Playoff Solutions Assuming they don’t replay the Bengals game.

[Gary Marangi]

I think now Buffalo will forfeit the game saying the health of the teammate is more important then a win. Take the 3 seed and go scorch earth in the playoffs

[Warriorspikes51]

1 minute ago, NoSaint said:

I just don’t understand the wild and never before hinted at “solutions”

 

if the games not played then its simply 16 games, use win percentage and keep moving as usual

In 2020, the league had a plan in place to have 8 teams in the playoffs per conference if late season games were impacted and could not be played 

[boyst]

58 minutes ago, PatsFanNH said:

Never going to happen! They IMO will either reschedule it for this week or give the win to Cincy since they had the lead when the game was called.  I am betting the reschedule it for Wednesday and perhaps move NE/Buffalo to Tuesday next week. 

They're not going to just give the w up for a 9 minute ball game and 3 possessions.

 

That's insane, did you eat some bad clam chowder? 

[KDIGGZ]

This whole thread should be deleted. Who cares about football when their teammate is still fighting for his life? I don't care if the Bills forfeit the last 2 games and go in as a #3 seed as long as Damar Hamlin pulls through and not only lives but is healthy and can continue his life in a positive way. Football is secondary until we get updates on this young man's health. The players should be excused from all activities until then

[Giuseppe Tognarelli]

6 hours ago, Einstein said:

My guess (and it’s literally just a guess) is they cancel the game completely and decide seeding by win %. Bills get 2nd seed.

And if the football gods have any wisdom and grace, KC will lose on Saturday to give Bills the #1 seed. It is even more critical now because this team needs a break for their mental health if nothing else.

[BIGFOOTspaceman]

55 minutes ago, Figster said:

Are you?

I'm not the one suggesting JA is going to be lights out good due to the fact his grandmother died, and he could be again due to Hamlin's injury.  It was a weird statement to make.  

[Buffalo Ballin]

38 minutes ago, Kmart128 said:

It would be a terrible look by the NFL if they took the #1 seed from them in this incident.  It would be like the NFL is punishing the team that their player went into cardiac arrest during game. The leavue finding a way to have 2 byes should be way to go.

Bingo. This.

[BIGFOOTspaceman]

35 minutes ago, Buffalo Ballin said:

Slow down. Our players and the organization do not agree with you. Dude, that's just disrespectful and dismissive of the work and energy they put in.

 

That's why they actually perform on the field.

A lot of people don't agree with it....It's just my opinion.  

 

You could say this for every team in the league.

[PatsFanNH]

5 minutes ago, boyst said:

They're not going to just give the w up for a 9 minute ball game and 3 possessions.

 

That's insane, did you eat some bad clam chowder? 

I said that was more likely than them skipping the game. Also I am not talking about the players but rather the owners, they BOTH want that potential for the extra home game to make more money.  Heck I don’t know if the Bills will be mentally ready go on Sunday depending on the news coming out of the hospital. 

[Buffalo Ballin]

1 minute ago, BIGFOOTspaceman said:

A lot of people don't agree with it....It's just my opinion.  

 

You could say this for every team in the league.

And that's why we watch the games. That's why they play. Let the process reveal who has the highest score.

[zow2]

I think it goes without saying that Hamlin is the most important thing and him walking out of that hospital far outweighs anything else. 

 

But the NFL will go on and it's worth having a thread about the scenarios.

 

I've thought from the beginning the Bills and Bengals won't resume this game.  The players and staff are not up to it this week and they aren't going to delay the start of the playoffs for one game.  I also don't believe the Bills will have to forfeit this game.  They might choose to forfeit the New England game...who knows?  Whatever they do needs to be fair for Cinci and KC..     I'm personally OK with whatever is decided.  If the Bills are given the 3 seed so be it.  The importance of the 1 seed is just not that important anymore.

 

 

[Gisele]

3 minutes ago, PatsFanNH said:

I said that was more likely than them skipping the game. Also I am not talking about the players but rather the owners, they BOTH want that potential for the extra home game to make more money.  Heck I don’t know if the Bills will be mentally ready go on Sunday depending on the news coming out of the hospital. 

