when do the bye weeks start in the nfl
Bye (sports) "Bye" has a second meaning in sports like gridiron football, as both Canadian and American professional football leagues use the term "bye week" for any week during the regular season in which a team does not play a game. Each NFL team has one "bye week" during a normal season; this is placed on the team's schedule, usually falling between Week 5 and Week 11 inclusive.[3] The NFL has used the bye week since 1990 so as to extend the 16-game regular season schedule to span 17 weeks. The 1993 NFL season spanned 18 weeks with each team having 2 bye weeks. In the rare case of a game postponement that cannot be made up within the week,[4] a bye week may act as an available date to reschedule the delayed game, with the day of postponement acting as the new "bye week"; although both teams would have to be available on the same bye week; this was done during the 2008 NFL season when the Baltimore Ravens and the Houston Texans had to reschedule their Week 2 matchup in Houston due to Hurricane Ike, which also impacted the Cincinnati Bengals' schedule.[5] Similarly, the Miami Dolphins and Tampa Bay Buccaneers were given a Week 1 bye week due to Hurricane Irma in the 2017 season.[6]