Vikings ready to be prime-time player

Brett Favre's impact on the Vikings has been felt in a multitude of ways, including the team's start times.

The latest example came Tuesday when the NFL announced the Vikings game on Dec. 6 at Arizona will be shifted to a 7:20 p.m. kickoff on NBC. The game originally was set for a 3:15 p.m. start on Fox, but it falls during the flexible portion of the schedule when the league can move games to Sunday night.

"This was a great opportunity to get two first-place teams that generally don't get a lot of prime-time exposure into prime time," said Howard Katz, the NFL's senior vice president of broadcasting and media operations.

NBC originally had been scheduled to show New England-Miami that evening, but that game has been shifted to a noon start on CBS that day. The Vikings (9-1) and Cardinals (7-3) are in first place in the NFC North and West, respectively.

"[It's] probably because of the way the season has gone, and it's a game between two good teams that should be in the playoffs," center John Sullivan said. "Plus, Brett brings that kind of attention. It's probably mostly due to Brett."

The latest switch means that three of the Vikings' final five games are set for prime-time starts. The team also has now had three games moved to more attractive start times this season, including Sunday's against Chicago at the Metrodome. That was originally set for a noon kickoff but now will begin at 3:15 p.m.

The Vikings (9-1) might not be done having start times changed. Their Dec. 13 home game against Cincinnati on CBS is a candidate to be shifted from noon to 3:15 p.m., and the Jan. 3 regular-season finale against the Giants at the Dome appears to be a prime candidate to move to Sunday night.

The Vikings already are scheduled to be on "Sunday Night Football" on Dec. 20 when they play at Carolina. The following week, the Vikings will play at Chicago on "Monday Night Football" on ESPN.

The shift of the Vikings-Cardinals matchup marks the second time the Vikings have been flexed to a Sunday night since NBC began airing this package in 2006. The first time came in 2007 when they lost to Washington late in the regular season at the Metrodome.

"It's great," Vikings wide receiver Sidney Rice said of the change. "Obviously it means we're doing something right, and I hope we continue to do the same thing that we've been doing. Everybody is confident within each other and we feel like the person next to us is going to do their job and hopefully these prime-time games will put us where we need to be."

Coach Brad Childress pointed out that, of the 53 players on the roster, only No. 3 quarterback Sage Rosenfels and rookie center Jon Cooper have yet to play this season. NFL teams are allowed to have 45 players active on game day so obviously Childress has mixed it up at times.

He mentioned the fact that the Vikings have had five safeties up at times this season while many teams have only three active. That's because backup safeties Husain Abdullah, Eric Frampton and Jamarca Sanford are key special-teams players.

• Rice, who was in Austin, Minn., with owner Zygi Wilf on Tuesday, on whether his breakout season might lead him to ask about a raise: "I'm not concerned about that. The only numbers I'm concerned about right now are 10-1."

• Wilf was asked by a fan if he had ever made an obscene gesture toward the crowd like Titans owner Bud Adams did after his team beat the Buffalo Bills on Nov. 15. Adams was fined by the league. "Now that I know you get fined $250,000, I'll put my hands in my pockets," Wilf joked.