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

[Punch]

I haven’t seen this discussed beyond this tweet—- I’m interpreting this as a realistic possibility, am I wrong?

[Einstein]

33 minutes ago, boilertiger said:

Also, not an on field death but in 2011, Jevon Belcher (Chiefs starting LB) murdered his girlfriend and mother of his 3 month old daughter.

 

Belcher then drove to Arrowhead stadium. Scott Pioli and Romeo Crennel in the parking lot tried to calm him down. Belcher asked Clark Hunt and Scott Pioli to take care of his daughter before shooting him self in the head. Chiefs had a game the next day.

 

 

He had CTE too.

 

The Hunt’s did as he requested and took care of his daughter. They started a trust fund for her.

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

3 minutes ago, UKBillFan said:

Not quite. If the Bills, Ravens and Raiders win, then the AFC North and the number three seed is still up for grabs. If the Bengals beat the Bills they take it; if the Bills beat the Bengals then the Ravens do.

ugh. You are right. What is sort of pointless though is to play that game at that point, because the Bills will have locked up homefield and so would rest their starters. You sort of wonder if the bills would forfeit the game, if that is allowed. Sort of would stink for the ravens. 

[Seventeen]

3 minutes ago, Punch said:

I haven’t seen this discussed beyond this tweet—- I’m interpreting this as a realistic possibility, am I wrong?

 

Nope not wrong -  I'm assuming the 19th week would be the current wild-card weekend and everything moved a week out x/c for the SB.

[Kiva]

7 minutes ago, Miyagi-Do Karate said:

I have a feeling the NFL will wait and see what happens this week. I think if the bills, raiders, and ravens win this weekend, the bills-bengals game is meaningless for every purpose, and they can declare it a forfeit. 

Raiders are not beating KC. The cinci game will need to be finished. 

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

Just now, Kiva said:

Raiders are not beating KC. The cinci game will need to be finished. 

just wait— you aren’t going to see those mysterious calls going for the chiefs this weekend! 

[UKBillFan]

13 minutes ago, Miyagi-Do Karate said:

ugh. You are right. What is sort of pointless though is to play that game at that point, because the Bills will have locked up homefield and so would rest their starters. You sort of wonder if the bills would forfeit the game, if that is allowed. Sort of would stink for the ravens. 

Agreed. I think at least one of the Chiefs or Bengals will win at the weekend so the number one seed would still be up for grabs, as long as the Bills beat the Pats. But, should they both lose and the Bills win, then they’d as good as forfeit the Bengals game anyway. It would be pointless and I can understand the Ravens not being impressed (whilst acknowledging they’d do the same thing in the Bills position).

Edited January 4, 2023 by UKBillFan

[Low Positive]

None of this really matters, but since this thread is discussing football stuff I will post this here. I can't see the Bills beating the Pats this Sunday. Are Fraiser, Dorsey, and McDermott game planning as we speak? Will they hold practice to install the game plan tomorrow? Who's playing slot corner? Who's playing FS? Are all those players that looked shellshocked last night going to be ready to play at full-speed in a game that the Pats will play like a playoff game? IF we play the game, we'll have to play a preseason vanilla O and D with the Pats having everything to play for. I think the Bills go through the motions and get beat and enter the playoffs as the #3 seed. 

[HalftimeAdjustment]

Here are my thoughts on this topic, such as they are.

 

If the Bills do not play this Sunday, then they need to forfeit both games. I don't see the logic in forfeiting to the Patriots but not the Bengals. In that scenario, the Chiefs control their own destiny and the Bengals are #2 unless they win and the Chiefs lose; the Bills end up #3. However, I assume that the Bills will play on Sunday.

In any case where the Bills and Cinci are vying for the same spot, I think the resolution has to favor the Bengals. I wish that wasn't true, but it is what it is. Also, the Ravens are not going to win their division if the Bills/Bengals game can't be played. There's no logic I can see in which the Bengals can get tagged with a loss for Wk17. So the more I looked at this the less I could see a difference between "cancelling the game" and "Bills forfeit" in terms of practical results.

 

So, it breaks down like this in that case:

 - If KC wins OR ties their game, they are the #1 seed. In that case, Cinci is #2 if they win their game, otherwise they are #3 and Bills are #2.

 - If all 3 teams lose their game or if KC loses and the Bills and Bengals BOTH tie... KC is #1, Cinci #2, Buf #3.

 - If KC loses their game and the Bills win and the Bengals lose or tie, Buffalo is #1, KC is #2, and Cinci #3. 

 - If KC loses their game and the Bills lose or tie and the Bengals win, Cinci is #1, KC is #2, and Buf #3. 

