They did it at the request of NY State who did not want to have 60000 people out on the roads trying to get to and from the game at a time thee state and local govts would be fighting an uphill battle trying to just keep the roads clear enough for emergency vehicles The NFL bows down to what the TV networks that pay them billions want, and I'm sure the TV network would rather have the game on Sunday. So I doubt the NFL was even happy with this decision but they didn't have much choice.