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

[RiotAct]

1 minute ago, Boatdrinks said:

If I am certain of one thing in all this , it’s that the NFL won’t mind bestowing the # 1 seed upon the Chiefs. 

reading through the ChiefsPlanet boards now, there is a grand conspiracy percolating to screw over the Chiefs, dont’cha know!

[CorkScrewHill]

7 minutes ago, Rockpile233 said:

The real issues at play:

-first and foremost Hamlins health. Poor optics rushing to solution mode over this game the next couple of days. Not relatively important versus his health status.

 

-players really shaken up about what happened and lack of clarity on Hamlin’s health for several days makes it very difficult to ask then to restart this week.

 

-logistical nightmare to push back playoffs 

 

A no contest is the logical decision IMO. The downside is basically seeding only. KC getting gifted the 1 is lousy but this best addresses the issues.

Cincy has beaten KC 3 times in a row. The Bills would have done the same except a 13 second brain fart. Let them have the one seed (if the Raiders don't beat them). I think the Chiefs are the third best team in the AFC and it will likely be proven in the playoffs.

[Putin]

13 minutes ago, Success said:

 

Totally agree w/ this.  I don't want to see this Cincy/Bills game played at this point.  Either an L, or a tie, or whatever - but just play the final week and figure out how to seed based on percentages or something.

 

I'd much rather the Bills not have a bye than try to squeeze in 2 regular season games now....

 

Do you guys think the players will be able to recover from this and continue on ? Or could they even rally around Damar Hamlin and push forward ? 
 

[T.E.]

7 minutes ago, BullBuchanan said:

I don't see how there's any scenario in which the league gives the Bills an advantage here. It's completely unfair to all of the other teams in the league to change the playoff scheduling and it's unfair to the rest of the AFC do mess at all with the seeding. The most reasonable thing to do for the Bills is to forfeit the Bengals game and perhaps the Patriots game if they aren't up for it (which of course would be unfair to all other Wild Card aspiring teams, but it is what it is) and then get ready for the Wild Card round in the playoffs.

This is the only scenario that seems even remotely likely. The idea that both teams could somehow forfeit yet still get a win is a pipedream. It was an incredibly unfortunate thing to happen all the way around. It is what it is.

[BillyBilliams]

1 minute ago, LabattBlue said:

I just don’t see any way the NFL gives two teams a “W” for a game that could not be completed. 

 

It's the only way that doesn't hurt both teams.  It's not the Bengals or the Bills fault a catastrophic incident happened on the field, so you cannot punish the teams for that.  WIthout this game, Cincinnati cannot get the 1 seed, and I believe they cannot surpass Buffalo for the 2 seed.  Without this game, Buffalo loses their competitive tie breaking advantage for already beating Kansas City.

 

At the end of the day, I don't really care if giving both teams wins screws KC or Baltimore.  Both teams lost to both Buffalo and Cincy, so they should have not lost those games this year, then.

[stlbills13]

Somebody is going to get screwed no matter what decision is made. I think the NFL should do all they can to make sure no team is rewarded because of it. Yes I am a Bills fan but here is how I would do it

 

- The Bills have to play on Sunday barring something very very unfortunate happening to Hamlin within 24 hours of the game. Even then, I might say the Bills have to play even if it's just going through the motions. Ignore the implications for the #1 seed - NE, MIA, PIT, and even JAX could have an outcome riding on the result of that game. That result could mean 2nd contracts, coaching firings, etc. 

- If the Bills, Cincy, and KC all win this weekend, I would group the 3 loss teams together (KC and BUF). I don't think the Bills should be punished and the Chiefs rewarded just because KC played an extra game. From there, BUF would get the 1 seed due to H2H tiebraker.

- Even though I think Cincy has handled this with 100% class and respect, I think they would be the team to get the hardest break and they'd move to the 3 seed. My reason behind this is that there was no guarantee they'd be the 2 or 1 seed even with a win over the Bills last night. Again, I truly would hate to see them get the rawest end of this deal but they had 4 losses going into the game. 

 

I personally think both Cincy and Buffalo would get screwed if the game had to be played. Sure Cincy could win and then own the tiebreaker over the Bills, but then they still have to play Baltimore (potentially/likely) on a short week. Obviously playing that game for the Bills seems crazy.

 

There are 1,000 outcomes that could make my plan messier such as the Ravens beating the Bengals (then do they have a rightful claim to the division having beaten Cincy twice but played more games?) but to me this is the simplest plan that does not reward a team outside of BUF/CIN and does not also severely punish both BUF/CIN.

