NFL Playoff Scheduling Predictions

Tomorrow I will post my Week 17 picks and prediction on the big Broncos-Chiefs showdown, but before I get there, I have to roll out my Playoff Scheduling Predictions for this year's postseason. Why do I even care about what games get slotted when? Who cares what network gets a certain game? Well, it is one of my favorite little pleasures that I get around playoff time. I guess this fascination started back in 1997 when I spent my entire holiday break home from college trying to figure out when the NFL would schedule the Broncos-Jaguars Wild Card game. As I was trying to figure it all out, I became aware of the impact of ratings, importance of game times, and influence of network and advertising executives. That year Denver hosted Jacksonville in the late window on ABC on Wild Card Saturday. The next week Denver traveled to Kansas City to take on the 13-3 Chiefs in the Divisional Round. I spent all week trying to find out why the NFL selected Denver-KC for the Sunday late window of the Divisional weekend. Until that point, I just figured the games were slotted with no real reason other than the fact that time zones had to play a part. As the years have gone on, I always tried to predict when, what time, and what network the league would slot the playoff games. When the NFL decided to move games on Wild Card Weekend and Divisional Weekend to Saturday Night in primetime, it really piqued my interest. I really found out how important time slots were for the networks, and the fact that the league rotated AFC/NFC time slots for each network became very important. As we approach Week 17, here is a look at what I think the NFL and the networks might do come playoff time.........

-Here are the scenarios if the Bengals/Jets/Titans make the wild card, and the Raiders win the AFC West. Also, I have slotted in the Falcons as the 6 seed, and the Lions as the 5 seed in the NFC.

Wild Card Weekend

Saturday January 7th

4:00pm EST NBC-Atlanta at New Orleans

8:00pm EST NBC-Baltimore/Pittsburgh at Oakland

Sunday January 8th

1:00pm EST CBS-Cincy/Jets/Tennessee at Houston

4:00pm EST FOX-Detroit at Dallas/New York Giants

-If the Broncos win the AFC West, then you are looking at something like this......

Wild Card Weekend

Saturday January 7th

4:00pm EST NBC- Atlanta at New Orleans

8:00pm EST NBC- Baltimore/Pitts at Denver

Sunday January 8th

1:00pm EST CBS- Cincy/Jets/Tennessee at Houston

4:00pm EST FOX- Detroit at Dallas/New York Giants

Here are the Divisional Weekend Predictions for sites and times.........

Saturday January 14th

4:00pm EST FOX- New Orleans/Dallas/NYG/Detroit at San Francisco

8:00pm EST CBS- Cincy/Jets/Tennessee/Oakland/Denver at New England

Sunday January 15th

1:00pm EST FOX- Atlanta/Detroit/Giants/Dallas at Green Bay

4:00pm EST CBS- Houston/Denver/Oakland at Pittsburgh/Baltimore