MasterStrategist Posted January 2, 2021 Posted January 2, 2021 Very likely that the NFL will follow past seasons and announce the official dates/times of the playoffs, by tomorrow night (approx 830 pm est). As of now, we know the following: 1. 1st round: 3 games will be played on each of Saturday and Sunday 2. Those games will be at 1pm, 4:40pm and 8:15pm. My assumptions, note these are not confirmed or official: 1. AFC/NFC on a single day: like last yr, I will guess the NFL will schedule all AFC games on a single day (same for Nfc games). Especially to eliminate any competitive advantage of a team getting a day more or less to rest, I think NFL goes this route. 2. Saturday vs Sunday: last yr, NFL put AFC on Saturday. I think there is a solid chance this is flipped this year, considering it does disadvantage Afc teams to play with 1 less day of rest heading into playoffs. the other consideration, mentioned in the COVID thread, is regard to any outbreak or team specific situations. NFL might see a team such as Cleveland and decide its best to put AFC on Sunday. Many factors to consider I'm sure, but my guess is Afc on Sunday. 3. Seeding and timeslot: last yr, the NFL put the 4/5 seed game.early then the 3/6. Following suit under the new playoff system, I think the NFL will schedule all 4 seeds at 1pm, 3 seed at 4:40pm, and 2 seed at 8:15 (prime slot). Guess / preference: 1. be interesting to know what everyone prefers, date/time slot. Please share what you are hoping for 2. My guess is Bills clinch 2 seed and play Sunday night at 8:15, imo, the premier timeslot round 1. What do you think will occur? If nothing else, hope this helps provide informative info of the new playoff system (time slots) until NFL releases more detail. Go Bills! 4 1 2
nato7412 Posted January 2, 2021 Posted January 2, 2021 Thanks for doing the digging to figure this out! I would have to agree that AFC games are Sunday this year, I could definitely see us not being at 815 though especially if there is a Baltimore Pittsburgh matcup as I assume that would be preferred by the NFL over Bills vs Dolphins or Colts.
peterlaw Posted January 2, 2021 Posted January 2, 2021 My preference is 1pm on Saturday because I can't wait ! And more rest before the Divisional Round the following weekend.
wjag Posted January 2, 2021 Posted January 2, 2021 I like being the first game on the first day. That was what it was like in the 90s. Bills win and get to root/watch other games unfold. 3
BillsFan130 Posted January 2, 2021 Posted January 2, 2021 Hoping for either Sunday at 1, Saturday at 4:30, or Saturday 8:15. 37 minutes ago, MasterStrategist said: Very likely that the NFL will follow past seasons and announce the official dates/times of the playoffs, by tomorrow night (approx 830 pm est). As of now, we know the following: 1. 1st round: 3 games will be played on each of Saturday and Sunday 2. Those games will be at 1pm, 4:40pm and 8:15pm. My assumptions, note these are not confirmed or official: 1. AFC/NFC on a single day: like last yr, I will guess the NFL will schedule all AFC games on a single day (same for Nfc games). Especially to eliminate any competitive advantage of a team getting a day more or less to rest, I think NFL goes this route. 2. Saturday vs Sunday: last yr, NFL put AFC on Saturday. I think there is a solid chance this is flipped this year, considering it does disadvantage Afc teams to play with 1 less day of rest heading into playoffs. the other consideration, mentioned in the COVID thread, is regard to any outbreak or team specific situations. NFL might see a team such as Cleveland and decide its best to put AFC on Sunday. Many factors to consider I'm sure, but my guess is Afc on Sunday. 3. Seeding and timeslot: last yr, the NFL put the 4/5 seed game.early then the 3/6. Following suit under the new playoff system, I think the NFL will schedule all 4 seeds at 1pm, 3 seed at 4:40pm, and 2 seed at 8:15 (prime slot). Guess / preference: 1. be interesting to know what everyone prefers, date/time slot. Please share what you are hoping for 2. My guess is Bills clinch 2 seed and play Sunday night at 8:15, imo, the premier timeslot round 1. What do you think will occur? If nothing else, hope this helps provide informative info of the new playoff system (time slots) until NFL releases more detail. Go Bills! Do you know if the NFL put the NFC games on the Saturday in the previous year? Just wondering if there is a pattern here.
NoSaint Posted January 2, 2021 Posted January 2, 2021 4 minutes ago, BillsFan130 said: Hoping for either Sunday at 1, Saturday at 4:30, or Saturday 8:15. Do you know if the NFL put the NFC games on the Saturday in the previous year? Just wondering if there is a pattern here. it has not been consistently split like this long term. Not sure if it’s a 2 year pattern. I think seeing the network breakdown might be more telling then what the OP did. Ie who has which time slots and what order they may be able to claim the prime time games or protect games 1
BillsFan130 Posted January 2, 2021 Posted January 2, 2021 6 minutes ago, NoSaint said: it has not been consistently split like this long term. Not sure if it’s a 2 year pattern. I think seeing the network breakdown might be more telling then what the OP did. Ie who has which time slots and what order they may be able to claim the prime time games or protect games Ya fair enough and that makes sense. Thanks for the response.