Our owners didn't buy the Bills to make money.  I'm pretty sure it's the last thing on their minds.

[Airseven]

21 minutes ago, entropyrules said:

i  thought the suggestion (not sure who said that) of them making it an eight team playoff was a good start. Then if Cinci, Buff or KC, after the first round have to play each other make them play at a neutral site - either Chicage or Detroit as both are within reasonable (not perfect) travel distance for the respective fan bases.

They’re not reformatting the entire playoffs because of this. 
 

A likelier fix is Buffalo/New England and Cincinnati/Baltimore will be moved by a couple days to allow for Buffalo/Cincinnati to resume later this week.

Edited January 3, 2023 by Airseven

[Steptide]

I say give both teams a win. Wouldn't that theoretically keep all the standings the same? 

[Airseven]

1 minute ago, Steptide said:

I say give both teams a win. Wouldn't that theoretically keep all the standings the same? 

I’m sure the Bengals would love that.

[Buffalo Ballin]

2 minutes ago, Airseven said:

I’m sure the Bengals would love that.

They should. They're not getting punished, but they're not getting rewarded either. It's a neutral move. No harm done.

[Billznut]

3 minutes ago, Airseven said:

They’re not reformatting the entire playoffs because of this. 
 

A likelier fix is Buffalo/New England and Cincinnati/Baltimore will be moved by a couple days to allow for Buffalo/Cincinnati to resume later this week.

I think Buffalo is going to have an almost impossible time getting ready to play the Pats by next weekend mentally. They sure as hell won’t be ready to play the Bengals in the next 2-3 days. 

[boyst]

6 minutes ago, PatsFanNH said:

I said that was more likely than them skipping the game. Also I am not talking about the players but rather the owners, they BOTH want that potential for the extra home game to make more money.  Heck I don’t know if the Bills will be mentally ready go on Sunday depending on the news coming out of the hospital. 

they're 100% more likely to skip the game then play it today or tomorrow. they'll go to the playoffs off win percentage. to rearrange a game and drag these players back on the field is difficult and unfair. it's unfair to just give both teams a W. it's ridiculous to just skip the game to hand the chiefs #1 seed after both teams beat them but the Chiefs are the new Patriots* so the NFL doesn't care.

 

i don't even know how they will be ready to be successful against the Patriots. And with McCorkle and Judon being cheap shot artists and the Bills knowing it - i imagine they'll be nervous to play them. McDermott and this team would have forfeited the season if he passed away, i 100% believe this. if they play the patriots - the patriots will win and the classless trash of boston will beat their chest.

 

Boston:

[2ForMacAdoo]

6 hours ago, Billznut said:

Bills haven’t had high success on coin flips this year so far. Wouldn’t like our chances. 

This is pure gold!

[PatsFanNH]

14 minutes ago, Buffalo Ballin said:

I can't take a Pats Fan seriously on a Buffalo Bills forum. What you're saying has a negative bias so yeah.

 

I think we're NOT taking an L. We're not forfeiting. For what? We possibly lost Damar Hamlin among the other L's we took all year. We put in the work. We won 12 games. We lost 3. We're currently number one seed in AFC with all the battles we fought in.

 

Why do we have to forfeit? No one is supposed to get killed, or get brain damaged, in this game. And we're forced to take another L?

 I said that was more LIKELY than them not playing the game.

 

What is amazing is everyone forgets, whoever would have won last night had home field advantage going into week 18. What every Bills fan in here is saying that the Bengals should be the team most impacted by this and that’s “fair”.  I could see it be in g scheduled after the Pats/Bills game on Sunday, and if by some weird twist of fate Buffalo loses and Cincy wins and nothing matters for their game then it being cancelled. 
 

The sad fact is while Bengals players and coaches may not care that much the owner does. That’s 1 potential extra home game and a lot of money.  

[BillsFanSD]

Just now, Steptide said:

I say give both teams a win. Wouldn't that theoretically keep all the standings the same? 

I was thinking about this last night while trying to sleep.  Giving both teams a win seems like a pretty fair solution to me.  The Bengals and Bills are both made no worse off, and KC doesn't unjustly benefit.  The league could (if it wanted to -- this is fine with me) specify that Cincinnati gets a H2H tiebreaker over the Bills so that next week's games are still meaningful for everyone.  We would still need to take care of NE to get the #1 seed.  