 - If KC loses their game and the Bills win and the Bengals win, Cinci is #1, Buf #2, KC #3. 

 

Based on the above, assuming the Bills are playing this Sunday, a Bills forfeit for Wk17 is the most logical outcome - unless the NFL is REALLY prepared to mess with the playoff schedule a LOT to play this game. It is not reasonable to try to play Wk 18 Sunday, Wk 17 Thursday, and Playoff wk 1 on Monday... it is a bigger disadvantage than any team gets by the difference in 1-3 seeds.

 

 

 

 

 

[UKBillFan]

4 minutes ago, HalftimeAdjustment said:

Here are my thoughts on this topic, such as they are.

 

If the Bills do not play this Sunday, then they need to forfeit both games. I don't see the logic in forfeiting to the Patriots but not the Bengals. In that scenario, the Chiefs control their own destiny and the Bengals are #2 unless they win and the Chiefs lose; the Bills end up #3. However, I assume that the Bills will play on Sunday.

In any case where the Bills and Cinci are vying for the same spot, I think the resolution has to favor the Bengals. I wish that wasn't true, but it is what it is. Also, the Ravens are not going to win their division if the Bills/Bengals game can't be played. There's no logic I can see in which the Bengals can get tagged with a loss for Wk17. So the more I looked at this the less I could see a difference between "cancelling the game" and "Bills forfeit" in terms of practical results.

 

So, it breaks down like this in that case:

 - If KC wins OR ties their game, they are the #1 seed. In that case, Cinci is #2 if they win their game, otherwise they are #3 and Bills are #2.

 - If all 3 teams lose their game or if KC loses and the Bills and Bengals BOTH tie... KC is #1, Cinci #2, Buf #3.

 - If KC loses their game and the Bills win and the Bengals lose or tie, Buffalo is #1, KC is #2, and Cinci #3. 

 - If KC loses their game and the Bills lose or tie and the Bengals win, Cinci is #1, KC is #2, and Buf #3. 

 - If KC loses their game and the Bills win and the Bengals win, Cinci is #1, Buf #2, KC #3. 

 

Based on the above, assuming the Bills are playing this Sunday, a Bills forfeit for Wk17 is the most logical outcome - unless the NFL is REALLY prepared to mess with the playoff schedule a LOT to play this game. It is not reasonable to try to play Wk 18 Sunday, Wk 17 Thursday, and Playoff wk 1 on Monday... it is a bigger disadvantage than any team gets by the difference in 1-3 seeds.

 

 

 

 

 

The other possibility is for the NFL to change the structure of the Play Offs.

 

Open the Play Offs to eight teams rather than seven, and scrap the bye for the first seed. In the AFC, if/when the Chiefs, Bengals and/or Bills meet, the game/s will be held on a neutral field. That negates much of the first seed advantage and placings can then be decided by win percentage without completing Bills-Bengals.

[Seventeen]

25 minutes ago, FrenchConnection said:

None of this really matters, but since this thread is discussing football stuff I will post this here. I can't see the Bills beating the Pats this Sunday. Are Fraiser, Dorsey, and McDermott game planning as we speak? Will they hold practice to install the game plan tomorrow? Who's playing slot corner? Who's playing FS? Are all those players that looked shellshocked last night going to be ready to play at full-speed in a game that the Pats will play like a playoff game? IF we play the game, we'll have to play a preseason vanilla O and D with the Pats having everything to play for. I think the Bills go through the motions and get beat and enter the playoffs as the #3 seed. 

 

Maybe, all depends on updates to Damar's condition over the next 24 hours. If they get an update he's off the ventilator and awake, likely they practice Thursday thru Saturday and are ready for the game. 

 

No idea how the secondary would look other than Rhodes could be added to the 53. Patriots passing game is not exactly scary so we should be OK. 

Edited January 4, 2023 by Roy Hobbs

[Nitro]

47 minutes ago, Kiva said:

Raiders are not beating KC. The cinci game will need to be finished. 

They can go on winning percentages for seeding and head to head competition.  If you think they are going to delay the playoffs for a week while they play one game, guess again.  

[What a Tuel]

36 minutes ago, FrenchConnection said:

None of this really matters, but since this thread is discussing football stuff I will post this here. I can't see the Bills beating the Pats this Sunday. Are Fraiser, Dorsey, and McDermott game planning as we speak? Will they hold practice to install the game plan tomorrow? Who's playing slot corner? Who's playing FS? Are all those players that looked shellshocked last night going to be ready to play at full-speed in a game that the Pats will play like a playoff game? IF we play the game, we'll have to play a preseason vanilla O and D with the Pats having everything to play for. I think the Bills go through the motions and get beat and enter the playoffs as the #3 seed. 

