Technologies
NFL Week 18: How to Watch Lions vs. Packers, RedZone and More Without Cable
The last week of the regular season ends with a pivotal Lions and Packers NFC North matchup on Sunday Night Football.

The NFL’s final regular season Sunday has arrived. The Chiefs locked up the AFC’s top seed in Saturday night’s early game, while the Jaguars punched their playoff ticket in Saturday’s second contest. On Sunday, there are still a few notable and important games as the regular season comes to a close.
Perhaps the most notable game on the slate will be Sunday Night Football as the Lions head to Green Bay to take on the Packers. A Green Bay win would put the Packers in the postseason as they would have the tie-breaker over the Seahawks even if Seattle wins this afternoon. A Seahawks loss opens the door for the Lions to take the final NFC playoff spot with a win tonight.
Sunday Night Football kicks off at 8:20 p.m. ET (5:20 p.m. PT) on NBC.
Here’s how you can watch all the action this Sunday, including RedZone, as well as the upcoming playoffs without cable.
What are my streaming options for NFL games?
Paying for cable is the easiest solution, but not the cheapest. For cord-cutters looking to save some money, NFL football streaming options can get complicated, with games played across three different days and nights each week on different channels and streaming services. For the final weekend, games will be shown on ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, ESPN and ESPN Plus. The majority of the action takes place on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT) and 4 p.m. ET (1 p.m. PT), with most AFC teams on CBS and most NFC teams on Fox.
All five of the live TV streaming services carry ESPN and Fox, and all but Sling TV carry CBS. All but DirecTV Stream carry the NFL Network. For the games on CBS and Fox, keep in mind that not every service carries every local network, so check each one using the links below to make sure it carries CBS and Fox in your area.
There are three other streaming services that cord-cutting NFL fans should consider. The paid Premium plan of Paramount Plus will show CBS games on Sundays, and the paid Premium plan of Peacock will show NBC’s broadcasts of Sunday Night Football. And ESPN Plus will show both games on the final Saturday of the season.
Wait, there’s one more streaming service to consider for the remainder of the year. Prior to the season, the NFL launched a new streaming service for watching games on your phone or tablet — no casting to your TV. In past years, you could do this for free with the Yahoo Sports app, but now you’ll need to pay $5 a month or $40 for the season for the NFL Plus subscription. With it, you’ll be able to watch every local game on Sunday and the national games on Sunday, Monday and Thursday nights as well as the playoffs and Super Bowl — again, only on your phone or tablet.
Lastly, there’s NFL RedZone, a channel that springs to life each fall and shows live NFL action during the Sunday afternoon games. It pops in and out of the live games and attempts to show each touchdown scored in each game. RedZone is available as an add-on on four of the five major live TV streaming services — all but DirecTV Stream.
Best for everything: YouTube TV ($65)
Our pick from the last two years remains our go-to choice in 2022.
At $65 per month each, YouTube TV checks all the NFL boxes. Local channels CBS, NBC and Fox are included in many markets, and ESPN and the NFL Network are also included so you can watch Sundays and Monday nights. The next best options are FuboTV and Hulu Plus Live TV; both offer the same channels as YouTube TV for NFL fans, but for $70 a month.
Want to follow your fantasy team with RedZone? That’s available on all three services as part of an add-on. If you’re a YouTube TV subscriber, you can add the $11 per month Sports Plus add-on by clicking on your profile and going to Settings, then the Membership tab. FuboTV subscribers can go into My Profile and choose Manage Add-ons to get its $11-per-month Sports Plus with NFL RedZone offering. And Hulu users can now add RedZone for $10 per month with its Sports add-on.
Both YouTube TV and FuboTV allow three people to watch at once (Hulu allows two live streams) and all three have apps on nearly every mobile device and major streaming platform, including Amazon Fire TV, Google TV, Roku and Apple TV.
While all three are largely similar, we like YouTube TV for its superior DVR — unlimited storage compared with 30 hours on FuboTV and 50 hours on Hulu. We also like YouTube TV because it gives you an option to stream in 4K for an extra $20 a month. FuboTV does, too, with its $80-a-month Elite plan. Keep in mind that only Fox and NBC offer 4K NFL broadcasts; CBS and ESPN do not.
DirecTV Stream offers the main broadcast channels for NFL games, but it starts at $70 per month and lacks the NFL Network and RedZone.
