Miami Dolphins-Buffalo Bills Playoff Game Set for Sunday
The Miami Dolphins first-round playoff game against the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium has been scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 15 at 1 p.m. ET.
The NFL announced its full Super Wild Card Weekend schedule after the final game of the regular season, a 20-16 victory by the Detroit Lions against the Green Bay Packers that gave the Seattle Seahawks the final playoff berth in the NFC.
The Miami-Buffalo game will be the second of the three AFC first-round games, following the Chargers-Jaguars game and before the Ravens-Bengals matchup.
Here’s the full Super Wild Card Weekend schedule:
Saturday, 4:30 p.m. — Seattle at San Francisco
Saturday, 8:15 p.m. — L.A. Chargers at Jacksonville
Sunday, 1 p.m. — Miami at Buffalo
Sunday, 4:30 p.m. — N.Y. Giants at Minnesota
Sunday, 8:15 p.m. — Baltimore at Cincinnati
Monday, 8:15 p.m. — Dallas at Tampa Bay
THE DOLPHINS’ X-FACTOR
To be sure, potential TV ratings factor in the scheduling of the playoff matchups, and under normal circumstances we might have expected the Dolphins-Bills game to get prime-time treatment.
The Dolphins and Bills played two regular season games that came down to the wire, with Miami winning 21-19 in Week 3 and Buffalo taking the rematch 32-29 in Week 15.
But the Dolphins have a major question mark at quarterback because Tua Tagovailoa is recovering from a second official concussion and Teddy Bridgewater is dealing with a finger injury, so it could be rookie seventh-round pick Skylar Thompson who starts against Buffalo.
The early forecast for Sunday afternoon in Orchard Park, New York, according to The Weather Channel, is for a high of 30 degrees with a 16 percent chance of rain and winds around 9 mph.
