By Tim Graham
The NFL has moved its Sunday doubleheader kickoffs back to 4:25 p.m. this year, a decision that will affect one Buffalo Bills game: Week 5 against the San Francisco 49ers.
Doubleheader games usually begin at 4:15 p.m. to give the early games a chance to finish, but the cushion isn't always enough.
"In researching the kickoff time shift, the NFL analyzed games from the 2009 to 2011 seasons and found that 44 games required part of the audience to be switched to a mandatory doubleheader game kickoff," the NFL said in a statement. "With a 4:25 p.m. kickoff time, that number that would have been reduced by 66 percent to only 15 games."
About 40 start times have been nudged back for this season. The game in San Francisco was Buffalo's lone 4:15 p.m. kickoff.
The Bills' other later starts are 4:05 p.m. in Week 6 against the Arizona Cardinals and Week 15 against the Seattle Seahawks and their only primetime game in Week 11 against the Miami Dolphins.