Sling TV’s Orange and Blue plan for $55 a month gets you ESPN and the NFL Network, and, in select major markets, Fox and/or NBC, but you’ll still lack CBS. You can also add RedZone for $11 per month with the Sports Extra add-on.
The cheapest way to stream NFL RedZone
A frequent fan-favorite method of following all the NFL action on Sundays, RedZone is a way to catch every big play around the league. The cheapest road to RedZone is to get Sling TV Blue for $40 per month and add the $11 per month Sports Extra add-on.
This option can also be streamed on a host of devices including iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV and web browsers.
Note: If you only subscribe to Sling’s Orange package you won’t be able to get RedZone in Sports Extra. Your base package needs to be either Sling Blue or its larger Sling Blue Plus Orange bundle for you to be able to get RedZone as an add-on. If you choose the latter, the Sports Extra add-on is more, $15 per month, as you will also get additional channels like the SEC Network, ACC Network and PAC 12 Network.
If you mainly plan to watch on a phone, you can also check out RedZone Mobile, which is in the NFL app. This is a separate subscription from NFL Plus and runs $35 for the season (which breaks down to around $7.78 per month for the roughly four-and-a-half months of regular season football). While this is one of the cheapest ways to get RedZone, be aware that — similar to NFL Plus — you will not be able to AirPlay or Chromecast it onto a larger screen and will need to watch on your phone.
Budget alternative for NFC fans in big cities: Sling Blue ($40) or antenna ($20 one-time)
Those looking to save some cash might want to check out Sling Blue for $40 a month. While it lacks ESPN, meaning you’ll miss out on Monday Night Football, in select markets you’ll be able to get Fox and NBC. The catch is that those markets are mainly in big cities, so if you live outside one of those areas, Sling Blue might not be for you.
You can also add RedZone through the company’s $11 per month Sports Extra add-on.
Fox broadcasts most NFC games on Sundays, while NBC has Sunday Night Football. CBS, which broadcasts the bulk of AFC games, isn’t included on Sling at all. But an antenna can fill those local channel gaps without a monthly charge.
Budget alternatives for AFC fans: Paramount Plus (or an antenna)
There are some apps that offer CBS’ slate of Sunday AFC games live, including Paramount Plus’ Premium tier for $10 per month. Depending on where you live, however, your local CBS station (and those NFL games) might not be available. CBS offers livestreaming services in many markets; you can check for yourself if your area has live CBS streaming here.
An antenna is another option for getting CBS. And as we mentioned above, an over-the-air antenna connected to your TV provides another option, no streaming or monthly fee required, as long as you have good reception.
What about Sunday Ticket?
For one more season, NFL Sunday Ticket is still largely limited to DirecTV satellite subscribers. While that is expected to change in 2023, those who live in buildings that can’t add a satellite dish can already get a streaming version to watch football starting at $294 for its To Go package for the season, or $396 for a Max package that includes the RedZone channel (a student version is also available at a discount). You can check your address on the Sunday Ticket site. Both packages have a one-week free trial.
With the season well past the halfway point, those prices have dropped to $220.47 for the To Go option and $281.97 for Max.
The problem here, however, is that even if you’re eligible, it doesn’t include local games. You can only watch Sunday games that aren’t being broadcast on CBS, Fox or NBC in your area. They also won’t be helpful come playoff time — as you’ll need your local stations and ESPN to catch all those games.
Technologies
Zelle App Is Gone. Use These Alternatives to Send Money Digitally
You still have lots of free ways to send money to friends and family electronically.

If Zelle has been your go-to app for sending money digitally, it’s time to find a new method. The digital payment app shut down on April 1.
That doesn’t mean you can’t use Zelle altogether, however. Zelle has only discontinued its standalone app. You can still send money using Zelle if your bank belongs to the Zelle network. You’ll just need to do it through your bank’s app or website. You also have other services to choose from. Here’s what you need to know about this change and your options moving forward.
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Why the Zelle app is shutting down
When Zelle launched in 2017, only about 60 US financial institutions offered the service by the end of that year. Today, that number exceeds 2,200. As a result, less than 2% of Zelle transactions occur through the standalone app. Zelle has been phasing out the ability to make transactions on its mobile app since October 2024.
«Today, the vast majority of people using Zelle to send money use it through their financial institution’s mobile app or online banking experience, and we believe this is the best place for Zelle transactions to occur,» Zelle said in an October 2024 press release.