 

There is no way they are going to push back all the Week 18 games a full week. Hotels are booked by fans, tickets have been bought, etc. That would be a nightmare. There is the possibility to push back the first round of the playoffs and have the Bills play Cincy that weekend (assuming there are still playoff implications) but that seems like it has too many moving pieces/issues such as 1) all other teams getting an extra week of rest than BUF/CIN 2) some fans of teams like TB, SF, MN, etc could have already made hotel/travel arrangements for that weekend 3) TV deals that pay the NFL a lot of money would have to have a say 4) as stupid as it seems, teams appreciate the week off before the Super Bowl especially with how logistically crazy it is

 

Again, someone is going to have a legit gripe for how this is handled. You can say that a team like KC shouldn't get screwed since they weren't involved but you could just as easily say they shouldn't be rewarded. To me, the focus is how do you make this best for BUF/CIN and then go from there. Maybe it's something like Buffalo, Cincy, KC have to evenly split revenue from home playoff games. I know money doesn't solve all but you can also bet these owners are considering the money side of this as well as the competitive side.

[What a Tuel]

3 minutes ago, RiotAct said:

reading through the ChiefsPlanet boards now, there is a grand conspiracy percolating to screw over the Chiefs, dont’cha know!

 

Yeah they are starting to get over the "we are all one team" mentality and moving to "hey if both the bengals and bills didn't want to play then they both lose" mentality in record time.

Edited January 3, 2023 by What a Tuel

[ExiledInIllinois]

8 minutes ago, jletha said:

The more I discuss this the more I am on team coin flip.

Last year's playoff game between BFLo-KC was basically decided on a coin-flip. What's the harm.

 

 

OR....We can fly Josh back to Cincy for a QB contest with Burrow. Whoever can throw it the farthest and run the fastest gets the win.  😏 

Edited January 3, 2023 by ExiledInIllinois

[BullBuchanan]

1 minute ago, stlbills13 said:

Somebody is going to get screwed no matter what decision is made. I think the NFL should do all they can to make sure no team is rewarded because of it. Yes I am a Bills fan but here is how I would do it

 

- The Bills have to play on Sunday barring something very very unfortunate happening to Hamlin within 24 hours of the game. Even then, I might say the Bills have to play even if it's just going through the motions. Ignore the implications for the #1 seed - NE, MIA, PIT, and even JAX could have an outcome riding on the result of that game. That result could mean 2nd contracts, coaching firings, etc. 

- If the Bills, Cincy, and KC all win this weekend, I would group the 3 loss teams together (KC and BUF). I don't think the Bills should be punished and the Chiefs rewarded just because KC played an extra game. From there, BUF would get the 1 seed due to H2H tiebraker.

- Even though I think Cincy has handled this with 100% class and respect, I think they would be the team to get the hardest break and they'd move to the 3 seed. My reason behind this is that there was no guarantee they'd be the 2 or 1 seed even with a win over the Bills last night. Again, I truly would hate to see them get the rawest end of this deal but they had 4 losses going into the game. 

 

I personally think both Cincy and Buffalo would get screwed if the game had to be played. Sure Cincy could win and then own the tiebreaker over the Bills, but then they still have to play Baltimore (potentially/likely) on a short week. Obviously playing that game for the Bills seems crazy.

 

There are 1,000 outcomes that could make my plan messier such as the Ravens beating the Bengals (then do they have a rightful claim to the division having beaten Cincy twice but played more games?) but to me this is the simplest plan that does not reward a team outside of BUF/CIN and does not also severely punish both BUF/CIN.

 

There is no way they are going to push back all the Week 18 games a full week. Hotels are booked by fans, tickets have been bought, etc. That would be a nightmare. There is the possibility to push back the first round of the playoffs and have the Bills play Cincy that weekend (assuming there are still playoff implications) but that seems like it has too many moving pieces/issues such as 1) all other teams getting an extra week of rest than BUF/CIN 2) some fans of teams like TB, SF, MN, etc could have already made hotel/travel arrangements for that weekend 3) TV deals that pay the NFL a lot of money would have to have a say 4) as stupid as it seems, teams appreciate the week off before the Super Bowl especially with how logistically crazy it is

 

Again, someone is going to have a legit gripe for how this is handled. You can say that a team like KC shouldn't get screwed since they weren't involved but you could just as easily say they shouldn't be rewarded. To me, the focus is how do you make this best for BUF/CIN and then go from there. Maybe it's something like Buffalo, Cincy, KC have to evenly split revenue from home playoff games. I know money doesn't solve all but you can also bet these owners are considering the money side of this as well as the competitive side.

How do you punish Cinci for the Bills being unable to continue a game in which Cinci were winning?

[BillyBilliams]

1 minute ago, Patrick Fitzryan said:

This is the only scenario that seems even remotely likely. The idea that both teams could somehow forfeit yet still get a win is a pipedream. It was an incredibly unfortunate thing to happen all the way around. It is what it is.

