The “wild card” name suggests the unknown or an unpredictable factor, but the NFL’s wild-card weekend is anything but when it comes to viewership.

Last year’s wild-card weekend (six games) averaged 31.4 million viewers, the NFL’s most-watched opening postseason weekend since 2016 (which was four games). The most-watched window of wild-card weekend last year was a matchup between the mega-viewership powers Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys on Fox. That game, won by Green Bay in a rout, drew 40.2 million viewers airing in the 4:30 p.m. ET Sunday window.

What will this year’s wild-card games bring as far as interest? We offer a quick take using a watchability index.

Green Bay Packers at Philadelphia Eagles (Sunday, 4:30 p.m. ET, Fox and Fox Deportes)

Watchability ranking: 10 out of 10

The skinny: This is your weekend viewership monster, given both teams are traditional television powers. There should also be plenty of offense — both teams ranked in the top 10 in points scored and total yards — plus an MVP candidate in Eagles running back Saquon Barkley. The game is being played in the most-watched over-the-air linear television window. Everything lines up for massive viewership.

Favorite: Eagles (-4.5)

Viewership prediction: 37 million

Minnesota Vikings at Los Angeles Rams (Monday, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN, ABC, ESPN+, ESPN Deportes, ESPN2 “ManningCast”)

Watchability ranking: 8 out of 10

The skinny: How will the Vikings react after losing the chance at a first-round bye and home-field advantage for the playoffs? They’ll face a rested Matthew Stafford, who threw four touchdowns against them in a 30-20 win on Oct. 25. There are a ton of Pro Bowl-caliber skill position players here, especially at wide receiver. Look for ESPN to inundate you with content all week. The odds (Vikings -1.5) suggest a tight game.

Favorite: Vikings (-1.5)

Viewership prediction: 30 million

Denver Broncos at Buffalo Bills (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, CBS and Paramount+)

Watchability ranking: 7.5 out of 10

The skinny: Any game featuring one of the favorites for the MVP race (Josh Allen) will rate high as far as viewer interest. Buffalo ranks second in the league in points per game at 30.9, and Denver ranks 10th in points at 24.2 points. Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix tossed 29 touchdown passes this season, the second-most by a rookie in NFL history. It’s the first postseason appearance for the Broncos since the 2015 season, a streak of 3,296 days.

Favorite: Bills (-9)

Viewership prediction: 29.5 million

Pittsburgh Steelers at Baltimore Ravens (Saturday, 8 p.m. ET, Prime Video)

Watchability ranking: 6.5 out of 10

The skinny: Division rivals often make for interesting theater, but these teams are headed in opposite directions. The Steelers have lost four in a row and look like a mess. The Ravens are on a four-game winning streak. Ravens QB Lamar Jackson has had one of the greatest years in the history of the position. Given the game is on Amazon Prime Video instead of a traditional TV network, you’ll see a couple of million less in viewership here.

Favorite: Ravens (-10)

Viewership prediction: 22 million

Washington Commanders at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Sunday, 8 p.m. ET, NBC, Peacock, Universo)

Watchability ranking: 6 out of 10

The skinny: This is a sneaky-interesting game, given a star rookie quarterback (Washington’s Jayden Daniels), a reclamation project (Tampa Bay’s Baker Mayfield) and a great time slot. Last year’s Sunday night wild-card game between the Rams and Detroit Lions drew 32.2 million viewers as Detroit won its first playoff game in 32 years.

Favorite: Bucs (-3)

Viewership prediction: 29 million

Los Angeles Chargers at Houston Texans (Saturday, 4:30 p.m., CBS and Paramount+)

Watchability ranking: 5 out of 10

The skinny: This could be an interesting game, given C.J. Stroud and Justin Herbert have a ton of talent at quarterback and there are some decent skill position players around them (including Nico Collins, J.K. Dobbins and Joe Mixon). But the day and time slot suggest this will be the lowest over-the-air network rating.

Favorite: Chargers (-3)

Viewership prediction: 23 million

Additional NFL media notes

The final global numbers for Netflix’s NFL Christmas games are in: The Baltimore Ravens-Texans game averaged 31.3 million viewers globally, and Kansas City Chiefs-Steelers drew 30 million viewers. Netflix said Chiefs-Steelers was in the streamer’s daily top 10 programming in 72 countries, and Ravens-Texans was in the top 10 in 62 countries. (International data is based on first-party Netflix Live + 1 data for TV, mobile and web, along with NFL-reported viewing for the NFL’s international distributors and NFL Game Pass on DAZN outside of the U.S.) It’s a win for both entities and just the beginning for Netflix’s NFL ambitions.

One of the wildest viewership numbers of the NFL season: ESPN’s Week 17 “Monday Night Football” matchup between the Lions and San Francisco 49ers generated an audience of 22.2 million viewers (ESPN, ABC, ESPN+, ESPN Deportes and NFL+). That was MNF’s best for the 2024 season and ranks among the five most-watched games for the franchise since ESPN acquired the rights in 2006.

Amazon Prime Video’s coverage of “Thursday Night Football” averaged 14.23 million viewers this season, per Nielsen’s new Big Data + Panel measurement. Its top game was Packers-Lions on Dec. 5, which drew 18.48 million viewers and a peak audience of 20.29 million. (BD+P measurement features an enhanced methodology that combines data points from approximately 45 million households and 75 million devices with their person-level panel of more than 100,000 people to produce a deeper and more complete view of all Nielsen-measured programs.)

The streamer said its NFL audience had a median age of 49.0 years, nearly seven years younger than the average median age of viewers watching the NFL on linear TV (55.7), and more than 14 years younger than audiences watching prime-time broadcast television during the Fall 2024 season (63.3). Amazon’s NFL pregame show, “TNF Tonight,” had an average audience of 1.53 million in 2024, up 10 percent over its 2023 average (1.39 million).

