The Red King

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?

There is no scenario this weekend that makes the suspended game irrelevant. I've looked for one. I've looked.

In a mad, uncaring rush to relevance they allowed their QB to be annihilated multiple times. Poor guy's brain is like a marble in a dryer this season and the 'phins didn't care.

That's what I'm thinking. Though even should BUF win and KC lose, they may still have to do this anyway to settle 2nd seed should CIN win.

Wait. If they keep all the games as possible throw-outs that still gives Buf a 14/17 chance of winning 1st seed. Still heavily in our favor. All I'd want is someone from the Bills making the random pick. That way if it goes to KC we know it was our fault. At the same time, should BUF win and KC lose, this will all be academic.

I'm glad I don't. I loved playing high school football, and I was Tasker-esqe in that I was smaller but absolutely crushed people. In other words, it was all hard contact and I'm lucky I made it out without any injuries at all, nonetheless bad ones. My son (20) showed no interest in football. My daughter (15) likely would want to, but there's no WNFL or such, so I don't have to worry. That, and she's petite, like one of the smallest for her age group, so aside from kicker I can't see her playing it anyway. That being said, she is smol but fierce and I could see her destroying someone that looked like they were going to return one of her kicks for a score. Still, I do have to wonder about this. I don't have to face it, but other parents do. Is there going to be a reduction of kids in football, trickling up to the point where the pool of prospective NFL players will suffer?

What other way gives players control of their own destinies without forcing them to revisit the trauma or give KC the 1 seed?

Do you think they'd prefer an arbitrary decision from the NFL that they have no influence at all over? One that could hurt both teams?

Not true. If Buf loses/lost they would be tied with Cincy. If the Bills beat the Pats and Cincy loses to BAL, CIN drops to #3 seed and BUF gets #1 or 2 depending on the KC game. If the Bills lose to the Pats they are locked into #3 no matter what.

Cincy wouldn't want to win the division this way.

Have the coin toss before this Sunday. That way teams know where they stand going into the final week. There is literally no combinations of wins and losses that renders yesterday's game irrelevant.