The Bills would unfairly benefit if they host Cincy in the Divisional Round (assuming they both win Week 18).
There are several inequitable scenarios that need to be factored into this proposal.
If the Bills beat the Bengals in Week 17 and the Ravens likewise beat Cincy in Week 18, both the Bengals and Ravens would finish 11-6 but Baltimore would be 2-0 head to head. Strange that isn’t taken into consideration or did I get something wrong?
If Cincinnati and Buffalo both win in Week 18, a theoretical AFCCG between them would be at a neutral site, per the proposal. Cincy lost the opportunity to beat Buffalo in Week 17 with the cancelled game.
If this is the NFL’s solution then I’d love it if the Chiefs willingly gave the Bills homefield. It feels like an impossible choice but the Bills have already been run through the gauntlet. It feels right in a perverse way.
Ultimately I do agree, I don't like the proposal. They're still only playing 17 games with automatic advancement on the line but I understand what you're saying.
The playoff bye isn't about rest (although it's a nice bonus). It's about an automatic advancement to the next week. Playing out the Bills-Bengals game to assure that bye plus homefield advantage is worth it.
I'm also confused why this keeps getting brought up, winning percentage is paramount to NFL tiebreaking procedure: https://www.nfl.com/standings/tie-breaking-procedures
The Buffalo Bills are indisputably the greatest professional sports franchise in the history of this or any other Galaxy. I will not stand for this insolence on a Buffalo Bills message board, how dare you.