What Bengals & Chiefs fans are saying about the situation:

[BigDingus]

Bengals Board Posts - http://thebengalsboard.com/Thread-What-would-you-like-to-happen :

 

1. "It's fine by me to just declare the game a no-contest, with no winners, no ties, and don't replay. Players and fans of other teams impacted would understand. The worst scenario for me is a decision that benefits the Bengals because that would cast the Bengals as villains from now until the end of the NFL. I'd rather the Bengals take the high road, even offer to take a decision hurts the Bengals. It was the Bengals field, the Bengals were hosts, so even offer to take a loss if they want."

 

2. "If I'm the Bengals, I'd offer the Bills the W just as a nice gesture. It's relatively meaningless to them right now, but it would just show support. Whether they'd accept it or not, calling the game for them would just be a nice thing to do, and would be well regarded for a long time." 

 

3. "I am fine with anything other than accepting a loss. Cincinnati did absolutely nothing wrong. You can’t punish Cincinnati for something out of their control."

 

4. "IMO the Bills should be given the option to play it or forfeit. There should be no tie or "no contest". 

 

5. "The moment the Bengals agreed to leave the field and then the game altogether, they forfeited any sensible capacity to demand a forfeit. Ridiculous."

 

6. "To some extent there is time to resume the game, at the same point, because the two weeks break before the Super Bowl can always become a one-week break. Two weeks always seems too much anyway. They can push the playoffs back a week. Playoff teams all get a week extra. I'm sure you can't push the Super Bowl back, but playoff games surely can, because you never know whether a team would be playing anyway."

 

7. "What if Bills are still too overcome with grief and sadness to play New England, what does the God man do then ? Should the Bills' feelings dictate how the season plays out? Should they just be awarded the Lombardi and the lague just calls it quits til next season?"

 

8. "Probably won’t happen, but: Scratch this game entirely. If the Bengals and Bills meet in the playoffs, play it at a neutral site (Detroit would be very fair). I realize Buffalo would have the better record, but yesterday’s game was still for the 2-seed at least."

 

9. "My biggest fear at this point is Buffalo trying to use this whole situation to their advantage. There is more incentive for them to NOT PLAY this game and take a tie rather than to play it (down 7-3 and the Bengals threatening to score again) to try and claim the 1 seed. If they lobby for a tie, it gives them the two seed, gives them one less game for their guys to get hurt, and eliminates the possibility of slipping to a 3 seed. Given how the game was going and the score, I think they'd be more than happy hanging on to the 2 seed rather than chancing it. I hope I am wrong, but a tie really ***** over the Bengals here."

 

10. "Absolutely nothing from the Bills owners, coaching staff or fans indicates they would try to use this to their advantage. GTFO with that sh" (response to above post)

 

 

Chiefs Board Posts https://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showthread.php?t=346826 :

 

1. "I hope our fanbase doesn't come out being jerks about it, whatever happens. I can't imagine we would, but there are always a few exceptions. At this point if they just simply cancel the game and go from there, who cares?"

 

2. "As far as I am concerned both teams decided last night to forfeit the game." 

 

3. *Here's a little back & forth* -

 

Guy 1: "It's an unfair advantage to allow them to choose to play a game in the next few days or next week that they chose not to continue last night because someone nearly died on the field? Yeah, that seems like a solid and persuasive argument."

 

Guy 2: "Yes because of playoff implications, it IS an unfair advantage. We had a player off himself in front of our COACH and GM and we played two days later, as scheduled. "Nearly Died" We have seen players become PERMANENTLY PARALYZED and they continued to play. The unfair advantage is some teams would be RESTING players next week. Now this throws a wrench into the entire seeding issue."

 

Guy 1: "Do you think the Chiefs would've played the game if Belcher had killed himself in the parking lot immediately before the game? Answer: no. We now know that he didn't die on the field. But at the time, none of those players had any idea if he'd make it to the hospital or even off the field alive. Not the same as a guy being taken away by an ambulance on a stretcher with fear of a potential paralyzing injury."

 

4. "America is so weak." 

 

5. "I'd say leave it up to the Bills. If they're not up for it within the next few days, they need to forfeit."

 

6. "This is going to go down with the Music City Miracle and Wide Right in Bills lore."

 

7. "if they cant / dont want to play it, then they should just concede the L and move on."

