Bengals vs. Steelers Flexed to 'Sunday Night Football' in Week 17

The fate of the AFC North will be decided next Sunday night.

NBC announced that the final game of the 2014 regular season will feature the Pittsburgh Steelers hosting the Cincinnati Bengals:

After their Week 16 win, the Steelers clinched a playoff spot, but the AFC North remains up for grabs. The 9-4-1 Bengals currently lead by a half-game over 10-5 Pittsburgh. Even if Cincinnati loses on Monday night to the Denver Broncos, it can still win the division by beating the Steelers next week.

Jay Morrison of the Cox Media Group thinks that the extra hours gained by moving the game from 1 p.m. ET to 8:30 p.m. ET will provide an added benefit to the Bengals' preparations.

NFL Network's Rich Eisen believes playing Monday night and then Sunday night in consecutive weeks could also help Bengals QB Andy Dalton overcome his issues when playing on the biggest stage:

Fox Sports NFL provided the numbers from Dalton's last four prime-time games, and they aren't encouraging for Cincinnati:

The Steelers also own Cincinnati since the turn of the millennium. In the 30 meetings between the two teams from 2000 onward, Pittsburgh is 22-8, including winning seven of the past nine matchups.