 

Really though, I don't think there's a solution that will be universally regarded as fair.  Lots of solutions that would be equitable for BUF and/or CIN in isolation are grossly inequitable for KC.  It would be very easy to stumble into a "solution" that basically just hands Kansas City the #1 seed despite losing to both competing teams.  If I were a Chiefs fan, I would not be comfortable with that outcome considering how we got there.

[Mango]

6 hours ago, Draconator said:

There are a hella lot of implications here. I don't want to be an NFL Official trying to decide what to do, because whatever they decide, no one is going to be happy with it. 

The league should just ask the org. If the Bills are given the option and are willing to take a loss, then let them. 
 

As a fan, I don’t care. Just do it and move on. 

[PatsFanNH]

2 minutes ago, boyst said:

they're 100% more likely to skip the game then play it today or tomorrow. they'll go to the playoffs off win percentage. to rearrange a game and drag these players back on the field is difficult and unfair. it's unfair to just give both teams a W. it's ridiculous to just skip the game to hand the chiefs #1 seed after both teams beat them but the Chiefs are the new Patriots* so the NFL doesn't care.

 

i don't even know how they will be ready to be successful against the Patriots. And with McCorkle and Judon being cheap shot artists and the Bills knowing it - i imagine they'll be nervous to play them. McDermott and this team would have forfeited the season if he passed away, i 100% believe this. if they play the patriots - the patriots will win and the classless trash of boston will beat their chest.

 

Boston:

Lmao I actually said just now playing it after the Pats game and if by some

miracle the Pats won they would Cancel it since it didn’t mean much to the Bills. 
 

Also who is McCorkle?  

[boyst]

Just now, PatsFanNH said:

Lmao I actually said just now playing it after the Pats game and if by some

miracle the Pats won they would Cancel it since it didn’t mean much to the Bills. 
 

Also who is McCorkle?  

A patriots QB.

[Casey D]

1 minute ago, PatsFanNH said:

Lmao I actually said just now playing it after the Pats game and if by some

miracle the Pats won they would Cancel it since it didn’t mean much to the Bills. 
 

Also who is McCorkle?  

Your QB.  That's his full name.

[PatsFanNH]

Just now, boyst said:

A patriots QB.

Ahh thank you! I was wrong in my assumption you were meaning McCourty. (I am glad I asked)

[4thandGoal]

13 minutes ago, Steptide said:

I say give both teams a win. Wouldn't that theoretically keep all the standings the same? 

And then its not fair to KC.. so standings would not be the same

[H2o]

I believe the game against Cincy will become forfeit. With the Bills already being locked in as the #3 seed basically, I wouldn't even be surprised if the NE game is forfeit as well depending on how the team is taking the situation. It's too close to the Playoffs to be moving games around and giving teams short weeks. That would be a complete disadvantage to all of those involved. Could be destiny as well, who knows. Damar #3, Bills #3 seed, and bring one home for Damar (and he completely recovers as well 🙏).  

[boyst]

Just now, 4thandGoal said:

And then its not fair to KC.. so standings would not be the same

Bills and Bengals already beat the chiefs. So that's the only limb that I could go out on. 

[The Jokeman]

9 minutes ago, Billznut said:

I think Buffalo is going to have an almost impossible time getting ready to play the Pats by next weekend mentally. They sure as hell won’t be ready to play the Bengals in the next 2-3 days. 

Assuming we get a report on Damar today or tomorrow I could see us finishing the game Thursday and then the Bills Patriots/Ravens Bengals games moved to next Thursday. 

[Buffalo Ballin]

1 minute ago, 4thandGoal said:

And then its not fair to KC.. so standings would not be the same

How is NOT fair to KC?

 

They lost to us and Cincinnati in head to head this year. That means a helluva lot more than overall winning percentage. And our 12-3 record is pretty darn good, too.

[mikemac2001]

15 minutes ago, Steptide said:

I say give both teams a win. Wouldn't that theoretically keep all the standings the same? 

My thought process but it hurts ravens and chiefs - there isn’t going to be a fair way to do it.
 

