Three weeks ago on Kaycee And The Forefront, I mentioned the fact that the NFL has been doing a lot of non-Super Bowl late afternoon-night game doubleheaders for their postseasons ever since the 2001-02 postseason, along with the fact that the networks (ABC/ESPN, Fox, CBS, NBC) that air such games, exploit this scheduling move for monetary purposes, which in turn has caused the commercials to get worse year after year. And given that this trend will continue, especially with three playoff games on Wild Card Sunday since the 2020-21 NFL postseason, the days of clearing your head for about an hour before watching the Saturday night movie of the week and/or The Simpsons on a Sunday night are a thing of the past. Yes, that’s how my Saturday nights and Sunday nights were before the NFL decided to get all schedule crazy with their non-Super Bowl playoff games.
Of course, the crazy scheduling of late afternoon-night non-Super Bowl playoff games started during the 2001-02 NFL postseason, and I will provide a full breakdown of which games aired in the late afternoon-night window in each of the past 21 NFL postseason via the chart below.
**Note: The chart will begin with the 2001-02 NFL postseason, will end with the 2021-22 NFL postseason and will feature the other three playoff rounds divided into three separate categories
| Postseason | Wild Card Round | Divisional Round | Conference Championship Round |
| 2001-02 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers Vs. Philadelphia Eagles, New York Jets Vs. Las Vegas Raiders | Philadelphia Eagles Vs. Chicago Bears, Las Vegas Raiders Vs. New England Patriots | N/A |
| 2002-03 | Indianapolis Colts Vs. New York Jets, Atlanta Falcons Vs. Green Bay Packers | Pittsburgh Steelers Vs. Tennessee Titans, Atlanta Falcons Vs. Philadelphia Eagles | Tampa Bay Buccaneers Vs. Philadelphia Eagles, Tennessee Titans Vs. Las Vegas Raiders |
| 2003-04 | Tennessee Titans Vs. Baltimore Ravens, Dallas Cowboys Vs. Carolina Panthers | Carolina Panthers Vs. Los Angeles Rams, Tennessee Titans Vs. New England Patriots | Indianapolis Colts Vs. New England Patriots, Carolina Panthers Vs. Philadelphia Eagles |
| 2004-05 | Los Angeles Rams Vs. Seattle Seahawks, New York Jets Vs. Los Angeles Chargers | New York Jets Vs. Pittsburgh Steelers, Los Angeles Rams Vs. Atlanta Falcons | Atlanta Falcons Vs. Philadelphia Eagles, New England Patriots Vs. Pittsburgh Steelers |
| 2005-06 | Washington Commanders Vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Jacksonville Jaguars Vs. New England Patriots | Washington Commanders Vs. Seattle Seahawks, New England Patriots Vs. Denver Broncos | Pittsburgh Steelers Vs. Denver Broncos, Carolina Panthers Vs. Seattle Seahawks |
| 2006-07 | Kansas City Chiefs Vs. Indianapolis Colts, Dallas Cowboys Vs. Seattle Seahawks | Indianapolis Colts Vs. Baltimore Ravens, Philadelphia Eagles Vs. New Orleans Saints | New Orleans Saints Vs. Chicago Bears, New England Patriots Vs. Indianapolis Colts |
| 2007-08 | Washington Commanders Vs. Seattle Seahawks, Jacksonville Jaguars Vs. Pittsburgh Steelers | Seattle Seahawks Vs. Green Bay Packers, Jacksonville Jaguars Vs. New England Patriots | Los Angeles Chargers Vs. New England Patriots, New York Giants Vs. Green Bay Packers |
| 2008-09 | Atlanta Falcons Vs. Arizona Cardinals, Indianapolis Colts Vs. Los Angeles Chargers | Baltimore Ravens Vs. Tennessee Titans, Arizona Cardinals Vs. Carolina Panthers | Philadelphia Eagles Vs. Arizona Cardinals, Baltimore Ravens Vs. Pittsburgh Steelers |
| 2009-10 | New York Jets Vs. Cincinnati Bengals, Philadelphia Eagles Vs. Dallas Cowboys | Arizona Cardinals Vs. New Orleans Saints, Baltimore Ravens Vs. Indianapolis Colts | New York Jets Vs. Indianapolis Colts, Minnesota Vikings Vs. New Orleans Saints |
| 2010-11 | New Orleans Saints Vs. Seattle Seahawks, New York Jets Vs. Indianapolis Colts | Baltimore Ravens Vs. Pittsburgh Steelers, Green Bay Packers Vs. Atlanta Falcons | Green Bay Packers Vs. Chicago Bears, New York Jets Vs. Pittsburgh Steelers |
| 2011-12 | Cincinnati Bengals Vs. Houston Texans, Detroit Lions Vs. New Orleans Saints | New Orleans Saints Vs. San Francisco 49ers, Denver Broncos Vs. New England Patriots | Baltimore Ravens Vs. New England Patriots, New York Giants Vs. San Francisco 49ers |
| 2012-13 | Cincinnati Bengals Vs. Houston Texans, Minnesota Vikings Vs. Green Bay Packers | Baltimore Ravens Vs. Denver Broncos, Green Bay Packers Vs. San Francisco 49ers | San Francisco 49ers Vs. Atlanta Falcons, Baltimore Ravens Vs. New England Patriots |
| 2013-14 | Kansas City Chiefs Vs. Indianapolis Colts, New Orleans Saints Vs. Philadelphia Eagles | New Orleans Saints Vs. Seattle Seahawks, Indianapolis Colts Vs. New England Patriots | New England Patriots Vs. Denver Broncos, San Francisco 49ers Vs. Seattle Seahawks |
