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

[BillsFanSD]

1 minute ago, Giuseppe Tognarelli said:

You say it's ridiculous to hand the Chiefs the #1 seed and yet you advocate for just that by suggesting they'll use win percentage to determine seeding.

Yeah, "win percentage" isn't a very good solution here.  That just hands the #1 seed to a team that lost to both of last night's teams.  That's dumb.  Deciding the game by a coin flip would be more fair.

[Sammy Watkins' Rib]

I'm of the mindset of just taking these next two weeks off if that means taking two L's I'm fine with that. But I would leave it up to the players and the coaches to decide when they want play and coach again. My guess would be that being NFL players and coaches, they will all want to get on the field this Sunday at home. But If not, I am okay with that. 

[UKBillFan]

31 minutes ago, SCBills said:

Bills were an Allen/Beasley timing hiccup away from this being 7-7.   We moved the ball at will on our first drive.  
 

As frustrating as it is, we’re all very familiar with our defenses slow starts.  
 

To act like anyone knows how this game was going to go, even if the Bengals go up 14-3 on their current drive, is being ridiculous and completely disrespectful to the grit and heart this team has shown this year.  
 

I say this as someone who was ready to throw my tv watching our defense in those first 1.5 drives.   ….I also know we have a seasons worth of data to rely on as to the good & bad tendencies of this defense all year long. 

Weren’t the Bengals 22-0 up against the Pats last week, yet were a Stevenson fumble away from losing the game come the end of the fourth quarter? And look at Colts-Vikings. How anyone can say we were bound to lose down 7-3 in the first quarter beats me.

Edited January 3, 2023 by UKBillFan

[Giuseppe Tognarelli]

48 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

This is overwhelmingly the most likely outcome. I'd say better than 90% chance thie happens.

Then KC HAS to lose on Saturday. The CHIEFS had better not benefit from this. Insane

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

Take with a grain of salt but I have read on twitter that if the game is completed it will be within the next two days.  Looks like they’re attributing the info to Vic carucci

 

Sounds like the most they’re gonna do if the game actually happens is play the game this week and push back the bills/pats game a little next week 

Edited January 3, 2023 by Generic_Bills_Fan

[Warriorspikes51]

Just now, Giuseppe Tognarelli said:

Then KC HAS to lose on Saturday. The CHIEFS had better not benefit from this. Insane

 

KC has been gifted half a dozen wins this year by other teams/refs.  Look at the recent games against Denver x2 and Houston.  All of which they deserved to lose 

[BarleyNY]

12 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

We need to leave behind this mindset that someone is going to be penalized in this scenario. The players and coaches don't feel that way. I know on here the #1 seed is considered life or death but it isn't. I just don't understand how anyone could even care about the #1 seed anymore. If it were about forfeiting the Super Bowl I would understand more.

 

The NFL is going to go with the simplest solution which offers the least disruption to the season as a whole and gives the Bills and Bengals players enough time to process what they just experienced. The only solution that makes sense in that context is a cancelled game that counts as a tie or one less game on the record.

The problem is that there is no solution that does not penalize at least one team. A tie would actually penalize both the Bengals and the Bills. The Bills would lose the #1 seed and the Bengals would lose the chance of the #2 seed and their shot at the #1 seed. KC potentially gets penalized with no game as their chance at the #1 seed is gone. Reworking the schedule penalizes several teams……etc.

Edited January 3, 2023 by BarleyNY

[SectionC3]

6 minutes ago, DasNootz said:

I cant imagine they play this week.  I think the best answer so far is to move forward and play next week's games.  After the last game is done - flip a coin for the Bills/Bengals.... or flip two coins.  The first decides if it's a tie.  The second decides who wins.

 

The fairest thing to do is probably to call it a no contest, for the entire world outside of the Kansas City area to root like crazy for the Raiders on Saturday, to have the Bills play (as they are) on Sunday at 1, and to have the Bengals/Ravens go on Sunday at 4.  Bills get a shot at the #1 if the Chiefs lose, and Bengals get a shot at the #2 if the Bills lose.  Everybody loses a little in that situation, but that's the way it goes when presented with an issue like this one that transcends football and nearly all other trivialities in life.  

Edited January 3, 2023 by SectionC3

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

2 minutes ago, UKBillFan said:

Weren’t the Bengals 22-0 up against the Pats last week, yet were a Stevenson fumble away from losing the game Come the end of the fourth quarter? And look at Colts-Vikings. How anyone can say we were bound to lose down 7-3 in the first quarter beats me.

