Week 18 Saturday Games

[Buffalo03]

As we know, the NFL likes to schedule 2 games on Saturday during week 18 with playoff implications. There are really only 5 games I can see them choosing from looking at the lineup of games but it obviously depends on what happens this week. If the Steelers beat the Chiefs and Bills beat the Jets, I can see Bills vs Patriots and Chiefs at Broncos being the 2 games as it could be both of them going for the 1 seed in the AFC. I can also see Browns at Ravens and Bengals at Steelers being 2 other games since that could be to determine who wins that division. The one other game I could possibly see would be Seahawks at Rams as that could possibly be for the NFC West as well. It doesn't really appear there will be "win and in" games to pick from and I think Vikings at Lions will be the Sunday night game as that can be what determines the number 1 seed in the NFC. 

 

If the Steelers beat the Chiefs and Bills beat the Jets, I could definitely see

 

Saturday January 4th

4:30pm Bills at Patriots

8:00pm Chiefs at Broncos

 

I don't think these games will be flipped because if the Chiefs play first and win, then that makes the Bills game pointless. What does everyone think? What are your picks for the possible Saturday games?

 

[f0neguy]

If the Steelers beat the Chiefs and the Bills beat the Jets this week then the Bills and Chiefs games will be at the same time on the final weekend.  That way both teams have to play to win, nobody gets a break.

[SoCal Deek]

While I see your point, in that scenario wouldn’t the NFL want the Bills and Chiefs to play at the exact same time? What’s the advantage of them playing on Saturday? 

[Eight17]

I don't see any Saturday games listed on the Week 18 schedule. They are all currently listed as "Sunday TBA" so that no team in the hunt has an advantage. I can't imagine the NFL wanting to have home field advantage or final playoff spots determined on Saturday, making Sunday games even more meaningless. For example, last year's Week 18 Bills/Dolphins game was moved to Sunday night due to the seeding implications. 

[Buffalo03]

4 minutes ago, SoCal Deek said:

While I see your point, in that scenario wouldn’t the NFL want the Bills and Chiefs to play at the exact same time? What’s the advantage of them playing on Saturday? 

If one game is played before the other in the order that I put it in, then there is plenty of an advantage. The Bills would need to win and have the Chiefs lose to get the one. The Bills playing at 4:30 Saturday would put the pressure on the Chiefs to definitely have to play to win Saturday night. To me, it's the same as letting them play at the same time Sunday at 4:25

[Gregg]

I am surprised the NFL had games on this past Saturday with the CFB playoffs. Usually, the NFL doesn't play on Saturday when CFB is going on.

[Buffalo03]

14 minutes ago, f0neguy said:

If the Steelers beat the Chiefs and the Bills beat the Jets this week then the Bills and Chiefs games will be at the same time on the final weekend.  That way both teams have to play to win, nobody gets a break.

But if you look at how I scheduled it, the Bills would play first at 4:30. If they win, that 100% puts the pressure on the Chiefs on the 8:00 game to also have to play to win the final week.

 

Edited Monday at 01:57 PM by Buffalo03

[MikePJ76]

Traditionally there are no Saturday games on the final week and they will flex the most important game to SNF.  
 

I imagine Minnesota and Detroit close out the season on SNF unless Fox protected that game.

[Buffalo03]

3 minutes ago, MikePJ76 said:

Traditionally there are no Saturday games on the final week and they will flex the most important game to SNF.  
 

I imagine Minnesota and Detroit close out the season on SNF unless Fox protected that game.

That is incorrect. They flex 2 games with playoff implications to Saturday the last few years and are doing it again this year. One game will be at 4:30 and the other at 8pm. They are usually "win and in" games. They did it last year with Steelers at Ravens and Texans at Colts and have done it the few years prior as well. Because there aren't really any "win and in" games this year, I think they will be doing games with 1 seed or division implications 

 

Edited Monday at 02:01 PM by Buffalo03

[strive_for_five_guy]

3 minutes ago, MikePJ76 said:

Traditionally there are no Saturday games on the final week and they will flex the most important game to SNF.  
 

I imagine Minnesota and Detroit close out the season on SNF unless Fox protected that game.

https://sports.yahoo.com/playing-nfl-week-18-heres-012803106.html

 

Looks to me there will be two games on Saturday, just like there’s been in previous seasons.  If Broncos loses to the Bengals this week, no way their game against the Chiefs is flexed to Saturday night, given it will have implications for the 1 seed and WC then.  I’d see that game as either 4:25 on Sunday, or even Sunday night.  Agree that Bills/Jets would make sense to go first or at same time.

 

[Buffalo03]

2 minutes ago, strive_for_five_guy said:

https://sports.yahoo.com/playing-nfl-week-18-heres-012803106.html

 

Looks to me there will be two games on Saturday, just like there’s been in previous seasons.  If Broncos loses to the Bengals this week, no way their game against the Chiefs is flexed to Saturday night, given it will have implications for the 1 seed and WC then.  I’d see that game as either 4:25 on Sunday, or even Sunday night.  Agree that Bills/Jets would make sense to go first or at same time.

