The NFL announced its pair of Saturday games for the Week 15 slate.

The Las Vegas Raiders and Cleveland Browns will kick off at 4:30 p.m. ET on Dec. 18, with the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts to follow at 8:20 p.m. ET.

The league originally left five games open to flex into the two Saturday slots. Tuesday's news means these three games are locked in for Dec. 19:

• New York Jets at Miami Dolphins 
• Washington Football Team at Philadelphia Eagles 
• Carolina Panthers at Buffalo Bills

Schedule flexing has become commonplace in the NFL, and the practice carried over into the new 18-week regular season. The idea is that league officials might be able to position important games into prime-time viewing hours.

The Patriots (7-4) have a half-game lead on the Buffalo Bills for first place in the AFC. The Colts (6-5) might be out of a playoff position for the time being, but they're also riding a three-game winning streak into Week 12.

New England and Indianapolis could be jostling for wild-card positioning in one month's time.

Cleveland vs. Las Vegas may have lost some luster by then, on the other hand.

The Browns are last in the AFC North at 6-5, and a 13-10 victory over the Detroit Lions couldn't make people ignore Baker Mayfield getting booed by his own fans. Likewise, the Raiders (5-5) have dropped three games in a row amid a wealth of off-field problems.

Their encounter could be a meeting between two teams that have fallen short of the expectations they set for themselves heading into 2021.