MasterStrategist Posted January 2, 2021 Share 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nato7412 Posted January 2, 2021 Share 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterlaw Posted January 2, 2021 Share 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wjag Posted January 2, 2021 Share 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFan130 Posted January 2, 2021 Share 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoSaint Posted January 2, 2021 Share 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiotAct Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 8:15 slot either day works for me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFan130 Posted January 2, 2021 Share 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nextmanup Posted January 2, 2021 Share 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. 😂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klos63 Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 My son has a hockey game on Saturday 645pm local, 845pm Bills time. Sunday please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No_Matter_What Posted January 2, 2021 Share 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djp14150 Posted January 2, 2021 Share 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tuco Posted January 2, 2021 Share 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giuseppe Tognarelli Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 The Saints will surely be on Sunday because that's the first day Kamara can come back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sullim4 Posted January 2, 2021 Share 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giuseppe Tognarelli Posted January 2, 2021 Share 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? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sullim4 Posted January 2, 2021 Share 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MasterStrategist Posted January 2, 2021 Author Share 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Jack Posted January 2, 2021 Share 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike in Horseheads Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 1pm on either Saturday or Sunday. Networks will pass on them in primetime, just a guess. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seasons1992 Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 1 hour ago, peterlaw said: My preference is 1pm on Saturday because I can't wait ! And more rest before the Divisional Round the following weekend. We are NOT playing in the craptastic slot. Not happeneing. I can't believe people think we're going to play on Saturday early. If the STANLEY CUP has the 2nd most viewed ratings in Buffalo every year (look this up, people), there's no way the Bills will be put into the early slot. ZERO chance. Ratings ratings ratings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigK14094 Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 Buffalo's small market status makes other markets more important for advertisers. Its a money game folks....they want good ratings in major markets so they can change more megabuxks for their advertising slots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taro Nimbus Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 My thought on how they will schedule Wild Card weekend Saturday 1:00- AFC 4:40- NFC **8:15- AFC Sunday 1:00- NFC 4:40- AFC **8:15- NFC **2 seeds in both conferences will have night games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronxbomber21 Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 1 hour 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. Buffalo doesn't pull rating? Is that a joke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fergie's ire Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 11 minutes ago, Bronxbomber21 said: Buffalo doesn't pull rating? Is that a joke Yes, they DO pull ratings. I think last year they set some kind of record for viewership on Thanksgiving...and pulled big numbers for a night game. The problem is that they are not perceived to be a ratings draw. The networks don't think people will watch (despite the evidence). Now, maybe that has changed with the recent games...and with the Bills hot offense. We will see. But yes, it is based on draw. I remember one year they played a game in NE at night when there was a team further west and much further south (don't remember who, at this point) that would have made more sense as a night game...but they wanted NE in primetime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed_Formerly_of_Roch Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 3 hours 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! 20 to 30 years ago, Buffalo would never be a choice for an 8:15 game as you wouldn't schedule a cold weather city at night to make it hard on the fans. Today which ever games generates the most interest will get the late slots. No real warm weather sites either other than inside the dome in New Orleans. The one factor that will be taken into account is time zone, Seattle would not be scheduled for a 1:00 eastern start time game. Currently only one west coast home team, so not too much of an issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Romes Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 Look for Bills in a Prime Time night game as the league’s hottest team Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nextmanup Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 1 hour ago, Seasons1992 said: We are NOT playing in the craptastic slot. Not happeneing. I can't believe people think we're going to