Dave Birkett

Detroit Free Press

But the Lions%27 Week 17 game at Green Bay could end up a night game if the division is on the line

The Detroit Lions have the second-best record in the NFC, but they're not quite ready for prime time.

The NFL said today that it's not making any flex-scheduling changes to Week 12 games, including the Lions' trip to New England to face the Patriots.

That game will kick off at its originally scheduled time of 1 p.m.

The Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants will play the NBC game next Sunday night, and the network didn't want to move the NFL's most popular team playing in the the country's biggest media market out of prime time, especially with the Patriots already playing in the NBC night slot this week.

The Lions (7-2) play the Arizona Cardinals (8-1) this week in a showdown of teams with the best records in the NFC. Kickoff for that game is scheduled for 4:25 p.m. on Fox.

Detroit has played just one primetime game this year, a Week 1 Monday nighter against the Giants. The Lions also were on national television for their Week 8 game against the Atlanta Falcons in London, which kicked off at 9:30 a.m. Eastern time.

If the Lions and Green Bay Packers (6-3) continue on their pace, their Week 17 game would be for the NFC North title and likely would be flexed into prime time.

Contact Dave Birkett: dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

Beat writer Dave Birkett will answer your Lions questions in a live chat at 9:45 a.m. Friday at freep.com/sports. Submit early questions here. Then join sports writer Carlos Monarrez for a live blog of the Lions-Cardinals game Sunday afternoon. And play NFL Pick 'Em here.