Official: (Bengals) Game will not be resumed this week UPDATE: OFFICIALLY CANCELLED

[BigDingus]

Was it ever suggested that instead of win %, they base the Chiefs/Bengals/Bills seeding off how many losses + tiebreakers?

 

That way, Bills with 3 losses vs Chiefs with 3 losses still gets Buffalo the #1 seed, or if Chiefs & Bills both had 4 losses, Bengals would supersede the Chiefs in tiebreakers, then strength of schedule would have Bengals over us... 

 

It just would make more sense given the position all teams were in heading into that MNF game. Bengals needed both Chiefs & Bills to lose a game, Chiefs needed Bills to lose a game, and Bills just needed to win out. If they just went off total losses instead of win %, it'd line up the same way right?

[Doc Brown]

11 minutes ago, BigDingus said:

Was it ever suggested that instead of win %, they base the Chiefs/Bengals/Bills seeding off how many losses + tiebreakers?

 

That way, Bills with 3 losses vs Chiefs with 3 losses still gets Buffalo the #1 seed, or if Chiefs & Bills both had 4 losses, Bengals would supersede the Chiefs in tiebreakers, then strength of schedule would have Bengals over us... 

 

It just would make more sense given the position all teams were in heading into that MNF game. Bengals needed both Chiefs & Bills to lose a game, Chiefs needed Bills to lose a game, and Bills just needed to win out. If they just went off total losses instead of win %, it'd line up the same way right?

I don't see how you could simply take away a win from KC.  I mean one of those two overtime grudge match victories against the Texans and the Willis led Titans would've been meaningless.

[BigDingus]

45 minutes ago, Doc Brown said:

I don't see how you could simply take away a win from KC.  I mean one of those two overtime grudge match victories against the Texans and the Willis led Titans would've been meaningless.

 

It's only "taking away a win" if you're basing it off win %. You're not, you're looking at how many games you lost. They didn't lose those games against the Texans of Titans, therefore it helps them in this scenario.

 

if they had lost any of those games, they'd be out of the mix, just like they would've been had none of this cancelation stuff happened.

[Doc Brown]

18 minutes ago, BigDingus said:

 

It's only "taking away a win" if you're basing it off win %. You're not, you're looking at how many games you lost. They didn't lose those games against the Texans of Titans, therefore it helps them in this scenario.

 

if they had lost any of those games, they'd be out of the mix, just like they would've been had none of this cancelation stuff happened.

They could just as easily argue that they should go by number of wins.  Unfortunately, that's why they go by winning percentage.  It sucks but I can't think of a more fair way without actually resuming the Bills/Bengals game.  KC lucked out but at least the NFL tried to make it a little fairer with the neutral site addendum.  The Bengals got shafted though with that bs coin flip thing.  

[nucci]

9 hours ago, BillsSbSoon said:

Right so basically the players canceled the game. You’re proving my point. Nfl had no choice when the players refused to play. They would’ve been happy had they just continued on

No, it was postponed on Monday. The league looked in to playing it at a different day but couldn't fit it in anywhere so the league cancelled it. If the NFL rescheduled the game the players would have played

[UKBillFan]

11 minutes ago, nucci said:

No, it was postponed on Monday. The league looked in to playing it at a different day but couldn't fit it in anywhere so the league cancelled it. If the NFL rescheduled the game the players would have played

 

It think the issue is the league wanted it played within two days and Hamlin was still in a critical condition then; neither set of players were ready as a collective to do so at that point. If the league turned round and said play it next Thursday and push the play offs back, due to Hamlin's miraculous improvement, I think both set of players would be prepared to.