Sports had 87 of the top 100 most-watched telecasts of the year, per Austin Karp of Sports Business Journal. That’s down from 2023, when 96 of the top 100 were sports. When Karp broadened the list, sports accounted for 182 of the top 200 shows of 2024. The NFL accounted for 70 of the top 100, down from last year’s 93 but almost the same as 2020, the last presidential election year.

Episode 463 of the “Sports Media with Richard Deitsch” podcast featured Karp. In this episode, we discussed the awful news out of New Orleans that left more than a dozen dead and about three dozen injured and how it will impact the Super Bowl news coverage, plus the best viewership scenarios between Notre Dame, Penn State, Texas and Ohio State.

Speaking of podcast listens, University of Nebraska professor John Shrader interviewed several sports media writers around the country for a podcast about covering the people who put on the games you watch. Worth your time.

Last item: My colleague Dan Shanoff reviewed “They Call It Late Night With Jason Kelce,” the first of a four-week “pop-up” experiment in sports TV leading up to the Super Bowl. Said Shanoff: “The results were a not-unexpected mix of raucous, ragged and relatable.” Musician-actor Steven Van Zandt had his own thoughts.

(Photo of Saquon Barkley: Mitchell Leff / Getty Images)

Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young has proved time and time again he can nail a long-range 3-pointer when called upon, and Tuesday night against the Utah Jazz was no different.

The Jazz tied the game with under three seconds left to play. Atlanta inbounded the ball to Young, who took one dribble and pulled up before half-court and nailed the 49-foot game-winner.

Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young, #11, shoots a three-point shot from half-court over Utah Jazz guard Collin Sexton, #2, at the buzzer to win an NBA basketball game on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025 in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rob Gray)

Young’s teammates mobbed him at half-court.

“This is part of what I do,” Young said after the game. “I always get guys involved, always been able to find people. I feel like I’m the kind of guy who can pass you open. You don’t just have to be open for me to get you the ball. I can see things and get you into a good spot.”

Young had 24 points and 20 assists in the 124-121 victory.

“I knew we had three seconds,” Young said. “I could take a couple of dribbles and be closer to half-court, and then I made sure I used my legs and put some air into the ball and that was important.”

BULLS’ COBY WHITE THROWS DOWN VICIOUS DUNK OVER 7-FOOT-3 PHENOM VICTOR WEMBANYAMA

Hawks head coach Quin Snyder praised Young’s efficiency. The veteran guard was 6-for-16 from the floor but only had two turnovers.

“He has taken a lot of pride in being efficient and knowing when it is time to give the ball up and when it’s time to impress himself on the game from a scoring standpoint,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said.

Atlanta improved to 19-18 with the win.

Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young, #11, dribbles with the ball against Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler, #24, during the second quarter of an NBA basketball game on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025 in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rob Gray)

Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen had 35 points, two rebounds and two steals to lead the team. Collin Sexton, who tied the game with only a few seconds left, had 24 points.

Utah fell to 9-26 on the year.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

Isaiah Bennett, a senior point guard at AGBU High in Canoga Park, has known his coach, Nareg Kopooshian, for so long that there’s a photo of Bennett with him as a smiling 9-year-old wearing a headband while holding a trophy.

“He knows all my stuff,” Bennett said. “He knows the inside and out. What I’m thinking, what I do.”

It’s no surprise that AGBU is 16-2 with the kind of chemistry between floor leader and mentor on and off the court.

The 5-foot-11 Bennett is averaging 18.9 points, 8.3 assists and 7.7 rebounds. He has attended Armenian schools since he was 4 and can speak, write and read Armenian. Thirteen years of Armenian education has made an impression.

“I feel it’s more like a family,” he said of the students he’s met along the way. “I feel like it’s my second home. Good, bad, they’re always going to support me. They always have my back. They’re like my brothers and sisters.”

His mother and father used to play basketball, so he was attracted to the sport. It has become more than a passion. Basketball means everything to him.

It’s almost the same with his coach, so that’s one reason they know each other so well.

“He’s a Steph Curry fan,” Bennett said. “He’s a maniac when it comes to sports. When it’s basketball time, he’s fully focused and locked in. He takes it to another level. He actually told us, say we win and play another game in a couple days, he sets a timer to go off when he can start looking at the next game.”

Kopooshian said of Bennett: “He doesn’t crave or ask for any attention. He’s all about his teammates.”

As a freshman, Bennett was a contributor on AGBU’s 21-1 team and learned plenty from standout player Avand Dorian and the Martirossian brothers, twins Ryan and Michael.

“I was the bench guy,” Bennett said. “I learned about leadership, how to stay focused, how to stay comfortable in big games. It’s OK to have nerves. It’s how mentally I can stay in the game.”

The next season he was part of the same group that remained close on and off the court. Now Bennett is the one setting the example for others.

“He was our backup point guard his sophomore year,” Kopooshian said. “He came into his junior year and was the leader for a young team. We returned everyone this year. All those experiences having two successful years and one learning year helped mold him for this season when we started 12-0.”

Bennett is part of a group of small-school players making a difference this season. At Shalhevet, senior guard Aiden Bitran is averaging 21.9 points and has made 64 threes. At Pilibos, Pepperdine-bound Anto Balian is averaging 31.8 points.

Los Angeles has the largest Armenian population outside of Armenia, so one game to put on everyone’s schedule is Jan. 31 when AGBU plays at Pilibos in a nonleague game.

“I can almost guarantee there will be nowhere to stand at that game,” Kopooshian said. “You’ve got one entrance and everyone will be trying to come through. It will be a fun way to wrap up the season before the playoffs.”