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Dallas Cowboys-Tampa Bay Buccaneers game on Dec. 18 flexed into prime time

The Dallas Cowboys game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Dec. 18 has been flexed into prime time and will air 8:30 p.m. ET in NBC's Sunday night slot. This will be Dallas' third of four straight prime-time games.

NBC flexed the Cincinnati Bengals-Pittsburgh Steelers game out of the Dec. 18 prime-time slot. That game will now air at 1 p.m. E.T. on CBS.

The Cowboys (11-1) are in first place and the Buccaneers (7-5) are tied for first place in their respective divisions. The Cowboys will have a total of six prime-time games (Week 3 vs. Bears, Week 8 vs. Eagles, Week 13 at Vikings, Week 14 at Giants, Week 15 vs. Buccaneers and Week 16 vs. Lions).

The Cowboys-Vikings game drew a record for "Thursday Night Football with 21.8 million viewers.

The Cowboys' win against the Washington Redskins on Thanksgiving was the most-watched regular-season game Fox has had, with 35.1 million viewers. The Cowboys' win at the Pittsburgh Steelers drew 28.9 million viewers on Fox.

With the Bengals currently 4-7-1 and in third place in the AFC North and the Steelers 7-5, the matchup does not have the national appeal it had last season.

The Bengals will end up with three prime-time games this season. They played the Dolphins on Thursday night in Week 4 and the Giants on Monday Night Football in Week 10, and have a Christmas Eve game at the Texans scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET.

Flexible scheduling applies only to Sunday games. The Bengals-Texans game falls on a Saturday and is not eligible to be moved.

ESPN Cowboys reporter Todd Archer contributed to this report.