Edited January 7, 2023 by UKBillFan

[stlbills13]

I don't understand why Cincy fans were so confident they were gonna win based on 9 minutes on Monday yet they are worried about losing to a Ravens team possibly on a 3rd qb and worried about going into Buffalo or KC in the playoffs. The confidence is inconsistent

[NeverOutNick]

4 minutes ago, stlbills13 said:

I don't understand why Cincy fans were so confident they were gonna win based on 9 minutes on Monday yet they are worried about losing to a Ravens team possibly on a 3rd qb and worried about going into Buffalo or KC in the playoffs. The confidence is inconsistent

Cincinnati fans do have a right to be a little annoyed because they did nothing wrong in the situation and are taking most of the burden. Before that game last week they had a chance at the number one seed, now they don’t. At the very least the NFL should’ve said if Buffalo versus Cincinnati happens in the divisional round that should be at a neutral site as well

[zow2]

2 hours ago, NeverOutNick said:

Cincinnati fans do have a right to be a little annoyed because they did nothing wrong in the situation and are taking most of the burden. Before that game last week they had a chance at the number one seed, now they don’t. At the very least the NFL should’ve said if Buffalo versus Cincinnati happens in the divisional round that should be at a neutral site as well

 

I agree. Not sure why that option wasn't on the table. And the Bengals first game should be at home, no coin flip.

Some Cincinnati fans have had a meltdown over this whole new arrangement but they do have the benefit of not playing the Chiefs at Arrowhead if they get to the AFCCG,,, and that's very possible.  

 

Also, they make a big deal out of past tragedies and/or people dying not canceling games, etc.  But none of those happened in-game.  This really was unprecedented and it happened in week 17 so there is really no fair way to flex the game back in the schedule unless the entire playoff dates were re-organized.

 

In the future, if a player is paralyzed in a game (hopefully never)...but if it does happen, who knows, the game might be postponed.  Mental health is a much bigger deal now than even 10-15 years ago and the players mindset will be considered before continuing a game with a real life emergency happening if front of them.

[chongli]

Not sure if this was posted elsewhere, but:

 

 

From the article:

 

"As the Bengals prepared to continue to play, it eventually became obvious that would not happen. At least one player heard Bills coach Sean McDermott say that the Bills would not continue, even if it meant forfeiting the game.

 

The Bengals were willing to accommodate the Bills. One player heard Bengals coach Zac Taylor offer to resume the game on Tuesday. Bengals players generally accepted the prospect of a one-day delay.

 

But then the Bills left Cincinnati. Multiple Bengals players were confused by that development as it occurred. On one hand, they were sensitive to the situation involving Damar Hamlin. On the other hand, they fully realized the stakes of the game. They wanted to get it played.

 

[...]

 

Regardless, the truth is that the Bengals initially were told play would indeed resume by the officials responsible for the game. The truth also seems to be that, if the Bengals had known the game wouldn’t be finished at all and that the rules would later change to make it harder for them to realize a favorable playoff seed, they wouldn’t have been quite as accommodating of the Bills."

[Boatdrinks]

17 hours ago, stlbills13 said:

I don't understand why Cincy fans were so confident they were gonna win based on 9 minutes on Monday yet they are worried about losing to a Ravens team possibly on a 3rd qb and worried about going into Buffalo or KC in the playoffs. The confidence is inconsistent

I think the Bengals want a self made bye this week by resting starters and don’t want Sundays result to have any bearing. I don’t think they’re worried about the opponent. 

[Boatdrinks]

34 minutes ago, chongli said:

Not sure if this was posted elsewhere, but:

 

 

From the article:

 

"As the Bengals prepared to continue to play, it eventually became obvious that would not happen. At least one player heard Bills coach Sean McDermott say that the Bills would not continue, even if it meant forfeiting the game.

 

The Bengals were willing to accommodate the Bills. One player heard Bengals coach Zac Taylor offer to resume the game on Tuesday. Bengals players generally accepted the prospect of a one-day delay.

 

But then the Bills left Cincinnati. Multiple Bengals players were confused by that development as it occurred. On one hand, they were sensitive to the situation involving Damar Hamlin. On the other hand, they fully realized the stakes of the game. They wanted to get it played.

 

[...]

 

Regardless, the truth is that the Bengals initially were told play would indeed resume by the officials responsible for the game. The truth also seems to be that, if the Bengals had known the game wouldn’t be finished at all and that the rules would later change to make it harder for them to realize a favorable playoff seed, they wouldn’t have been quite as accommodating of the Bills."