play on Saturday early. If the STANLEY CUP has the 2nd most viewed ratings in Buffalo every year (look this up, people), there's no way the Bills will be put into the early slot. ZERO chance. Ratings ratings ratings. Yeah, but don't compare NHL viewing numbers to NFL viewing numbers. The Sabres do draw extremely well, by NHL standards. But lots of NFL markets would easily surpass the Bills viewing numbers. I think the Bills are perceived, right now, to have an exciting, high-scoring, offensive minded team with a great OC who is going to leave for a HC job this off-season. So we may get a good viewing slot for that reason. People don't want to see boring teams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlimShady'sSpaceForce Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 NFL playoff schedule Wild-card round Saturday, Jan. 9 Matchup Start time TV channel Live stream TBD at TBD 1:05 p.m. ET TBD TBD TBD at TBD 4:40 p.m. ET TBD fuboTV TBD at TBD 8:15 p.m. ET TBD fuboTV Sunday, Jan. 10 Matchup Start time TV channel Live stream TBD at TBD 1:05 p.m. ET TBD fuboTV TBD at TBD 4:40 p.m. ET CBS fuboTV TBD at TBD 8:15 p.m. ET NBC fuboTV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downunderbill Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 Living in Australia, and Sunday (Monday our time) being my first day back to work after holidays, I'm really hoping for a Saturday game. I have been trying to find a Wild Card weekend schedule with seedings to no avail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiotAct Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 6 minutes ago, downunderbill said: Living in Australia, and Sunday (Monday our time) being my first day back to work after holidays, I'm really hoping for a Saturday game. I have been trying to find a Wild Card weekend schedule with seedings to no avail. we should know by Monday morning your time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sullim4 Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 2 hours ago, Bronxbomber21 said: Buffalo doesn't pull rating? Is that a joke I know a lot of hay has been made over the fact that Buffalo has been in primetime the last 4 weeks, but a grand total of zero of those games were in the 4:25 doubleheader slot. That is the timeslot that the NFL tends to put the most profitable, high-powered games that feature major media market teams and/or teams that have a track record of drawing huge ratings (e.g. Green Bay, KC, etc). Over the last four weeks, the lead doubleheader games have been: W16: Los Angeles Rams (2nd largest media market, Goff) v. Seattle Seahawks (Wilson) W15: Kansas City (Mahomes) v. New Orleans (Brees) W14: New Orleans (Brees) v. Philadelphia (Wentz, 4th largest media market) W13: Philadelphia (Wentz, 4th largest media market) v. Green Bay (Rodgers) Philadelphia, despite a 4-10-1 record, is on there twice, because they are a huge media market and their fans will watch regardless of their success in a given season. It is also no coincidence that Nantz/Romo have called Buffalo games zero times this year. That will come next year but I suspect it won't happen this year until the AFC Championship game, should the Bills get that far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyDays Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 (edited) I'll predict Browns at Bills, Sunday night. There are a lot of good storylines in that game. Two historically awful teams putting together playoff caliber seasons, one getting their first playoff win in over 2 decades. Bills fans returning to the stadium for the first time. And both offenses have big name players that people want to watch. I'll go further and predict Colts at Steelers Sunday at 1PM and Ravens at Titans Sunday at 4PM. Edited January 2, 2021 by HappyDays 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Negan Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 Hoping for the Saturday 4 or 8 slot would be ideal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptnCoke11 Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 Saturday night please Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beast Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 (edited) The Bills and Josh Allen are must see TV right now. They will get that 8:15pm slot. Edited January 3, 2021 by Beast Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MasterStrategist Posted January 4, 2021 Author Share Posted January 4, 2021 Officially will be playing Indy. I would expect date/time to be announced in the next 1 hour Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djp14150 Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 (edited) Matchups are Colts-Bills Saturday 1 pm cbs Browns-Steelers Sunday 815 pm nbc Ravens-Titans Sunday 1 pm abc Chiefs bye Bears-Saints Sunday 430 pm cbs Rams-Seahawks Saturday 430 pm fox Bucs-Giants/wash Saturday 815 pm nbc Packers bye Edited January 4, 2021 by djp14150 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlimShady'sSpaceForce Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 2 minutes ago, djp14150 said: Matchups are Colts-Bills Browns-Sterlers Ravens-Titans Chiefs bye Bears-Saints Rams-Seahawks Bucs-Giants/wash Packers bye this time the Browns face the Steelers starters Titans ended Lamars run last year (pardon the pun) Bring on the Colts!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bills6969 Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 Browns-Steelers and Bucs-Wash/NYG scream Sunday. I think they plug us into the 1 or 440 slot on Saturday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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