Playoff Solutions Assuming they don’t replay the Bengals game.

[stlbills13]

Total guess:

 

- The NFL will want Buf/Cin to finish their game. They won't outright say it and they won't push back if the players say no, but they will make that the first option.

- The Bills definitely say no to playing. The Bengals would obviously rather play but they agree to canceling

- The NFL hopes and prays that LV beats KC on Saturday or that the Bills lose to the Patriots so that this single incident doesn't decide the 1 seed.

- The Bills will still be a little shell-shocked on Sunday even if Hamlin is declared to be okay before then. It will be a tough game. 

- The Bills likely go into the playoffs at the 2 or 3 seed. It's a really tough break in a season of really tough breaks but I'm not sure what else can be done. Even if you finish this game, I feel like it would be hard for the Bills to win so all you're doing is risking injury and losing the tiebreaker to the Bengals.

- I do expect the Chiefs to flip a switch in the playoffs but they have looked very beatable lately. They could be the 1 seed and still lose their first game and I don't think anyone should be surprised. 

 

[Boatdrinks]

1 minute ago, Generic_Bills_Fan said:

If they cancel the game I’m pretty sure you’re right about how it’s going to go down.  It’s pretty wild that kc essentially gets 2 gifts in one though…cincy had a shot at the 1 seed too

Most unpalatable thing about such a scenario is that Chiefs lost head to head to both teams involved … otherwise that’s the solution. It may still be, but perhaps a different decision will be reached. 

[flmike]

32 minutes ago, SCBills said:

Bills were an Allen/Beasley timing hiccup away from this being 7-7.   We moved the ball at will on our first drive.  
 

As frustrating as it is, we’re all very familiar with our defenses slow starts.  
 

To act like anyone knows how this game was going to go, even if the Bengals go up 14-3 on their current drive, is being ridiculous and completely disrespectful to the grit and heart this team has shown this year.  
 

I say this as someone who was ready to throw my tv watching our defense in those first 1.5 drives.   ….I also know we have a seasons worth of data to rely on as to the good & bad tendencies of this defense all year long. 

The difference is that we would be facing Burrows w/o Hamlin and possibly Taron. Was looking to be a long night in any case. Bills could still win if Josh had an MVP night in a tough environment. That's all beside the point now, though. The game was suspended. Best possible outcome is that Hamlin improves and they push everything back a week and kill one of the "prep" weeks for the Super Bowl. The Packers didn't need that in '66. 

[PetermansRedemption]

2 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

If we just basically forfeit the Bengals and Pats game we go into the playoffs rested and with hopefully good news on Hamlin putting the players at ease. We then face the #6 seed (likely Ravens) at home, then probably the Bengals and KC in their stadiums. I'd sign up for that right now. It's the best case scenario that doesn't force the players to play a game they're not ready for or screw up a bunch of other NFL scheduling.

This is what I’d like to see the Bills do. Forfeit the last 2, go in as the 3 seed and give yourself 2 weeks off. 

[UKBillFan]

Speaking with all emotion removed, I’m not sure why Goodall is obsessed with finishing the game within two days, if that tweet is correct.

 

Let week 18 play out as normal. Bills-Bengals then finish their game on 12th January. The wildcard weekend is pushed back to weekend of 21st January and the week’s gap between the Conference Championships and the Super Bowl is removed.

 

Of course, whether the Bills will be ready to play Sunday is another question altogether at the moment.

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

Just now, No_Matter_What said:

This.

 

To me it seems weird how so many people say that they care about Hamlin but at the same time they only think about how unfair is that KC might profit from cancelling the game. I mean who cares. Do you really want the players to go to Cincy to "finish" that game either tomorrow or sometime after the Pats game just to satisfy your personal feeling that it would be unfair to hand KC 1 seed? Come on.

To be fair I don’t think that’s the ‘only’ thing they’re thinking about.  If the nfl discusses continuing the game I would certainly want it left up to the players whether they actually want to continue or not.  You can care about Hamlins health and think the situation is a bit unfair…it’s not an either/or  

 

that’s my guess as to how it’s going to go down…nfl will offer a reschedule and leave it up to both teams and if both teams agree they don’t want to play the game it won’t be counted.  

[Billsfan1972]

6 minutes ago, SMAKCruiser said:

There was not a 2 week break in 1990.   

And I'm convinced that was the reason the Bills lost.  Too big a game, too much preparation and logistics nowadays, especially for the teams participating.  No way they do that.

[chongli]

8 minutes ago, Warriorspikes51 said:

 

Do you honestly think that Hamlin would want the entire NFL season to be canceled

 

He would say no, but what else could he say? Cancel the season? He would have no choice but to say it. We don't know what is going to happen with him though. I am hoping for the best possible outcome.