In December, Zelle was in the spotlight when the Consumer Financial Protected Bureau sued the company and three of the largest US banks for failing to protect consumers from widespread fraud on the peer-to-peer payment network. The lawsuit has since been dropped.
Other ways to send money digitally
You can still use Zelle through your bank’s app or website if it belongs to the Zelle network. You can also switch to another digital payment app, such as:
- Apple Wallet
- Cash App
- PayPal
- Venmo
Take some basic precautions when using Zelle or any other digital payment service. These apps are a frequent target for scammers, and Chase Bank has started blocking some Zelle payments it believes could be fraudulent. Only send money to people you know and trust, and watch for red flags like an urgent message claiming to be from your bank or an online ad for concert tickets that seem impossibly cheap.
Technologies
Marvel Rivals Season 2 Starts Next Week, Devs Drop Big News
Emma Frost and Ultron are joining the Rivals roster in season 2, and developers are upping the pace to one new hero per month starting with season 3.

After surviving the endless night in New York City with the Fantastic Four, Marvel Rivals players are getting invited to the shores of Krakoa for the start of season 2 on April 11. The game dropped the first trailer for the new season, giving us our first official look at the new heroes, and a developer vision video dropped major news about the future of hero releases.
The trailer features the former foe and sometimes-leader of the X-Men, Emma Frost, inviting people from across Rivals’ various timelines to the mutant nation of Krakoa, where everyone gets dressed up for a fancy gala — even Wolverine puts on a white tux. The event, however, is unceremoniously interrupted when Ultron shows up preaching extermination.
We also got a look at some of the cosmetics in season 2, though it’s unclear which are from the shop and which might be in the battle pass. In addition to the dressed-up Wolverine, we also got looks at Magik and Psylocke in the traditional X-Men blue and yellow. Nonmutant guests are also getting in on the fun, with fancy attire for heroes like Cap, Widow and Luna Snow.
New Heroes and balance changes in Marvel Rivals Season 2
Emma Frost joins the roster as a Vanguard. We don’t have detailed information about her abilities yet but expect that information to drop ahead of next week’s season launch. Ultron is coming in the season 2.5 update, which should be in late May.
Some team-ups are changing in season 2, including three new team-up abilities that were previewed in the newest developer vision video.
- Emma Frost allows Magneto and Psylocke to create illusions of themselves.
- Doctor Strange teams up with Scarlet Witch allowing her to use small portals to seemingly increase her damage output via a rapid-shooting alternate fire.
- Cap finally teams up with Bucky, allowing the Winter Soldier to leap to allies.
A few existing team-ups are getting adjustments, with Psylocke, Winter Soldier and Doctor Strange being removed from older team-ups in favor of new ones, and Namor moving from working with Luna’s anchor to Hulk’s to empower his ultimate with gamma energy. Two team-ups are being removed entirely: Magneto can no longer team up with Scarlet Witch, and Thor is no longer anchoring Cap and Storm.
The developers vaguely teased other balance changes, including buffs to Peni, Mister Fantastic and Moon Knight, with Strange trading offensive pressure for more survivability and Rocket getting more utility while Loki and Adam Warlock receive nerfs to their Regeneration Domain and Soul Bond abilities.
Future seasons will be shorter, which means more new heroes
One of the most surprising moments in the developer video was the announcement that, beginning with season 3, seasons will be two months long instead of roughly three. There has been a lot of discussion online about whether Rivals’ pace of new heroes (about eight per year based on three-month seasons) was sustainable. Well, apparently the Rivals devs took that personally and are cranking up that pace to a new hero every month, meaning 12 new heroes per year.
This feels borderline ludicrous compared with other hero shooters that average about three new heroes per year, or even MOBAs like League of Legends, which has averaged about four new champions per year over the past five years. Rivals benefits from having an overflowing stable of Marvel characters to pull from rather than inventing their own hero concepts, and compared with Overwatch, the developers seem less worried about mechanical overlap in their heroes, as seen with many support ultimates. Still, a new hero every month feels unheard of for a hero shooter.
New Krakoa map and competitive changes
A new Krakoa-themed domination map is being added in season 2, and Yggsgard: Royal Palace (domination) and Tokyo 2099: Shin-Shibuya (convergence) will rotate out of the map pool for ranked modes, though they’ll still be available in quick play and custom games.