Of course they’d say “ if we knew this or that .” The fact is nobody knew at the time. The league decided that the game would not be resumed as it would require an entire rework of the playoff schedule. In the end they decide to do the least disruptive thing: change a few parameters in the AFC if certain situations came about. The Bengals or Bills didn’t have too much say either way. If the league had went with the other option they’d be making the game up next Sunday as the NFC playoffs got under way. They decided that resuming the game had “ bad mojo” and wanted to move on. Rescheduling for Tuesday and the Bills forfeiting would have been terrible optics for the NFL and they went to great lengths to avoid that situation. It wasn’t up to the teams: they were told what to do after the postponement. 

[Boatdrinks]

17 hours ago, NeverOutNick said:

Cincinnati fans do have a right to be a little annoyed because they did nothing wrong in the situation and are taking most of the burden. Before that game last week they had a chance at the number one seed, now they don’t. At the very least the NFL should’ve said if Buffalo versus Cincinnati happens in the divisional round that should be at a neutral site as well

They had a small chance at the #1 seed : I believe it was in the 15% range even if they had won on Monday night. They still would have needed a KC loss. So they had a chance at 2 , but the Bills had a chance at #1 on their own if they won their games. The MNF game was cancelled : it officially never happened. A potential BUF / CIN playoff matchup wouldn’t be on a neutral field as the teams played the same amount of games and had different records. KC made out the best getting the bye. The neutral field compensates for some of the lost opportunity. 

[Caesar]

On 1/6/2023 at 6:45 AM, UKBillFan said:

Remind me what happened to the Bengals against the Pats after they looked hot in the first half?

 

On 1/6/2023 at 6:59 AM, UKBillFan said:

The Bills are still better than the Pats, and they came within a stupid fumble of taking the lead against the Bengals with very little time left, albeit I appreciate playing away from the Jungle is different for them.

 

The probability is that the Bengals would have beaten the Bills but no one can say that for certain.

You keep going on about the Bengals-Patriots game, in which you obviously did not watch.  The Bengals had everything go wrong that could and the Pats still only had ONE scoring drive.  2 INT's on the WRs, fumble, missed FG, Missed XP, TD called back, fumble TD called back, dropped bomb, 2 dropped TD passes, Pat's scored on pick 6 screw up and tipped Hail Mary.

The Bengals sure didnt seem like they were taking the Bills lightly.  But keep thinking the Bills will destroy the Bengals, you may end up like a whole bunch of Chiefs fans. Lose to the Patriots tomorrow I'll be here to say hi to you personally.

2 hours ago, Boatdrinks said:

They had a small chance at the #1 seed : I believe it was in the 15% range even if they had won on Monday night. They still would have needed a KC loss. So they had a chance at 2 , but the Bills had a chance at #1 on their own if they won their games. The MNF game was cancelled : it officially never happened. A potential BUF / CIN playoff matchup wouldn’t be on a neutral field as the teams played the same amount of games and had different records. KC made out the best getting the bye. The neutral field compensates for some of the lost opportunity. 

 

The Bengals were taking the Bills chance at a #1 seed and would have the #2 seed.  But Bills get the #2 and the Bills get a championship game on a neutral field.  How you do you not go to the Super Bowl?

[Caesar]

On 1/6/2023 at 7:40 AM, FrenchConnection said:

How did I not watch either game? I live in Cincinnati. It’s the game on my TV every week. Your arrogance is exactly the point of my post that you quoted. The entire city of Cincinnati feels like the regular season and playoffs is an insignificant preamble to a return trip to the SB where they can right a wrong.  They’ve already asked for the Wednesday after the SB off from their job at Kroger or P&G to go to the parade.It’s a confidence that I wish Bills fans had. We, on the other hand, dissect double-digit wins to the point where they feel like losses and want to fire our coach. Gotta run. I have to take my car into Fairfield VW to see if they’ll finally fix it.