 

8. "The right call is whatever is best for the teams involved. The right call has nothing to do with inconveniences or money lost by the fans."

 

9. "If they call the game, I think it needs to be a Bills loss and Bengals win. Bengals were winning and playing really well. It wasn’t one of their players who went down, so why punish them?"

 

10. "I have to say, I've never seen more virtue signaling in my life. Everybody is trying to show everybody how morally superior they are on this subject. People on fantasy football Reddit are acting like people can't even ask questions about how to proceed in their leagues."

 

11. "This year in lieu of a superbowl trophy every team will get a participation trophy as well. **** that. Take a L for a forfeit, take a tie if Cinci agrees (and I doubt they will), or play the game. I'm not trying to sound callous here and I understand they saw some scary *****, but come on man. It sounds an awful lot like someone is trying to use that ***** for their advantage."

 

**************************************************

 

So yeah... majority of Bengals fans seem as confused/concerned as we are. There were a handful of dumb posts, but most of them echoed our sentiments. Chiefs fans on the other hand, much more of a mixed bag. There were plenty of posts voicing concern, but also a MUCH greater % of people being callous, talking s*** or just whining. It's clear they've got no interest in any solution that involves them. 

 

[JoPoy88]

Given what I’ve seen/read from Chiefs fans, this absolutely tracks. Not sure why they have so many vocal horrible people amongst them, but it is what it is I guess. 

[Albwan]

I don't see the NFL rescheduling the playoffs. There isn't going to be a fair outcome for either team imho.

[TBBills]

I don't understand how this is helpful to the situation other than you want to find a way to ***** on a fan base b.c of a few bad apples that every social group has.

5 minutes ago, BigDingus said:

There were plenty of posts voicing concern, but also a MUCH greater % of people being callous, talking s*** or just whining. It's clear they've got no interest in any solution that involves them. 

 

Edited January 3, 2023 by TBBills

[Draconator]

I don't really care all that much what a few jerks from opposing fan bases have to say. If this happened to a player on their team, they would feel differently.

[The Wiz]

1 minute ago, Albwan said:

I don't see the NFL rescheduling the playoffs. There isn't going to be a fair outcome for either team imho.

I honestly think they will call it a "no contest" and both teams only play 16 games and use win% to determine the playoffs.  That's fair to everyone, even the teams that they are going against.

[HurlyBurly51]

8 minutes ago, BigDingus said:

So yeah... majority of Bengals fans seem as confused/concerned as we are. There were a handful of dumb posts, but most of them echoed our sentiments. Chiefs fans on the other hand, much more of a mixed bag. There were plenty of posts voicing concern, but also a MUCH greater % of people being callous, talking s*** or just whining. It's clear they've got no interest in any solution that involves them. 

 

I didn't expect much out of Chiefs fans, and they did not disappoint.  Or rather, they are quite disappointing.

[Low Positive]

11 minutes ago, BigDingus said:

Bengals Board Posts - http://thebengalsboard.com/Thread-What-would-you-like-to-happen :

 

1. "It's fine by me to just declare the game a no-contest, with no winners, no ties, and don't replay. Players and fans of other teams impacted would understand. The worst scenario for me is a decision that benefits the Bengals because that would cast the Bengals as villains from now until the end of the NFL. I'd rather the Bengals take the high road, even offer to take a decision hurts the Bengals. It was the Bengals field, the Bengals were hosts, so even offer to take a loss if they want."

 

2. "If I'm the Bengals, I'd offer the Bills the W just as a nice gesture. It's relatively meaningless to them right now, but it would just show support. Whether they'd accept it or not, calling the game for them would just be a nice thing to do, and would be well regarded for a long time." 

 

3. "I am fine with anything other than accepting a loss. Cincinnati did absolutely nothing wrong. You can’t punish Cincinnati for something out of their control."

 

4. "IMO the Bills should be given the option to play it or forfeit. There should be no tie or "no contest". 

 

5. "The moment the Bengals agreed to leave the field and then the game altogether, they forfeited any sensible capacity to demand a forfeit. Ridiculous."

 

6. "To some extent there is time to resume the game, at the same point, because the two weeks break before the Super Bowl can always become a one-week break. Two weeks always seems too much anyway. They can push the playoffs back a week. Playoff teams all get a week extra. I'm sure you can't push the Super Bowl back, but playoff games surely can, because you never know whether a team would be playing anyway."