 

We've played on less practice. Nothing like this situation but to say practice is 100% necessary to even compete is a stretch given the teams circumstances for several weeks this season.

2 minutes ago, Nitro said:

They can go on winning percentages for seeding and head to head competition.  If you think they are going to delay the playoffs for a week while they play one game, guess again.  

 

League rules don't allow them to just modify playoff qualifying conditions on the fly. They actually say that if the game has impact on other teams then it must be played.

 

There is much more going on than just the seeding for KC, Cinci, Buffalo. 

[Kiva]

8 minutes ago, Nitro said:

They can go on winning percentages for seeding and head to head competition.  If you think they are going to delay the playoffs for a week while they play one game, guess again.  

They game was “delayed” by the league. This indicates that the game will be finished at some point…

[vanhalen26]

Resuming the game would be problematic.  After another weekend of football coming up, surely there will be new injuries that impact availability, and some previously injured players may now be available.  To a lesser extent, new weather conditions will play a role on the game.  And resuming the previous game after the subsequent game has been played just feels odd.  I wonder if anything like that has been done before.  Maybe baseball?

 

Then there is the emotional considerations.  How can you ask these players to return to the field at the exact point where the hit took place with the same down and time on the clock.  That’s PTSD waiting to happen.  
 

I don’t have the answers, but I think resumption doesn’t work.  I’d probably cancel and seed spots 1, 2 and 3 based on win %.

Edited January 4, 2023 by vanhalen26

[Mango]

1 hour ago, Success said:

The game will not be meaningless.  Our game has huge implications for 4 cities hoping to get the 7 seed.

 

This wasn’t the Bills problem at kick off. And it’s not the Bills problem now.

 

This keeps getting mentioned like the Bills owe it to other teams to make the game up.
 

They don’t. 

[Bills fan since 87]

55 minutes ago, FrenchConnection said:

None of this really matters, but since this thread is discussing football stuff I will post this here. I can't see the Bills beating the Pats this Sunday. Are Fraiser, Dorsey, and McDermott game planning as we speak? Will they hold practice to install the game plan tomorrow? Who's playing slot corner? Who's playing FS? Are all those players that looked shellshocked last night going to be ready to play at full-speed in a game that the Pats will play like a playoff game? IF we play the game, we'll have to play a preseason vanilla O and D with the Pats having everything to play for. I think the Bills go through the motions and get beat and enter the playoffs as the #3 seed. 

 

It does matter, not as much as a million things in life but it does matter.  Vanilla Bills in front of a highly emotional home crowd?  Yeah.  Theyd still roll the Patriots.

[T.E.]

6 minutes ago, Mango said:

This wasn’t the Bills problem at kick off. And it’s not the Bills problem now.

 

This keeps getting mentioned like the Bills owe it to other teams to make the game up.
 

They don’t. 

The league ,though, owes it to the other teams to create as level a playing field as possible.

[HalftimeAdjustment]

49 minutes ago, UKBillFan said:

The other possibility is for the NFL to change the structure of the Play Offs.

 

Open the Play Offs to eight teams rather than seven, and scrap the bye for the first seed. In the AFC, if/when the Chiefs, Bengals and/or Bills meet, the game/s will be held on a neutral field. That negates much of the first seed advantage and placings can then be decided by win percentage without completing Bills-Bengals.

 

I just think the level of disruption that entails is not a precedent the league will want to set. This would require more than a commissioner decision, it would require serious buy-in from ownership. It's true that Damar Hamlin is a major national story right now. But really... most of the people across the country (non-Bills fans) will soon take the approach that however the playoffs are resolved, will not affect his recovery or prognosis. So why should their team (whomever it is) be negatively impacted by this? They (non-Bills fans) can both support him and pray for him and also want to get on with the NFL playoffs regardless of what happens to the Buffalo Bills. 

 

It would have been inhumane to require the Bills and Bengals to complete the game after witnessing his collapse on the field. It does not follow that other players and teams across the league want their plans disrupted for multiple weeks in order to accommodate the Bills or the Bengals. I just don't see the league bending over backwards to accommodate this game. I believe they just haven't announced any resolution because they don't need to and it would look terribly insensitive. Probably from their standpoint the ideal situation is this:

   - Damar regains consciousness before they have to announce any resolution

   - They can cancel the game rather than require a Bills forfeit without any difference in the standings.

 

But if they HAVE to I think they go for a Bills forfeit before they reschedule the entire playoff schedule. In any case I think that they will delay announcing as long as they can, in the hopes that Damar's condition improves. Which is also the right thing to do.

[Andy1]

Bob Costas was on tv tonight and thought the most likely scenario was that the game is never played and playoff seating is done using winning %.