 

Their game against the Chiefs could be flexed to Saturday that night if it's in the order I put it in. If the Steelers beat the Chiefs, Bengals beat the Broncos and Bills beat the Jets, it would make a lot of sense to put Bills vs Patriots Saturday at 4:30. A Bills win would put the pressure on the Chiefs to also win in the Saturday 8pm to get the 1. And it also means the Broncos would be fighting for their playoff lives. There are no win and in games this year, I don't think so the Saturday games are gonna be ones that either come down to a 1 seed or one that determines a division 

[bills6969]

17 minutes ago, Gregg said:

I am surprised the NFL had games on this past Saturday with the CFB playoffs. Usually, the NFL doesn't play on Saturday when CFB is going on.

They had to bc of their brilliant idea to have games on xmas

[MikePJ76]

18 minutes ago, Buffalo03 said:

That is incorrect. They flex 2 games with playoff implications to Saturday the last few years and are doing it again this year. One game will be at 4:30 and the other at 8pm. They are usually "win and in" games. They did it last year with Steelers at Ravens and Texans at Colts and have done it the few years prior as well. Because there aren't really any "win and in" games this year, I think they will be doing games with 1 seed or division implications 

 

I guess I didn’t realize they did that recently or didn’t remember.  
 

the standard was always most of the league playing at noon(1) and the playoff implications games at 4 and SNF.

 

this means that the Bills might win 14 games, get the 2 seed and then travel in week 18 for their final game while say Denver might get a home game on Saturday and if they win they get in as the 7 seed having won 10 games but get an extra day of rest.  This makes no sense.

Edited Monday at 02:19 PM by MikePJ76

[Buffalo03]

3 minutes ago, MikePJ76 said:

I guess I didn’t realize they did that recently or didn’t remember.  
 

the standard was always most of the league playing at noon(1) and the playoff implications games at 4 and SNF.

Yeah, they started it in 2021, I believe

[Brianmoorman4jesus]

I can’t see any possible way that they put us on Saturday. There are too many games that will have more meaning. Maybe if we lost to the jets, then you have a situation where we have to play to hold off teams for the 2. Absolutely if we had a look at the 1 that game will be 4:25 along side the chiefs 

[Buffalo03]

17 minutes ago, MikePJ76 said:

I guess I didn’t realize they did that recently or didn’t remember.  
 

the standard was always most of the league playing at noon(1) and the playoff implications games at 4 and SNF.

 

this means that the Bills might win 14 games, get the 2 seed and then travel in week 18 for their final game while say Denver might get a home game on Saturday and if they win they get in as the 7 seed having won 10 games but get an extra day of rest.  This makes no sense.

I don't know what you mean that it makes no sense? I also don't know what you mean by an extra day of rest. If the Steelers beat the Chiefs, Bengals beat the Broncos and Bills beat the Jets, that means both the Bills and Chiefs will be playing for the 1 seed the final week. It also means that the Broncos would he fighting for their playoff lives as well. So, it would make for a very enticing game to make for the Saturday night time slot. 

3 minutes ago, Brianmoorman4jesus said:

I can’t see any possible way that they put us on Saturday. There are too many games that will have more meaning. Maybe if we lost to the jets, then you have a situation where we have to play to hold off teams for the 2. Absolutely if we had a look at the 1 that game will be 4:25 along side the chiefs 

There are not that many games that have that much more meaning if you look at the slate of games that are on the week 18 schedule. There are no clear cut "win and in" games. The NFL is gonna have a few games to choose from with either 1 seed or division winning implications

[strive_for_five_guy]

59 minutes ago, Buffalo03 said:

Their game against the Chiefs could be flexed to Saturday that night if it's in the order I put it in. If the Steelers beat the Chiefs, Bengals beat the Broncos and Bills beat the Jets, it would make a lot of sense to put Bills vs Patriots Saturday at 4:30. A Bills win would put the pressure on the Chiefs to also win in the Saturday 8pm to get the 1. And it also means the Broncos would be fighting for their playoff lives. There are no win and in games this year, I don't think so the Saturday games are gonna be ones that either come down to a 1 seed or one that determines a division 

If the last AFC WC spot is still up for grabs heading into Week 18, the Broncos game won’t get flexed to Saturday night.  It could take away any suspense for other teams like the Bengals that would still be vying for that spot.

[Gregg]

4 minutes ago, strive_for_five_guy said:

If the last AFC WC spot is still up for grabs heading into Week 18, the Broncos game won’t get flexed to Saturday night.  It could take away any suspense for other teams like the Bengals that would still be vying for that spot.

 

Unless FOX has it protected that Vikings - Lions game is getting flexed to SNF. Good chance it's not only for the division but the #1 seed as well.

[MikePJ76]

34 minutes ago, Buffalo03 said:

I don't know what you mean that it makes no sense? I also don't know what you mean by an extra day of rest. If the Steelers beat the Chiefs, Bengals beat the Broncos and Bills beat the Jets, that means both the Bills and Chiefs will be playing for the 1 seed the final week. It also means that the Broncos would he fighting for their playoff lives as well. So, it would make for a very enticing game to make for the Saturday night time slot. 

There are not that many games that have that much more meaning if you look at the slate of games that are on the week 18 schedule. There are no clear cut "win and in" games. The NFL is gonna have a few games to choose from with either 1 seed or division winning implications

My point was Denver would be rewarded with an extra day of rest if they played Saturday at home.  Then Buffalo played a road game Sunday.  Seems odd to reward the 7 seed with an extra day of rest.

[billsfanmd07]

I have a feeling in that scenario we are screwed out of our bye week, giving the Chiefs two weeks off.  If we play back-ups vs NE and lose. The way they played they would take our backups, especially if QB2 started.