The Red King

I count nothing as an automatic win in the playoffs. Yes, I'd prefer to play Pitt, but I'm not about to call it an auto-win.

We lose tomorrow and Cincy wins, we are the 3rd seed and face the prospect of going back to Cincy to play them there. We win, and we'll be 2nd seed, and Cinci will have to come here instead. Yeah...tomorrow is kinda important.

Everyone: Deep breaths. Remember, on Monday most of us were okay with BUF forfeiting. Yes, this sucks, but just remember that.

Nah, that was blatent roughing. I wanted to hate the call, but...yeah.

Tell Allen's ankle that.

Don't the Bengals also hold the tie-breaker over us due to Strength of Victory? We could drop to 3rd seed.

Ideally LV, BUF and CIN win. If that happens the playoffs behave exactly as they would have. No neutral sites, no coin flips.

This "Cincy was going to win" is arrogant. Buffalo is a bend, don't break D. If they held Cincy to a field goal and Buffalo goes right down the field for a TD (BUF moved the ball real well, too) then it's a 10-10 game and BUF ultimately gets the 2nd half kickoff. This outcome was far from settled. So, stop with that nonsense. That said, CIN got hosed with this. Comparing this to using win %, the NFL standard, would have stuck them at 3rd, barring a win and a BUF loss, but they would have had the division title and hosted their first playoff game. They gain nothing, and can lose a key advantage. They have a right to be mad. KC loses as well. If they and BUF win, KC should be the 1 seed with no concessions. Now they risk having to play a CG on neutral ground. BUF ended up with an extra positive and no negatives. The chance for a neutral site AFCCG is a huge upgrade, and BUF lost nothing compared to if the win % method was instead used. So yeah, I can see why they're upset. Again, compared to the rule already on record to use win %, CIN suffered greatly, KC suffered mildly and BUF was pure profit.

I grew up in Omaha, NE. Moved to Buffalo when I was 18. Trust me, we're not midwest.

I still don't see how this mess is better then solving the Bills/Bengals game with a coin toss and everything going back to normal.

KC loses, CIN and BUF win and this whole mess goes away for us, BUF is 1st Seed, KC 2nd, CIN 3rd. The single outlier would be KC vs. CIN would be at a neutral site.

On what grounds? "The NFL has a new policy for the 2023 season. If a player is killed and resucitated on the field of play, that team is disqualified from the playoffs."? Did we fake cardiac arrest? Give him one of those pills that trigger a heart attack like in those spy movies? Some people are seriously sick.

Buf is a full game ahead of them with same # of games played. The neutral site is if a team ends up a 1/2 game ahead.

Hoping Bills win, KC and CIN loses, so the only ones with a right to complain is CIN.

What is this talk I see about CIN not getting a home playoff game? This resolution gives CIN the division and they will host the #5 or #6 Wild Card no matter what, right?

If BUF wins and KC loses, BUF will be a full game ahead with the tiebreaker. That would get them top seed regardless of how the Bengals game would have turned out. 100% lock. If BUF and KC win, KC would be a game ahead while BUF would have played one game less. There is no guarantee that KC would have won it. In other words, if both win, the BUF/CIN would certainly have mattered. If KC loses and BUF wins, the BUF/CIN game would have been meaningless. So in the case of a KC and BUF win, I would be okay with splitting the perks. If KC loses and BUF wins, I am not, because BUF will have outright won it. The former, the results of the BUF/CIN game would have mattered. With the latter it would not.

I worry if KC loses and BUF wins, that now we have to give up a bye or homefield. We would be one win ahead of them with one fewer game played. How is that fair?

That team is gonna come out of the tunnel Sunday like they were shot out of a cannon. Amazing news!

I actually suggested just that in the other thread about this.

I have a strange feeling, highly unlikely but... If Buffalo, Cincy and KC win, Cincy will forfeit the BUF/CIN game and take the #3 seed. If KC wins, CIN can't catch them, so it comes down to #2 or #3 seed. Cincy made it from the #3 seed last season, and while there isn't as much different from #2 to #3, there is a lot riding on top seed. This would deny KC home-field and assures any Bills/Bengals playoff matchup would not be in the stadium where the trauma went down. I realize it's highly, highly unlikely. I don't even know if it would be right for something like that to occur. It's just an odd hunch. And if true, they may have already communicated this desire to the NFL, which is why they've been silent about what to do about the suspended game.

I'm of the opinion that if the NFL requires the Bills to resume this game in Cincy, the Bills will forfeit. I won't even hazard a guess as to Cincy's reaction as they still do have traumatized players as well.

Instead of a full game, have the two play an OT using college rules?

If a coin toss, I'd still like to see a CIN player flip it and a BUF player call it. Put it in the players' hands.

In that scenario the winner of the suspened game would get the #1 seed, the loser the #2.

How did it get back in, in the first place? Did I miss a memo?