AP

For several years, NFL fans have been able to count on the Colts and the Patriots to deliver one of the marquee games of the regular season — and often to meet again in a playoff rematch.

So it feels like the end of an era when we pass along the news today that the NFL has decided to move the Week 13 Colts-Patriots game out of prime time. The game had been set for the Week 13 Sunday night NBC slot, but with this year’s transformation of the Colts into the worst team in the league, it came as no surprise that the league moved the game down to Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. Eastern on CBS.

The flexible schedule allows the NFL to shift kickoff times to put better games in prime time, and the league typically announces those moves 12 or 13 days in advance. But for this announcement, the league made it 26 days in advance: There was no reason to delay the inevitable.

The NFL will announce in a couple of weeks which game is moving into the prime time slot for Week 13, which falls on Sunday, December 4. Lions-Saints or Bengals-Steelers would appear to be the best candidates, as Fox has protected the Packers-Giants game that day.

The league has also announced that Eagles-Giants will remain in prime time Week 11, and that the Week 11 Titans-Falcons game has moved from a 1 p.m. kickoff to a 4:15 p.m. kickoff.