The threshold for competitive picks and bans, which currently only happen in diamond-ranked lobbies, will be lowered to gold 3. Players in Eternity or One Above All ranks will only be able to duo queue, instead of queuing with larger groups — a measure that’s likely intended to keep high-level teams from stomping lobbies.
Speaking of ranks, season 2 will drop everyone by 9 divisions, which is equal to 3 ranks. That means players in Eternity will drop to diamond, and any players at platinum 3 or below will start their climb from bronze 3 again. (AGAIN… AGAIN.)
Rivals developers also announced that individual player performance will be weighted higher when determining competitive progress after a match, meaning if your stats outperform your team’s, you’ll earn more for winning and drop less for losing. This change can help elevate smurfs and other high-skill players in lower-ranked lobbies by getting them into their appropriate ranks faster. However, it can also lead to players stat-farming, instead of playing in a way that is most effective for winning games. Overall, given that Rivals doesn’t use any sort of competitive placement matches, this should be a net positive for the game.
Other announcements
Rivals is adding new skin recolors to certain hero skins and (finally) giving players the option to gift costumes to their friends so they can surprise someone for their birthday, which you definitely did not forget about.
Missions are changing a bit, with the addition of weekly missions and a redistribution of where battle-pass-progressing chrono tokens are earned. The devs framed this as creating a «smoother expectation» of how to earn chrono tokens, but the surface-level description sounds like they’re just making it harder to earn battle pass progress over the season by tucking away more progress under missions with shorter time limits.
The developer vision update also gave us our first look at the competitive distribution, showing how many Rivals players are in each tier as of season 1.5.
The Hellfire Gala trailer says season 2 will start on April 11. While it doesn’t give a specific start time, expect the between-seasons maintenance to finish sometime in the middle of the night in the US.
For more on Marvel Rivals, check out which heroes and roles you should play and how to get free skins.
Technologies
Nintendo Switch 2 vs. Switch 1: Every Detail Compared
The Nintendo Switch 2’s official specs aren’t too different, but the new console has a lot of upgrades on the original Switch.

The Nintendo Switch 2 may look like its predecessor, but there’s been a lot of changes to its features and under the hood. The new console has «10x the graphics performance» compared to the original Switch, says Nvidia, which built the custom processor powering the Switch 2.
The Switch 2, with a release date on June 5, is priced at $450 alone or $500 in a bundle with Mario Kart World, the headliner of the console’s launch games. Here’s all the info on how to preorder the Switch 2.
Note that we’re mostly comparing the Switch 2 to the original Switch 1 released in March 2017, because looping in the Switch Lite and Switch OLED gets complicated.
Design
Broadly, the Switch 2 is a larger version of its predecessor, with everything looking slightly inflated: bigger footprint, bigger screen, bigger Joy-Cons.
Original Switch: The original Switch, with Joy-Cons slotted into the side rails, is a little over 9.4 inches wide, 4 inches tall, a little over half an inch thick and weighs about 10.5 ounces (297 grams). The Joy-Cons slide into place from the top of the device’s sides, while a thin wedge of plastic pops out of the back of the console to serve as a kickstand.
The Switch also came with a dock, which the console could slot into to for recharging and outputting to a TV or large display via HDMI port.
Switch 2: The new Switch 2 is bigger in every way, but it has the same overall shape and layout as the original. The new Joy-Cons will indeed be held in place on the console magnetically, and connect to the console via pins. The new console also sports a wide U-shaped kickstand that spans almost its entire rear width, which can be moved around to prop up the Switch 2 at a variety of angles. Nintendo says the console has more powerful speakers, which we’re looking forward to testing.
The Switch 2’s dock is largely similar in function though it has rounded edges and an internal fan to cool down the console during long game sessions. More importantly, it can output games in 4K to TVs, but only for select games.
Joy-Cons
The Joy-Cons were a marvel when they arrived on the first Switch, and while they’re functionally similar in its successor, there have been upgrades in the Switch 2’s controllers.
Original Switch: The Switch Joy-Cons are simple but powerful controllers that slid on and off the console via plastic rails, connecting and recharging via pins on the side. Detach and they become their own micro-controllers, with little shoulder buttons to boot.