 

The blowback by the NFL forcing the Bills to forfeit a game because a member on the team died and was revived on the field would be horrible.  You CANNOT punish the Bills and Bengals for this.  They took care of their business all year, and this is completely out of their control.  I don't really care if everybody else is upset by it.  They failed to take care of their own business.  Bills and Bengals took care of their business.  

[since79]

Game No Contest- play out next week. Buff Cinci will play this week on emotion.  Get week off to recoup mentally.

Expand ACF 2 extra teams. You get one extra playoff Game.

KC,Buff,Cinci  First round bye no one penalized for decision on this game. 

All three get 2nd round playoff game Home. No penalty for decision.

 

Championship game Home team will need to be decided if 2 of the three are in it.  If it is just one, of course they host the Championship game. If two, Neutral site, decided by coin flip or win %.  You don't have to worry about it until after round two to sort it out.  

 

To be real fair Baltimore would get first round game anyway like they won devision.

 

The teams fighting their way in are not penalized either and in fact may be rewarded.  

 

Edited January 3, 2023 by since79

[BillyBilliams]

Just now, BullBuchanan said:

How do you punish Cinci for the Bills being unable to continue a game in which Cinci were winning?

 

They aren't being punished.  Their coaching staff went to the Bills coaching staff during the 5 minute warm up period and they mutually agreed to stop the game.  It literally was 1 drive each.  The game had just started.

[What a Tuel]

2 minutes ago, BullBuchanan said:

How do you punish Cinci for the Bills being unable to continue a game in which Cinci were winning?

 

Why are you so sure the Bengals players wanted to continue?

 

Edit: To add if they didn't want to continue then how do you punish the Bills by not allowing them a chance to come back from a measly 4 pt deficit.

Edited January 3, 2023 by What a Tuel

[BullBuchanan]

Just now, BillyBilliams said:

 

They aren't being punished.  Their coaching staff went to the Bills coaching staff during the 5 minute warm up period and they mutually agreed to stop the game.  It literally was 1 drive each.  The game had just started.

And the Bills should return the classy move presented by Cinci and forfeit the game if they're unable to resume it without negatively impacting the rest of the league. It's ultimately the Bills who caused the game to be stopped.

[stlbills13]

Just now, BullBuchanan said:

How do you punish Cinci for the Bills being unable to continue a game in which Cinci were winning?

 

I personally don't think the score at the time of the cancelation of the game is relevant since it was the first quarter but I understand the general point. My reasoning is more so this: I think the most likely outcome is a cancelation of the game and it's declared no contest. The NFL is not going to give the Bills a loss for this game unless the Bills volunteer for it. So in that case, the playoffs would be determined based on win %. In that case, KC and BUF are ahead of CIN (assuming all 3 win this coming weekend) and then from there, I give BUF the 1 seed over KC due to H2H

[ExiledInIllinois]

1 minute ago, BullBuchanan said:

How do you punish Cinci for the Bills being unable to continue a game in which Cinci were winning?

Like baseball. The game is not official because it didn't get out of the 1st quarter.  Baseball needs 4.5 innings (if home team is winning).

 

That was more like not even 2 innings yesterday. 

1 minute ago, BillyBilliams said:

 

They aren't being punished.  Their coaching staff went to the Bills coaching staff during the 5 minute warm up period and they mutually agreed to stop the game.  It literally was 1 drive each.  The game had just started.

Yup. Not official.  

[Buffalo03]

If the game continues, do they start it where it left off? Or restart at 0-0?

[BullBuchanan]

2 minutes ago, What a Tuel said:

 

Why are you so sure the Bengals players wanted to continue?

 

Edit: To add if they didn't want to continue then how do you punish the Bills by not allowing them a chance to come back from a measly 4 pt deficit.

It's not about the Bengals wanting to continue or not, but if you do anything that hands the Bills a W or prevents the Bengals from getting a W, then you screw over their playoff seeding that could have a material impact on their ability to win a Super Bowl. This isn't their problem.

[Boatdrinks]

1 minute ago, Buffalo03 said:

If the game continues, do they start it where it left off? Or restart at 0-0?

Yes resumes where it left off

Just now, BullBuchanan said:

It's not about the Bengals wanting to continue or not, but if you do anything that hands the Bills a W or prevents the Bengals from getting a W, then you screw over their playoff seeding that could have a material impact on their ability to win a Super Bowl. This isn't their problem.

They didn’t want to continue , from all reports 

[jrb2590]

to expand on the coin flip option even further, you could even get some statistical odds in there, say bengals were 60% chance to win the game at the point it ended (and bills 39%, with 1% chance of tie), lets give them 60 out of 100 balls in the hat, then give bills 39 and tie 1.

 

pull a ball and move on. no one in nfl, bills/bengals or any other team knows how the game would have ended so why make a decision that intentionally helps/hurts any team