 

7. "What if Bills are still too overcome with grief and sadness to play New England, what does the God man do then ? Should the Bills' feelings dictate how the season plays out? Should they just be awarded the Lombardi and the lague just calls it quits til next season?"

 

8. "Probably won’t happen, but: Scratch this game entirely. If the Bengals and Bills meet in the playoffs, play it at a neutral site (Detroit would be very fair). I realize Buffalo would have the better record, but yesterday’s game was still for the 2-seed at least."

 

9. "My biggest fear at this point is Buffalo trying to use this whole situation to their advantage. There is more incentive for them to NOT PLAY this game and take a tie rather than to play it (down 7-3 and the Bengals threatening to score again) to try and claim the 1 seed. If they lobby for a tie, it gives them the two seed, gives them one less game for their guys to get hurt, and eliminates the possibility of slipping to a 3 seed. Given how the game was going and the score, I think they'd be more than happy hanging on to the 2 seed rather than chancing it. I hope I am wrong, but a tie really ***** over the Bengals here."

 

10. "Absolutely nothing from the Bills owners, coaching staff or fans indicates they would try to use this to their advantage. GTFO with that sh" (response to above post)

 

 

Chiefs Board Posts https://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showthread.php?t=346826 :

 

1. "I hope our fanbase doesn't come out being jerks about it, whatever happens. I can't imagine we would, but there are always a few exceptions. At this point if they just simply cancel the game and go from there, who cares?"

 

2. "As far as I am concerned both teams decided last night to forfeit the game." 

 

3. *Here's a little back & forth* -

 

Guy 1: "It's an unfair advantage to allow them to choose to play a game in the next few days or next week that they chose not to continue last night because someone nearly died on the field? Yeah, that seems like a solid and persuasive argument."

 

Guy 2: "Yes because of playoff implications, it IS an unfair advantage. We had a player off himself in front of our COACH and GM and we played two days later, as scheduled. "Nearly Died" We have seen players become PERMANENTLY PARALYZED and they continued to play. The unfair advantage is some teams would be RESTING players next week. Now this throws a wrench into the entire seeding issue."

 

Guy 1: "Do you think the Chiefs would've played the game if Belcher had killed himself in the parking lot immediately before the game? Answer: no. We now know that he didn't die on the field. But at the time, none of those players had any idea if he'd make it to the hospital or even off the field alive. Not the same as a guy being taken away by an ambulance on a stretcher with fear of a potential paralyzing injury."

 

4. "America is so weak." 

 

5. "I'd say leave it up to the Bills. If they're not up for it within the next few days, they need to forfeit."

 

6. "This is going to go down with the Music City Miracle and Wide Right in Bills lore."

 

7. "if they cant / dont want to play it, then they should just concede the L and move on."

 

8. "The right call is whatever is best for the teams involved. The right call has nothing to do with inconveniences or money lost by the fans."

 

9. "If they call the game, I think it needs to be a Bills loss and Bengals win. Bengals were winning and playing really well. It wasn’t one of their players who went down, so why punish them?"

 

10. "I have to say, I've never seen more virtue signaling in my life. Everybody is trying to show everybody how morally superior they are on this subject. People on fantasy football Reddit are acting like people can't even ask questions about how to proceed in their leagues."

 

11. "This year in lieu of a superbowl trophy every team will get a participation trophy as well. **** that. Take a L for a forfeit, take a tie if Cinci agrees (and I doubt they will), or play the game. I'm not trying to sound callous here and I understand they saw some scary *****, but come on man. It sounds an awful lot like someone is trying to use that ***** for their advantage."

 

**************************************************

 

So yeah... majority of Bengals fans seem as confused/concerned as we are. There were a handful of dumb posts, but most of them echoed our sentiments. Chiefs fans on the other hand, much more of a mixed bag. There were plenty of posts voicing concern, but also a MUCH greater % of people being callous, talking s*** or just whining. It's clear they've got no interest in any solution that involves them. 

 

I don't think that its Chiefs fans in general. I just think Chiefs Planet is a toxic unmoderated online community. 

[RiotAct]

9 minutes ago, JoPoy88 said:

Given what I’ve seen/read from Chiefs fans, this absolutely tracks. Not sure why they have so many vocal horrible people amongst them, but it is what it is I guess. 