Nextmanup Posted January 2, 2021 Posted January 2, 2021 For some reason, I have been assuming we would play on Saturday, not Sunday, but I haven't analyzed this as deeply as the OP. I do agree with the theory that "better" teams (higher seeds) play later in the day as those are *in theory* the good teams everyone wants to see and they get the higher network TV priority. So the Bills going on at 8:15 on either day makes sense to me. I am dying to see our first playoff game and can't wait for it to get started, so I assume we will play in the dead last time slot, 8:15pm Sunday Night. 😂
klos63 Posted January 2, 2021 Posted January 2, 2021 My son has a hockey game on Saturday 645pm local, 845pm Bills time. Sunday please.
No_Matter_What Posted January 2, 2021 Posted January 2, 2021 (edited) Anything but last Sunday game for us Europeans please. Unfortunately, that's exactly what OP predicts. However, I just read somewhere that it is already known that Kamara has no chance to be allowed to play on Saturday, but may play on Sunday. I have no idea if it actually might play a role in scheduling, but if yes, then it could possibly move NFC to Sunday (which I prefer). Anyway, who cares, I will be watching No_Matter_What. Edited January 2, 2021 by No_Matter_What 1
djp14150 Posted January 2, 2021 Posted January 2, 2021 This all AFC on one day is bunk...it happened doesn’t mean anything because the programming last yearwas espn, vas Then Fox and nbc thus year cbs get two and fox get two. I don’t see thrm doing afc on just one day. 1
Tuco Posted January 2, 2021 Posted January 2, 2021 All the bars and restaurants that have to close at 10:00 PM in New York are definitely not hoping for an 8:15 start. 1 2
Giuseppe Tognarelli Posted January 2, 2021 Posted January 2, 2021 The Saints will surely be on Sunday because that's the first day Kamara can come back.
sullim4 Posted January 2, 2021 Posted January 2, 2021 People do not like to hear this here, but the NFL schedules solely based on ratings. The Bills sadly do not pull the numbers that teams like Pittsburgh, Tampa (Tom Brady), and Dallas (should they make it) do. This is the reason Bills/Texans last year was banished to the early Saturday slot, which historically has the lowest ratings of any wild card slot. The only guarantees that we have at this point is that CBS/Nickelodeon will have the 4:40p Sunday game, and NBC will have the SNF game at 8:20. CBS has already expressed their desire to have the Steelers in the 4:40 slot, and the SNF game is almost guaranteed to be an NFC team. FOX has the early slot on Sunday, which would also be an NFC team. Expect the Bills to play on Saturday, probably early, on ESPN or NBC. 2 1
Giuseppe Tognarelli Posted January 2, 2021 Posted January 2, 2021 I don't like the Bills in home night games. I want first game Saturday. 1 minute ago, sullim4 said: People do not like to hear this here, but the NFL schedules solely based on ratings. The Bills sadly do not pull the numbers that teams like Pittsburgh, Tampa (Tom Brady), and Dallas (should they make it) do. This is the reason Bills/Texans last year was banished to the early Saturday slot, which historically has the lowest ratings of any wild card slot. The only guarantees that we have at this point is that CBS/Nickelodeon will have the 4:40p Sunday game, and NBC will have the SNF game at 8:20. CBS has already expressed their desire to have the Steelers in the 4:40 slot, and the SNF game is almost guaranteed to be an NFC team. FOX has the early slot on Sunday, which would also be an NFC team. Expect the Bills to play on Saturday, probably early, on ESPN or NBC. Why would SNF be almost guaranteed to be an NFC team?
sullim4 Posted January 2, 2021 Posted January 2, 2021 5 minutes ago, Giuseppe Tognarelli said: I don't like the Bills in home night games. I want first game Saturday. Why would SNF be almost guaranteed to be an NFC team? Ratings. This is the first year of the expanded playoff format, but expect the Sunday afternoon/evening slots to be the highest rated. That's how it works on a typical regular season Sunday as well as during the divisional round. CBS has the Sunday afternoon slot, and the NFL will not pass up putting an NFC team that gets eyeballs (NFC East/Tampa Bay/New Orleans/Seattle) in one of those slots. It is, of course, possible that the NFL Cross-flexes an NFC team into the 4:40p CBS slot, as CBS and NBC bid on these games and won irrespective of the traditional AFC/NFC Sunday packages, but I think that's doubtful.
MasterStrategist Posted January 2, 2021 Author Posted January 2, 2021 1 hour ago, BillsFan130 said: Hoping for either Sunday at 1, Saturday at 4:30, or Saturday 8:15. Do you know if the NFL put the NFC games on the Saturday in the previous year? Just wondering if there is a pattern here. No they did not. Last year was the first time, that I recall, that afc and nfc were split on separate days. I think it makes a lot of sense to keep on separate days (ie: Bills wouldn't play Saturday, steelers sunday, if both win they play following Saturday as an example would benefit buffalo). 1 1
Just Jack Posted January 2, 2021 Posted January 2, 2021 I only went back 10 years.... 2010 - Split - one AFC/NFC each day 2011 - Split - one AFC/NFC each day 2012 - Split - one AFC/NFC each day 2013 - Split - one AFC/NFC each day 2014 - Split - one AFC/NFC each day 2015 - AFC Saturday NFC Sunday 2016 - Split - one AFC/NFC each day 2017 - Split - one AFC/NFC each day 2018 - Split - one AFC/NFC each day 2019 - AFC Saturday NFC Sunday 1
Mike in Horseheads Posted January 2, 2021 Posted January 2, 2021 1pm on either Saturday or Sunday. Networks will pass on them in primetime, just a guess. 1
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