Edited January 3, 2023 by chongli

[Boatdrinks]

3 minutes ago, No_Matter_What said:

This.

 

To me it seems weird how so many people say that they care about Hamlin but at the same time they only think about how unfair is that KC might profit from cancelling the game. I mean who cares. Do you really want the players to go to Cincy to "finish" that game either tomorrow or sometime after the Pats game just to satisfy your personal feeling that it would be unfair to hand KC 1 seed? Come on.

In fairness the two are not mutually exclusive. This is the playoff solutions thread as well, not the Hamlin injury thread. It won’t be up to us fans what the decision will be , whether that is playing the game using some other method to determine a winner, or an outright forfeit by the Bills. I’d guess all are on the table right now and the NFL has to try to balance fairness with respect. 

[UKBillFan]

26 minutes ago, flmike said:

Except the Bills were facing Burrows with 2 DBs down from an already depleted squad. Josh would have had to score 8 points on every drive to win that game. 

How do you know Burrow wasn’t going to have a bad night and start throwing interceptions? Or their players begin to fumble the ball? Or their offense make hay and we win a shootout?

[flmike]

2 minutes ago, Billsfan1972 said:

And I'm convinced that was the reason the Bills lost.  Too big a game, too much preparation and logistics nowadays, especially for the teams participating.  No way they do that.

OK, I thought that was the first year for that. Yeah there were other reasons. 3rd and 13 was devastating. 

[Billsfan1972]

I hope Godell screws up again and tells them to play Wednesday/Thursday and the Bills "No Show".

Edited January 3, 2023 by Billsfan1972

[flmike]

Just now, UKBillFan said:

How do you know Burrow wasn’t going to have a bad night and start throwing interceptions? Or their players begin to fumble the ball? Or their offense make hay and we win a shootout?

The odds of that were pretty small in their home stadium. 

[SinatraSinger]

I just keep trying to think what Damar would want.  He worked his whole life to get to where he is at.  He worked hard the whole week to prepare for this game.  He wanted to play this game.  We are talking about competitors, hard core.  This is obviously my opinion but if I am Damar I want this game to be played.  I believe the other players on the Bills need to ask themselves the same question.  If they believe the answer is that Damar would want them to play and they want to show respect for their fallen comrade, then they need to play the game.  WHAT WOULD DAMAR WANT?  For the Bills players that is all that should matter.

 

So if the answer is we play, then play tomorrow or Thursday and move next weeks games for these two teams accordingly.

 

If the team goes in with the attitude that they are playing for Damar they will then go in focused.

[BillsFanSD]

5 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

If we just basically forfeit the Bengals and Pats game we go into the playoffs rested and with hopefully good news on Hamlin putting the players at ease. We then face the #6 seed (likely Ravens) at home, then probably the Bengals and KC in their stadiums. I'd sign up for that right now. It's the best case scenario that doesn't force the players to play a game they're not ready for or screw up a bunch of other NFL scheduling.

 

I think I would prefer every solution that involves cancelling last night's game vs. every solution that involves rescheduling it.  I mean, the worst case scenario is that we get stuck with a forfeit.  That's preferable to trying to make up the game IMO.  

 

I guess if we made up the game, won it, and got the #1 seed that would be the best outcome for us, but the Bengals would rightly feel disadvantaged by having to play multiple games on short rest heading into the wild card round.  I wouldn't want that either.  As hard as it is to take our "fan" hats off, I don't think that making up this game is something anybody would be pick if we were making this call in the offseason and didn't know the teams or stakes involved.

[UKBillFan]

Just now, flmike said:

The odds of that were pretty small in their home stadium. 

Oh well, we shouldn’t have bothered turning up then. And we should have gifted the Chiefs a win at Arrowhead earlier in the season too rather than playing the game.

[GunnerBill]

35 minutes ago, BarleyNY said:

Then it’ll be a forfeit. I fully support the Bills if that is their choice. But I am certain that the league is going to try to make the teams complete the game. 

 

I disagree.

[Juice_32]

13 minutes ago, wvbillsfan said:

I’d take the loss

move on to the patriots game, rest your starters, as many as you possibly can. 
 

Gives the team the best possible chance to be in the right head space at playoff time. Get some rest and hopefully get healthy. 
 

Who and where we play seems irrelevant at this point. 

Agree with this. Take the forfeit. Treat NE game like a preseason game. Take the 3 seed and go all the way for #3.

[KHAN]

Imagining scenarios for navigating this on the field is a diversion  from the seriousness of Hamlins situation.

 

But as I read this thread one thing is clear about the playoff seeding. I just don't care at this point.

[GunnerBill]

33 minutes ago, Giuseppe Tognarelli said:

Then KC HAS to lose on Saturday. The CHIEFS had better not benefit from this. Insane

 

I don't see that there is another option.