| 2014-15 | Arizona Cardinals Vs. Carolina Panthers, Baltimore Ravens Vs. Pittsburgh Steelers | Baltimore Ravens Vs. New England Patriots, Carolina Panthers Vs. Seattle Seahawks | Green Bay Packers Vs. Seattle Seahawks, Indianapolis Colts Vs. New England Patriots |
| 2015-16 | Kansas City Chiefs Vs. Houston Texans, Pittsburgh Steelers Vs. Cincinnati Bengals | Kansas City Chiefs Vs. New England Patriots, Green Bay Packers Vs. Arizona Cardinals | New England Patriots Vs. Denver Broncos, Arizona Cardinals Vs. Carolina Panthers |
| 2016-17 | Las Vegas Raiders Vs. Houston Texans, Detroit Lions Vs. Seattle Seahawks | Seattle Seahawks Vs. Atlanta Falcons, Houston Texans Vs. New England Patriots, Green Bay Packers Vs. Dallas Cowboys, Pittsburgh Steelers Vs. Kansas City Chiefs | Green Bay Packers Vs. Atlanta Falcons, Pittsburgh Steelers Vs. New England Patriots |
| 2017-18 | Tennessee Titans Vs. Kansas City Chiefs, Atlanta Falcons Vs. Los Angeles Rams | Atlanta Falcons Vs. Philadelphia Eagles, Tennessee Titans Vs. New England Patriots | Jacksonville Jaguars Vs. New England Patriots, Minnesota Vikings Vs. Philadelphia Eagles |
| 2018-19 | Indianapolis Colts Vs. Houston Texans, Seattle Seahawks Vs. Dallas Cowboys | Indianapolis Colts Vs. Kansas City Chiefs, Dallas Cowboys Vs. Los Angeles Rams | Los Angeles Rams Vs. New Orleans Saints, New England Patriots Vs. Kansas City Chiefs |
| 2019-20 | Buffalo Bills Vs. Houston Texans, Tennessee Titans Vs. New England Patriots | Minnesota Vikings Vs. San Francisco 49ers, Tennessee Titans Vs. Baltimore Ravens, Houston Texans Vs. Kansas City Chiefs, Seattle Seahawks Vs. Green Bay Packers | Tennessee Titans Vs. Kansas City Chiefs, Green Bay Packers Vs. San Francisco 49ers |
| 2020-21 | Los Angeles Rams Vs. Seattle Seahawks, Tampa Bay Buccaneers Vs. Washington Commanders, Chicago Bears Vs. New Orleans Saints, Cleveland Browns Vs. Pittsburgh Steelers | Los Angeles Rams Vs. Green Bay Packers, Baltimore Ravens Vs. Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns Vs. Kansas City Chiefs, Tampa Bay Buccaneers Vs. New Orleans Saints | Tampa Bay Buccaneers Vs. Green Bay Packers, Buffalo Bills Vs. Kansas City Chiefs |
| 2021-22 | Las Vegas Raiders Vs. Cincinnati Bengals, New England Patriots Vs. Buffalo Bills, San Francisco 49ers Vs. Dallas Cowboys, Pittsburgh Steelers Vs. Kansas City Chiefs | Cincinnati Bengals Vs. Tennessee Titans, San Francisco 49ers Vs. Green Bay Packers, Los Angeles Rams Vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Buffalo Bills Vs. Kansas City Chiefs | Cincinnati Bengals Vs. Kansas City Chiefs, San Francisco 49ers Vs. Los Angeles Rams |
Well, there you have it. 21 NFL postseasons worth of late afternoon-night games, with three such separate occasions (01/09/21, 01/10/21, 01/16/22) actually being a part of early afternoon-late-afternoon-night game tripleheaders, due to the amount of NFL playoff teams expanding from 12 to 14, prior to the 2020-21 NFL season. Of course, I didn’t mind the late afternoon-night format in the beginning. But as my horizons have expanded to constantly updating this website, painting rocks, writing movie reviews and writing TV show reviews, I don’t always have the time nor the occasional interest in watching all these games lately. Especially with all the Progressive commercials that are either Flo ones or the ones that tell you to stop acting like your parents. I can’t stand those commercials as is nor can I stand them during an extended stoppage of an NFL game. Especially if it’s an NFL game that is A) A matchup between two teams that make for a boring one and B) A boring matchup that manages to pad all of its airtime when one team is routing the other. I’m sorry, I can’t waste three-plus hours of my life watching an unappealing matchup, whether it’s one team routing the other or an unappealing matchup where points are at a major premium. And given that the NFL playoff format that’s been in effect for two seasons (2020-21, 2021-22) is probably a permanent format, then the late afternoon-night doubleheader format and the prolonged stoppages for dreadful commercials will both remain permanent as well. I guess that I’ll just have to strategically pick which NFL playoff games that I want to watch during however long that this current format is in place. Especially with the future content-driven projects that I have yet to complete.
Well, that concludes my four-part series on how commercial monetization makes sense for The NFL, but meanders for people such as myself. I don’t know when I’ll be back again with an entry for this page, as I’ve now run out of issues to blog about. But if such a thing ever arises again, I will surely blog about it. So until that time comes again, this page will be de-activated once this entry is archived. But worry not, as I still have quite a few Tats What’s Up! entries to post to the Tats What’s Up! page. So with that being said, blog to you all via that page tomorrow.