We’re almost through the Wild Card Round of the NFL playoffs, and it’s been a doozy so far. Both the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers, the No. 6 seeds, pulled off upsets on Sunday on the road against No. 3 seeds. Now, both teams are scheduled to play next Saturday with one less day of rest, and Tony Dungy is up in arms over it.
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The former Hall of Fame coach views the scheduling as completely unfair. He posted about it after learning the kickoff times for next week’s games.
Regardless of what happens on Monday Night between the Texans and the Steelers, both Buffalo and San Francisco will play on Saturday on the road, Dungy wrote in his post on X. “This late in the season, recovery time is crucial, and it is not given equally,” he noted before explaining the scheduling situation.
“[The] Rams & Bears played Saturday games. They will face each other on Sunday with an extra day of rest. [The] 49ers played on Sunday and will face Seattle on Saturday — short week of recovery. Why?” Dungy stated before pointing out that the Bills and the winner of the Texans vs. Steelers will have short weeks as well.
This puzzled Dungy, especially since the league was able to give the Los Angeles Rams, Chicago Bears, and New England Patriots a full week of rest. For whatever reason, certain teams are simply being asked to bite the bullet.
NFL playoff scheduling is not fair. It might produce good ratings but it’s not fair.
This late in the season recovery time is crucial and it is not given equally. Rams & Bears played Saturday games. They will face each other on Sunday with an extra day of rest. 49ers played on… pic.twitter.com/JSwYeZTAEX— Tony Dungy (@TonyDungy) January 12, 2026
Dungy later explained why the NFL eliminated Week 18 Monday Night games. He encouraged the league to do so in the postseason as well.
“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. Now we create that disadvantage,” Dungy said, before suggesting what he felt was a better alternative.
“The Wild Card round should be 3 games on Saturday and 3 games on Sunday. Then try to schedule the Divisional games so the teams have equal rest,” added Dungy.
It was a solid suggestion by Dungy that the league should consider implementing. Last season, the Baltimore Ravens got an extra day of rest leading up to their AFC Divisional game. The Bills, on the other hand, had one less day of rest. But it didn’t end up mattering, as Buffalo won that game. But still, rest matters in high-stakes games, and fans in the comments agreed with Dungy.
Tony, then the same has to be applied to the wild card round.
There were teams that played on Sunday in Week 18 who played on short rest to play on Saturday against teams who rested starters in Week 18. That is no different than the SF situation.
— Adam (@RMEChief) January 12, 2026
The fans suggested that this issue should be fixed from Week 18 going into the playoffs. Teams that played on Saturday in the final week of the season should be playing on Saturday in the Wild Card. And teams that played on Sunday shouldn’t be subjected to playing on Saturday with one less day of rest.
They’re all good points to keep in mind. However, for now, it doesn’t seem like the day of rest has been affecting the outcomes of games as much.