KC catches a break bc if they don’t factor in the game they will own the % even tho they lost to both teams.

maybe they can do something like top 4 seeds are seeded by conf win % and don’t include the bills bengals game this would still make the last week important for all parties 

 

[Behindenemylines]

If they take the rankings as they stand today and use that as the basis for next weeks outcomes it would make sense 

 

if all three win it remains the same. If Bills lose KC takes 1 and Bills/ Bengals adjust based on bengals outcome of week 18 

 

Bills and Bengals win and KC loses readjust based on that 

 

win% alone didn’t work as both Bills and Bengals beat KC. 

[Buffalo Ballin]

For the people saying "forfeit forfeit" that's also disrespectful to Damar Hamlin and the sacrifices he made to be on the team and he helped the Bills become number one seed this year.

 

Just flat out disrespectful and abysmal.

[PatsFanNH]

Just now, H2o said:

I believe the game against Cincy will become forfeit. With the Bills already being locked in as the #3 seed basically, I wouldn't even be surprised if the NE game is forfeit as well depending on how the team is taking the situation. It's too close to the Playoffs to be moving games around and giving teams short weeks. That would be a complete disadvantage to all of those involved. Could be destiny as well, who knows. Damar #3, Bills #3 seed, and bring one home for Damar (and he completely recovers as well 🙏).  

Forfeiting the Pats game would have Miami and Pitt up in arms as it eliminates them from the playoffs. The truth is there is NO good solution for this unprecedented situation. (For lack of a better word)

[Trekking]

I just find it to be a load of BS if KC somehow benefits from this despite losing to both teams. 

[Casey D]

2 minutes ago, The Jokeman said:

Assuming we get a report on Damar today or tomorrow I could see us finishing the game Thursday and then the Bills Patriots/Ravens Bengals games moved to next Thursday. 

And then a playoff game on Saturday or Sunday for someone?

[finn]

1 minute ago, The Jokeman said:

Assuming we get a report on Damar today or tomorrow I could see us finishing the game Thursday and then the Bills Patriots/Ravens Bengals games moved to next Thursday. 

This sounds like the best solution, especially if Hamlin is upgraded to stable condition before then and looks to be out of the woods. If he's not, I don't care what happens, and I suspect most Bills players will feel the same way. 

[djp14150]

6 hours ago, Locomark said:

I just don’t see how they play the Bengals game with Hamlin’s true status not being known for days or maybe a full week or more.
 

A. I prefer they give both KC and the Bills a Bye and kill the #7 seed in the AFC. 
I know the NFL will never do this because it’s 1 less playoff game. 
 

B. If the Bills and Chiefs both win next weekend, we are 13-3, Chiefs 14-3, Bengals 12-4.  they could rank Bills and KC 1 and 2 based on conference %. Though this really screws the Bengals because they didn’t get their shot at us. (Chiefs would 9-3, Bills better at 9-2, FYI Bengals are 8-3) 
 

C. They can select by plain win % then KC gets the 1 seed (assuming they win Saturday) and we get the 2 seed. Now we get stuck with an extra game and no bye through no fault of our own, which makes me push back to my option A because why should we be punished for an act of god? 
 

Other ideas? 

 

if games get cancelled ….that’s why rules refer to winning pct in sorting.

 

is it a bills forfeit? Is it called a tie?  What dies KC do?  Thry face a team out of the playoffs . If thry call it a tie Cincy clinches division..

 

they will not say it’s a bills loss because of the score.  The play was too short to be considered an official game. Had this happened in the 4 th and Cindy was up by 14 they could call the game official.

 

they will not change the playoff format.

 

it’s unrealistic to try and e en make up this game.  The team won’t know his condition until till probably on Wednesday.

 

of course KC could say they aren’t playing on Saturday to equate things and call it a no play or tie like how thry decide this game.

 

had this game occurred in sept they could easily made up the game.  They can’t do it now.

 

 

[stlbills13]

If they play the game this week, I don't see any way the Bills win. So I'd maybe rather just cancel it and go to win %. We get the 2 seed likely but that's better than losing and being the 3 seed. It sucks that the Chiefs will get an all time gift but it will be even sweeter to knock them out