Bye week
Used in both the NFL and college football
A scheduled week with no game. Every NFL team gets one during the regular season, which is why the league needs more weeks than each team plays games. In the playoffs, a bye instead means skipping the opening round.
The two meanings get mixed up constantly. A regular-season bye is rest. A playoff bye is a reward for seeding, and it means one fewer game to win.
Regular-season byes are spread across the middle of the schedule so no team gets a disproportionate advantage.
Whether a playoff bye actually helps is an open argument, because the rest comes with a longer layoff.
You’ll hear it like this
They come off the bye at home, which is the softest landing on the schedule.
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Checked 2026-08-07.