Switch 2: The new console’s Joy-Cons are larger to fit the Switch 2, and lock into the side of the console via powerful magnets — there are small inward-facing buttons to the side of ZR and ZL to detach the controllers from the console. The larger-size Joy-Cons have longer L and R outside shoulder buttons, as well as much wider SL and SR internal shoulder buttons, which are accessible when detached from the console.
And yes, you can use the Switch 2 Joy-Cons as mice by placing their inner edges flat on a surface. During the Nintendo Direct, we saw it being used to control active action games like the wheelchair basketball-simulating DragXDrive and strategy games like Civilization VII.
Display size
Original Switch: The original Switch has a 6.2-inch LCD screen with 1,280×720-pixel resolution, which was reasonably impressive at launch in 2017 but has been outclassed by newer handhelds with sharper displays. The Switch OLED upgraded this with a larger 7-inch display showing deeper blacks and colors, but no upgrade in resolution. The Switch Lite has a 5.5-inch LCD screen.
Switch 2: Unsurprisingly, the Switch 2’s larger size means a larger display. The new console has a 7.9-inch 1080p LCD screen that can get up to 120Hz refresh rate in handheld mode, or up to 4K when docked and outputting to a TV.
Why no OLED display? Possibly to save on costs… or possibly to give Nintendo room to release a Switch 2 OLED version down the line.
CPU/GPU
Original Switch: The original Switch runs on an Nvidia custom Tegra X1 processor split into four ARM Cortex A57 CPU cores, and according to Hackaday, there are four extra A53 cores that aren’t used.
Switch 2: Once again, Nintendo hasn’t released any official info on the Switch 2’s specs, even after the Nintendo Direct reveal stream — and they most the company reveals is that it has a «custom processor made by Nvidia» on the Switch 2’s official specs page. Nvidia confirmed it also has a custom GPU, claiming that the new console has «10x the graphics performance» of the Switch 1, and the custom processor’s AI-powered features include Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS), face tracking and background removal for video chat and real-time ray tracing.
We do still have more supposed details from previous leaks. Months ago on X (formerly Twitter), leaker Zuby_Tech posted that the Switch 2’s CPU will be an eight-core Arm Cortex A78C. They also suggested that the GPU will be an Nvidia T239 Ampere, aligning with years of similar rumors reported on by Eurogamer and others about the custom chip, which derives from Nvidia’s Tegra line of chips for smartphones and mobile devices.
RAM and storage
Original Switch. The Switch has 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM and 32GB of onboard storage, expandable up to 2TB via microSD cards in the slot beneath the kickstand.
Switch 2: Even after the reveal stream, Nintendo didn’t release official specs for RAM. Leaker Zuby_Tech posted on X back in September suggesting the Switch 2 will have 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 256GB of onboard storage. That leak also suggested the new console will have two internal fans, up from the single one in the original Switch.
Nintendo did confirm that the new console will have 256GB of onboard storage, which can be expanded with special microSD Express cards — sorry, your old Switch-compatible microSD cards won’t work on the Switch 2.
Battery life
Original Switch: The original Switch packs a 4,310-mAh battery, which gives between 4.5 and 9 hours of battery life depending on screen brightness and other factors.
Switch 2: Though Nintendo didn’t release details on the Switch 2’s capacity in the reveal stream, the company does list specs on its website, showing it packs a 5,220mAh battery. While that’s notably larger than the one in its predecessor, Nintendo estimates this will only get players between an estimated 2 and 6.5 hours, depending on games played.
Ports
Original Switch: The first Switch sports a single USB-C port out the bottom, a 3.5mm headphone jack on the top and Wi-Fi 5 plus Bluetooth 4.1 connectivity. On the top is a slot at the top for Switch game cartridges as well as the microSD slot beneath the kickstand on the rear of the console.
Switch 2: The Switch 2 retains the original’s USB-C port on the bottom and 3.5mm jack on the top while adding another USB-C port topside, and now we know what it’s for: to connect with accessories like the Nintendo Switch Camera, a webcam-like camera on a stand to let you do Nintendo’s version of FaceTiming while you play games with your friends.
Nintendo hasn’t clarified the console’s connectivity options, and rumors are scarce on the subject.
As for cartridges, Switch 2 will play some original Switch games in physical versions. The cartridge slot is to the right of the headphone jack in the above image, which is where the slot is on the original Switch. You can tell game cartridges from the two console generations apart by color: ones for the new Switch 2 are red, while older Switch 1 games are black.
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