoon football schedule each week of the season on Paramount Plus with its $8 per month Essentials tier. You can check for yourself if your area has live CBS streaming here.
Fox's new direct-to-consumer streaming service costs $20 a month or $200 a year and lets NFL fans watch their local Sunday afternoon games on Fox. You'll also get access to Fox's complete TV portfolio, including sports-related channels such as Fox Sports, B1G, FS1, FS2 and local Fox stations.
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James Martin/CNET
With Peacock's $11-per-month Premium plan, you can watch the Packers-Ravens game on Saturday night and Bears-49ers on Sunday night, as well as the rest of NBC's Sunday Night Football schedule. Read our Peacock review.
Best live TV streaming services for NFL fans
While subscribing to Paramount Plus, Fox One and Peacock is cheaper than a live TV streaming service, the advantage of the latter is the ability to flip quickly between CBS and Fox on Sunday afternoon when two games are on at the same time. Shutting down one streaming service and firing up another is much slower and more annoying, to the point that it's not worth flipping to the other game during a commercial break of the one you're watching.
The good news for football fans is that CBS and Fox are available on most live TV streaming services, along with NBC, ABC, ESPN and NFL Network for SNF, MNF and the NFL's international games.
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DirecTV
DirecTV's MySports plan costs $70 a month and includes ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC and NFL Network, which are the main channels you need to watch NFL games on Thursday, Sunday and Monday each week of the season. You can't get the RedZone add-on with the MySports plan; you will need to subscribe to the full $85-a-month package and then add RedZone for an extra $15 a month.
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Sarah Tew/CNET
YouTube TV carries all the channels needed to watch the NFL and costs $83 a month, and you can add RedZone for an extra $11 per month.
YouTube TV is also the exclusive home to NFL Sunday Ticket. But note that Sunday Ticket doesn't include local games. You can only watch Sunday afternoon games that aren't being broadcast on CBS or Fox in your area. If you want to watch all the football on Sundays, you'll need Sunday Ticket plus a YouTube TV subscription. (Or you can just get Sunday Ticket and then use an antenna for local games.)
Plug in your ZIP code on YouTube TV's welcome page to see which local networks are available in your area.
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Fubo
Fubo's main package costs $85 per month and includes ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC and NFL Network. You can also add RedZone for an extra $11 per month.
Fubo has a new skinny bundle that includes most of the channels you need for the NFL. This new Fubo Sports plan costs $56 per month ($46 for the first month) and includes all the above channels except NBC for Sunday Night Football. It also includes access to ESPN's new streaming app. It's worth noting that the bundle is only available in certain regions at the moment, with a gradual rollout across the country.
All the live TV streaming services above allow you to cancel anytime. They do require a solid internet connection. Looking for more information? Check out our live TV streaming services guide.
Quick tips for streaming the NFL with a VPN
With four variables at play -- your ISP, browser, video streaming provider and VPN -- experience and success may vary.
If you don't see your desired location as a default option for ExpressVPN, try using the "search for city or country" option.
If you're having trouble accessing the game after turning on your VPN and setting it to the correct viewing area, you can try two quick fixes. First, log in to your streaming service subscription account and ensure the address registered for the account is within the correct viewing area. If not, you may need to change the physical address on file with your account. Second, some smart TVs, like Roku, don't have VPN apps you can install directly on the device itself. Instead, you'll need to install the VPN on your router or the mobile hotspot you're using (such as your phone) so that any device connected to its Wi-Fi network now appears in the correct viewing location.
All the VPN providers we recommend have helpful instructions on their main site for quickly installing the VPN on your router. In some cases with smart TV services, after installing a cable network's sports app, you'll be asked to verify a numeric code or click a link sent to the email address on file for your smart TV. This is where having a VPN on your router can also be helpful, as both devices will appear to be in the correct location.
And remember, browsers can often give away a location despite using a VPN, so be sure you're using a privacy-first browser to log into your services. We normally recommend Brave.
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