NFL Week 15 schedule: Date and times for Saturday games

Live from Indianapolis, it's an NFL Saturday night!

The NFL has released its Week 15 schedule, complete with a Saturday night doubleheader that will help shape the playoff picture. This Saturday slate lands on December 18, two days after the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers open the slate with a crucial divisional showdown in primetime. The games also land on the first day of college bowl season, with the LA Bowl (Mountain West vs. Pac-12) and the New Orleans Bowl (Sun Belt vs. Conference USA) headlining the night games.

Which NFL games have earned Saturday night honors?

Derek Carr (L) and Baker Mayfield meet after a 2018 meeting in Oakland (Photo: Getty)

Las Vegas @ Cleveland (4:30 p.m. ET, NFL Network)

The rise or fall of the 2021 Cleveland Browns (6-5) will come in front of a massive audience: four of their final six games will be nationally televised, a stretch that includes this weekend's Sunday showcase against Baltimore (8:20 p.m. ET, NBC) and a late afternoon Christmas Day game in Green Bay. Following a much-needed, if not very sloppy, 13-10 win over Detroit last Sunday, the Browns are currently a half-game behind the Bengals, Chargers, and Bills in the AFC wild card chase. They're seeking back-to-back NFL playoff appearances for the first time since a five-year stretch ended after the 1989 season.

Las Vegas (5-5) is also caught in the AFC wild card logjam after dropping three in a row after a 5-2 start. The Raiders will be partaking late afternoon Thanksgiving festivities in Dallas (4:30 p.m. ET, CBS).

Mac Jones has been one of the stars of the NFL's late fall schedule (Photo: Getty)

New England @ Indianapolis (8:20 p.m. ET, NFL Network)

No Brady, no Manning, no problem.

One of the NFL's fiercest new century rivalries gets a bit of a makeover, as the Patriots and Colts will, once again, seek to shift the playoff bracket. Adding the Patriots (7-4) to the primetime slate was a no-brainer after a five-game winning streak shot them up to the top of the AFC East standings. The Colts (6-5) have quietly mounted a playoff push of their own with wins in five of their past six, including a jaw-dropping 41-15 road victory in Buffalo on Sunday.

This will be the Patriots' and Colts' first meeting since 2018 and the first to feature neither Tom Brady nor Peyton Manning since November 1997, when Drew Bledsoe outdueled Jim Harbaugh at Foxboro Stadium.