I’m of the opinion that some of the losers who post on ChiefsPlanet aren’t actually Chiefs fans, just professional internet trolls.

[TheCockSportif]

This is massively on brand from the little I've read from Chiefs' fans over the years.

[Brand J]

I’ve heard that real life Chiefs fans are great, rivaling Bills fans in their kindness, but certain voices on CP mire the entire fanbase in douchebaggery. And they always happen to be the loudest. 

[SageAgainstTheMachine]

They got deleted and banned real quick but there were posters on this board last night doing infuriating things like calling Tee Higgins dirty, calling the league soft for postponing and blaming Covid vaccines.  Bottom line, some percentage of fans from every fan base is awful.

[JoPoy88]

2 minutes ago, RiotAct said:

I’m of the opinion that some of the losers who post on ChiefsPlanet aren’t actually Chiefs fans, just professional internet trolls.

Also a distinct possibility. We have a handful around here playing out the same act.

[chongli]

Someone on the Miami board said playing the game in Cincy is bad juju, given Hamlin and what happened to Tua.

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

18 minutes ago, BigDingus said:

Bengals Board Posts - http://thebengalsboard.com/Thread-What-would-you-like-to-happen :

 

1. "It's fine by me to just declare the game a no-contest, with no winners, no ties, and don't replay. Players and fans of other teams impacted would understand. The worst scenario for me is a decision that benefits the Bengals because that would cast the Bengals as villains from now until the end of the NFL. I'd rather the Bengals take the high road, even offer to take a decision hurts the Bengals. It was the Bengals field, the Bengals were hosts, so even offer to take a loss if they want."

 

2. "If I'm the Bengals, I'd offer the Bills the W just as a nice gesture. It's relatively meaningless to them right now, but it would just show support. Whether they'd accept it or not, calling the game for them would just be a nice thing to do, and would be well regarded for a long time." 

 

3. "I am fine with anything other than accepting a loss. Cincinnati did absolutely nothing wrong. You can’t punish Cincinnati for something out of their control."

 

4. "IMO the Bills should be given the option to play it or forfeit. There should be no tie or "no contest". 

 

5. "The moment the Bengals agreed to leave the field and then the game altogether, they forfeited any sensible capacity to demand a forfeit. Ridiculous."

 

6. "To some extent there is time to resume the game, at the same point, because the two weeks break before the Super Bowl can always become a one-week break. Two weeks always seems too much anyway. They can push the playoffs back a week. Playoff teams all get a week extra. I'm sure you can't push the Super Bowl back, but playoff games surely can, because you never know whether a team would be playing anyway."

 

7. "What if Bills are still too overcome with grief and sadness to play New England, what does the God man do then ? Should the Bills' feelings dictate how the season plays out? Should they just be awarded the Lombardi and the lague just calls it quits til next season?"

 

8. "Probably won’t happen, but: Scratch this game entirely. If the Bengals and Bills meet in the playoffs, play it at a neutral site (Detroit would be very fair). I realize Buffalo would have the better record, but yesterday’s game was still for the 2-seed at least."

 

9. "My biggest fear at this point is Buffalo trying to use this whole situation to their advantage. There is more incentive for them to NOT PLAY this game and take a tie rather than to play it (down 7-3 and the Bengals threatening to score again) to try and claim the 1 seed. If they lobby for a tie, it gives them the two seed, gives them one less game for their guys to get hurt, and eliminates the possibility of slipping to a 3 seed. Given how the game was going and the score, I think they'd be more than happy hanging on to the 2 seed rather than chancing it. I hope I am wrong, but a tie really ***** over the Bengals here."

 

10. "Absolutely nothing from the Bills owners, coaching staff or fans indicates they would try to use this to their advantage. GTFO with that sh" (response to above post)

 

 

Chiefs Board Posts https://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showthread.php?t=346826 :

 

1. "I hope our fanbase doesn't come out being jerks about it, whatever happens. I can't imagine we would, but there are always a few exceptions. At this point if they just simply cancel the game and go from there, who cares?"

 

2. "As far as I am concerned both teams decided last night to forfeit the game." 

