Chris "Mad Dog" Russo had some pointed comments about the NFL and its Week 18 schedule decisions, and he chose to make these known on a channel that benefited.
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Appearing on ESPN, Mad Dog made it clear that he believes the NFL did no favors for CBS and Fox when making the schedule for the last week of the regular season. He pointed out that only ESPN and NBC got games with major playoff implications.
"Week 18 of the NFL schedule, I understand that they didn't have a lot to work with," Mad Dog said about the NFL. "They left CBS and Fox with absolutely nothing on Sunday. There's nothing to watch.
"The Sunday night game is fine, but there's nothing in daytime to watch. They gave all the good games to the primetime. You got to leave one of these games for Sunday afternoon at 4:30."
"[The NFL] left CBS and Fox with absolutely nothing on Sunday. There's nothing to watch."
- Mad Dog (on ESPN's airwaves) frustrated that CBS and Fox got screwed with the Week 18 schedule https://t.co/mehM2PYqdj pic.twitter.com/mtTPOM2Qif
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 31, 2025
The Week 18 schedule features every NFL team playing. Three of these games will determine division battles.
The prominent example is Carolina and Tampa Bay. These two teams will face off for the NFC South at 4:30 p.m. ET on Saturday (ESPN).
The Seahawks and 49ers will then play for the NFC West at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday (ESPN). The winner will clinch the division and the top seed in the NFC. This secures home field advantage throughout the playoffs and a first round bye.
The Sunday night game on NBC will feature the Ravens and Steelers playing for the AFC North. The winner will move on to the playoffs. The loser will start the offseason.
The Sunday afternoon schedule will just feature games that either slightly impact the 2026 draft order or ones with backups seeing significant playing time.
The only other game that truly matters in terms of the playoffs is Atlanta vs. Tampa Bay. If the Buccaneers beat the Panthers and the Falcons beat the Saints, there will be a three-way tie for the NFC South title.
In this case, the Panthers will still win the division based on tiebreakers. The Panthers can also just take the division by winning on Saturday afternoon.
If the Buccaneers beat the Panthers and the Saints beat the Falcons, the Buccaneers will take the final playoff spot in the NFC.
As it turns out, this decision to put the Saints and Falcons game on Saturday afternoon further irked Mad Dog.
"You gotta have them play at the same time," he said. "What, Tampa wins the game and they can't celebrate? They've gotta sit there for 24 hours to see if the Falcons beat the Saints or vice versa to make the playoffs?"
