A regular NFL season has 272 games spread out over 18 weeks, excluding the playoffs. And with 32 teams, each team plays 17 matchups. That can get physically and mentally exhausting for both players and coaches. To help teams work their way around this, the NFL has a feature called bye week. So, what is this, when was it introduced, and what does the schedule look like this season?

Usually, every team has a game scheduled each week of the regular season. But during a bye week, a team has the entire week off. These breaks provide players with the chance to rest and recuperate and also allow coaches time to refine their strategies.

When does your favorite team have a bye week?

Bye weeks have been a staple feature of the NFL regular seasons since 1990. Besides providing players with the opportunity to rest and blow off steam and even meet up with family and friends, bye weeks have commercial use as well. The bye weeks extend the regular season and allow for more games to be televised. Usually, a bye week consists of four teams skipping. But it can also range from two teams to six teams. Byes usually occur between Week 4 and Week 14 of a regular NFL season. Scheduling bye weeks is a careful balance of factors such as team performance, travel logistics, and television ratings.

This season, in Week 7, Panthers, Bengals, Cowboys, Texans, Jets, and Titans have a bye week. Week 9, Broncos, Lions, Jaguars, and 49ers will have their off-time. The Chiefs, Rams, Dolphins, and Eagles have their bye in Week 10; Falcons, Colts, Patriots, and Saints in Week 11; Ravens, Bills, Bears, Raiders, Vikings, and Giants in Week 13; and Cardinals and Commanders in Week 14. So, what do teams do during their bye week?

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What have teams been up to during their bye weeks?

The Cleveland Browns had their bye in Week 5 and came out very formidable on the defense side with the hiring of Jim Schwartz. They also added Za’Darius Smith, Dalvin Tomlinson, and Shelby Harris to their ranks. Entering Week 6, this change showed, as no other franchise had given up fewer yards per game than the Browns. The Los Angeles Chargers, on the other hand, became the team to allow the most passing yards per game. The Chargers missed RB Austin Ekeler who had been on the sidelines in the past three games. The bye week seems not to have helped him recover.

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ Week 6 bye was an opportunity for the team to analyze the offensive shortcomings by going through the tape. They also had to figure out what went right during their game against the Raiders. Coming out of their bye, the Green Bay Packers are scheduled to face the Broncos, the Vikings, and the Rams. For the Packers, the extra time afforded by the bye week has come as a boon. This is compounded by the revival of a healthy Aaron Jones in the backfield. They can now look to create ways to generate more explosive plays, as they enter the next leg of their season. What does your favorite team do during their bye? Let us know in the comments below.

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