 

My arrogance?  Lol, everyone on this site treats the Bengals like 2nd class citizens as if last year was a fluke and luck.... I'm sorry you are so fanboyed that you couldn't see the Bengals offensive power vs the Bills defense.  No doubt Josh would get his, but with the Bills not having over half their secondary the Bengals D would most likely get a couple more stops, a couple more FGs instead of TDs. 

You guys now have the home game and the neutral championship game, you almost have to go to the SB with all that.

On 1/6/2023 at 8:37 AM, Casey D said:

If Bengals can't beat a Jackson-less Ravens team, your assumption that they would have beat Buffalo is a joke.

 

Why do you think we cant beat the Ravens?  And I can easily tell you how Buffalo was most likely beat on Monday.

[MRW]

38 minutes ago, Caesar said:

 

My arrogance?  Lol, everyone on this site treats the Bengals like 2nd class citizens as if last year was a fluke and luck.... I'm sorry you are so fanboyed that you couldn't see the Bengals offensive power vs the Bills defense.  No doubt Josh would get his, but with the Bills not having over half their secondary the Bengals D would most likely get a couple more stops, a couple more FGs instead of TDs. 

You guys now have the home game and the neutral championship game, you almost have to go to the SB with all that.

 

 

I don't see how, since you just got done saying the Bills D can't stop the Bengals. Or does it only work that way on the Bengals' field?

[UKBillFan]

57 minutes ago, Caesar said:

 

My arrogance?  Lol, everyone on this site treats the Bengals like 2nd class citizens as if last year was a fluke and luck.... I'm sorry you are so fanboyed that you couldn't see the Bengals offensive power vs the Bills defense.  No doubt Josh would get his, but with the Bills not having over half their secondary the Bengals D would most likely get a couple more stops, a couple more FGs instead of TDs. 

You guys now have the home game and the neutral championship game, you almost have to go to the SB with all that.

 

Why do you think we cant beat the Ravens?  And I can easily tell you how Buffalo was most likely beat on Monday.

 

Because all you're doing is whining about how unfair it all is. How do you know Burrow wasn't about to go down with a (not so serious as Hamlin) injury on the very next play? How do you know that, had the game played, that the Bills wouldn't have rallied round and played lights out, above the standards expected? Or wouldn't have adjusted? Or nerves set in and similar errors the Bengals made against the Pats could have happened again.

 

My gut says you're right. The Bengals would have beaten the Bills on Monday night, even if the Hamlin situation hadn't occured. But no one can be sure. You seem to be acting as though we're over the moon this happened. Nothing could be further from the truth.

 

Zac Taylor claimed he wanted the rules to be followed. When it comes to the seeding placement for the Bills and Bengals they actually have been. Personally, I think the Bengals should get automatic home field against the Ravens albeit you should beat them today, and any Bengals-Bills game should be on a neutral field. When it comes to the Ravens set up it is a fudge, but when it comes to the Bills? It is actually following what is there.

 

[Casey D]

3 hours ago, Caesar said:

 

My arrogance?  Lol, everyone on this site treats the Bengals like 2nd class citizens as if last year was a fluke and luck.... I'm sorry you are so fanboyed that you couldn't see the Bengals offensive power vs the Bills defense.  No doubt Josh would get his, but with the Bills not having over half their secondary the Bengals D would most likely get a couple more stops, a couple more FGs instead of TDs. 

You guys now have the home game and the neutral championship game, you almost have to go to the SB with all that.

 

Why do you think we cant beat the Ravens?  And I can easily tell you how Buffalo was most likely beat on Monday.

I think the Bengals will, that was my point.  And with KC winning, you have lost nothing.  You would not be the #1 seed in any event.  Rest is details for such a great team, right.  Stop whining.

[NoHuddleKelly12]

Not sure if covered elsewhere, but since the game was officially a no contest, what happens to the player stats generated from it? Also as if they didn’t happen? 

[Boatdrinks]

1 hour ago, NoHuddleKelly12 said:

Not sure if covered elsewhere, but since the game was officially a no contest, what happens to the player stats generated from it? Also as if they didn’t happen? 

Yes, the game officially never took place.