 

3. *Here's a little back & forth* -

 

Guy 1: "It's an unfair advantage to allow them to choose to play a game in the next few days or next week that they chose not to continue last night because someone nearly died on the field? Yeah, that seems like a solid and persuasive argument."

 

Guy 2: "Yes because of playoff implications, it IS an unfair advantage. We had a player off himself in front of our COACH and GM and we played two days later, as scheduled. "Nearly Died" We have seen players become PERMANENTLY PARALYZED and they continued to play. The unfair advantage is some teams would be RESTING players next week. Now this throws a wrench into the entire seeding issue."

 

Guy 1: "Do you think the Chiefs would've played the game if Belcher had killed himself in the parking lot immediately before the game? Answer: no. We now know that he didn't die on the field. But at the time, none of those players had any idea if he'd make it to the hospital or even off the field alive. Not the same as a guy being taken away by an ambulance on a stretcher with fear of a potential paralyzing injury."

 

4. "America is so weak." 

 

5. "I'd say leave it up to the Bills. If they're not up for it within the next few days, they need to forfeit."

 

6. "This is going to go down with the Music City Miracle and Wide Right in Bills lore."

 

7. "if they cant / dont want to play it, then they should just concede the L and move on."

 

8. "The right call is whatever is best for the teams involved. The right call has nothing to do with inconveniences or money lost by the fans."

 

9. "If they call the game, I think it needs to be a Bills loss and Bengals win. Bengals were winning and playing really well. It wasn’t one of their players who went down, so why punish them?"

 

10. "I have to say, I've never seen more virtue signaling in my life. Everybody is trying to show everybody how morally superior they are on this subject. People on fantasy football Reddit are acting like people can't even ask questions about how to proceed in their leagues."

 

11. "This year in lieu of a superbowl trophy every team will get a participation trophy as well. **** that. Take a L for a forfeit, take a tie if Cinci agrees (and I doubt they will), or play the game. I'm not trying to sound callous here and I understand they saw some scary *****, but come on man. It sounds an awful lot like someone is trying to use that ***** for their advantage."

 

**************************************************

 

So yeah... majority of Bengals fans seem as confused/concerned as we are. There were a handful of dumb posts, but most of them echoed our sentiments. Chiefs fans on the other hand, much more of a mixed bag. There were plenty of posts voicing concern, but also a MUCH greater % of people being callous, talking s*** or just whining. It's clear they've got no interest in any solution that involves them. 

 

Thank you for summarizing this. I couldn’t bare to go onto that horrendous Chiefs World or whatever geocities MySpace website that those chiefs fans use. 

[Big Turk]

9 minutes ago, FrenchConnection said:

I don't think that its Chiefs fans in general. I just think Chiefs Planet is a toxic unmoderated online community. 

 

It totally is toxic.

[TheBrownBear]

9 minutes ago, FrenchConnection said:

I don't think that its Chiefs fans in general. I just think Chiefs Planet is a toxic unmoderated online community. 

It's a wretched place.  The worst of the worst.  

[Logic]

Exactly what I would have expected. 

Bengals fans are classy and reasonable, and the people from Chiefs Planet are horrible, wretched, despicable cretins. That place is the absolute armpit cesspool of the internet. I'm told that real Chiefs fans, in person, are actually very kind, knowledgeable, hospitable people. You CERTAINLY wouldn't know it by reading Chiefs Planet. Horrible, awful place.

The funny thing about those Chiefs fans being turds about it is that they're the team most likely to benefit if the Bills and Bengals game is declared a no-contest. In that scenario, the league likely determines seeding by overall win percentage, and assuming the Chiefs beat the Raiders, they'd get the 1 seed. They would, in some sense, be GIFTED a first round bye, without the Bills ever having done anything to actually lose the 1st seed. Despite that good fortune for their team (relatively speaking...you know what I mean)...they're still being turds. Totally tracks.

[Drew21PA]

If I’m the billls

 

i forfeit the game - cincinatti can play and be fine we can’t - these kids we’re not ready to keep playing - our guys are emotionally drained

 

rest the starters against the pats - take the three seed and kick some ass for Damar on the road after wild card win at home

 

whatever - this team will band together and win in the road or at home

 

buffalo against everybody 

[Marvin]

I expect that Buffalo and Cincinnati fans will view this differently from other teams' fans because their teams were directly involved.  It is a heck of a lot harder to be callous when your favourite team is one of those involved.