‘In the NFL playoffs, not all victories are created equal, and the league’s own schedule might be the toughest opponent for some teams. Some teams that played in the Wild Card round on Sunday are forced to play teams coming off a bye next Saturday, giving them five days of rest. In comparison, some teams that played on Saturday get an extra day to heal up because they don’t have to play until Sunday next week. It’s a huge problem, and former NFL Head Coach Tony Dungy called out the NFL on social media Sunday night.

“Several years ago the league did away with Monday Night games in Week 18 of the regular season because it created a disadvantage if one of those teams made the playoffs,” Dungy posted on X. “Now we create that disadvantage…Don’t force San Francisco, Buffalo and Houston or Pittsburgh to play the most important game of their season on a short week just for TV ratings. That is not fair!”

Dungy’s recent post on X highlighted concerns over the NFL’s playoff scheduling, with the former Super Bowl–winning coach questioning competitive balance and suggesting an alternative approach following the Wild Card round.

Several teams this season have been affected by NFL scheduling decisions that prioritize television ratings. While those choices have raised questions about competitive balance, the league continues to emphasize maximizing viewership and broadcast revenue. It’s not only unfair from a rest standpoint, but it puts the players’ bodies, which have just endured a 17-game regular season plus one of their most physical matchups of the year in the Wild Card, at risk.

Here’s an in-depth look at the situation.

NFL’s Divisional Round Scheduling Blunder

The Chicago Bears and Los Angeles Rams, who will face off in the Divisional Round, both played on Saturday this week. So why do they both get a day of rest and play on Sunday in the Divisional Round? Why not put the San Francisco 49ers, who played on Sunday afternoon, in the Sunday slot, given they have to face a Seattle Seahawks team that’s coming off a bye? Instead, the 49ers will travel to Seattle on five days of rest.

In the AFC, we’re dealing with a similar issue. The Buffalo Bills, who played on Sunday, will travel to Denver on Saturday to face the Broncos, who are coming off a bye. The New England Patriots, who played Sunday night, will get a full week’s rest and play a Steelers or Texans team that will have played on Monday night. First, why are we even playing a Monday night football game in the playoffs? Secondly, does this not create disadvantages for teams in their most important game of the season?

When you really sit down and think about it, it’s hard to believe the NFL can get away with this just for the sake of TV ratings.

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Dungy’s plan to fix NFL playoff scheduling

There’s a pretty simple solution to the NFL’s problem, and Dungy laid it out perfectly in his X post on Sunday.

“The Wild Card round should be three games on Saturday and three games on Sunday. Then try to schedule the Divisional games so the teams have equal rest,” his post read.

It’s simple. Three games on Saturday and three games on Sunday, then do your best to make the rest time for each team equal. It obviously can’t be perfect all the time, but it would be much better than whatever they have going on right now.

Let’s use this year as an example. The NFL could’ve put the Steelers and Texans game on Saturday at 1 pm (or whatever time slot) and had three games Saturday, and three games Sunday. Then, put the two teams that are facing the 1-seeds coming off a bye (Bills and 49ers) on Sunday. That leaves you with the Rams and Bears (who both played Saturday) and the Steelers/Texans and Patriots (one of which played Saturday and one on Sunday) on Saturday. It still creates a slight disadvantage for one team, but it’s much better than what they did this year.

This scheduling issue shows no signs of going away. There has been a history suggesting that they might care about money more than they care about fairness, so I doubt there’s a solution nearby to this problem.