Yes…there’s no way to know who was gonna win this one.  It was still relatively early in the first quarter and it appeared it was going to be a shootout 

[Boatdrinks]

3 minutes ago, UKBillFan said:

Weren’t the Bengals 22-0 up against the Pats last week, yet were a Stevenson fumble away from losing the game Come the end of the fourth quarter? And look at Colts-Vikings. How anyone can say we were bound to lose down 7-3 in the first quarter beats me.

Troll job… 

[flmike]

7 hours ago, Just Jack said:

Well, seeing as how the Bills beat everyone else in that division (Steelers, Ravens, Browns), they should just award the Bills the win also, making it a clean sweep of the North. 

Except the Bills were facing Burrows with 2 DBs down from an already depleted squad. Josh would have had to score 8 points on every drive to win that game. 

[Billsfan1972]

No way the Bills should play this game.  Too much emotion (or will be none when they play) and much more important things to focus on.  

 

I hate anyone & the "Suck it up" attitude. 

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

1 minute ago, flmike said:

Except the Bills were facing Burrows with 2 DBs down from an already depleted squad. Josh would have had to score 8 points on every drive to win that game. 

The bills held the chiefs to 20 missing like all their dbs 

[Giuseppe Tognarelli]

12 minutes ago, CSBill said:

There is no way this game is completed. If this happened before Dec 1, something probably could have been worked out. But not at this point in the season. If all teams were affected, then yes, something would be done. But that is not the case. .... In the end, the only fair thing they can do for all NFL teams is go by winning % for the play-off seeding. Maybe I lack faith, but I do not see any other fair solution with all the ancillary issues: player safety and metal health, schedules, TV money, competitive fairness, etc.

That's not fair when not all teams have played an equal number of games and when it's totally obvious that KC, of all teams, is the one and only beneficiary.

[Warriorspikes51]

2 minutes ago, flmike said:

Except the Bills were facing Burrows with 2 DBs down from an already depleted squad. Josh would have had to score 8 points on every drive to win that game. 

Simply not true.  Our defense often starts poorly, makes adjustments and then teams can't score the rest of the game. 

[HappyDays]

5 minutes ago, BarleyNY said:

The problem is that there is no solution that does not penalize at least one team. A tie would actually penalize both the Bengals and the Bills. The Bills would lose the #1 seed and the Bengals would lose the chance of the #2 seed and their shot at the #1 seed. KC potentially gets penalized with no game as their chance at the #1 seed is gone. Reworking the schedule penalizes several teams……etc.

 

It doesn't matter.

[BillsFanSD]

1 minute ago, BarleyNY said:

The problem is that there is no solution that does not penalize at least one teams. A tie would actually penalize both the Bengals and the Bills. The Bills would lose the #1 seed and the Bengals would lose the #2 seed and a shot at #1. KC gets penalized with no game. Reworking the schedule penalizes teams……etc.

I'm starting to come around to the view that the fairest outcome is just to determine last night's outcome by coin flip.  Any other solution is going to feel (rightly or wrongly) as having been engineered to advantage certain teams.  "Coin flip" doesn't require reworking any schedules or squeezing in a makeup game, and it removes human decisionmakers from determining the outcome.  

[Chugga]

This is the Bills fan in me talking and not a scenario I would assume would ever be on the table but….

 

I say they cancel the game and award wins to both teams involved with a stipulation that the Bengals hold all tiebreakers.

 

That means week 18 everyone is still playing for their livelihood.

 

Bills need a win to secure 1st.

 

Chiefs need a win for a shot at first (and Bills loss)

 

Bengals need a win and two losses for first

 

Yeah I know wishful thinking but also plays into NFL’s hands of making the last week highly important.

[SoCal Deek]

3 minutes ago, Billsfan1972 said:

No way the Bills should play this game.  Too much emotion (or will be none when they play) and much more important things to focus on.  

 

I hate anyone & the "Suck it up" attitude. 

With all due respect….It’s not your, or anyone else’s, attitude to have. This is up to the Bills players and coaches. I’ll be respectful of whatever they choose to do. All we ‘do’ is watch them. They are the ones directly involved. 

[Warriorspikes51]

1 minute ago, BillsFanSD said:

I'm starting to come around to the view that the fairest outcome is just to determine last night's outcome by coin flip.  Any other solution is going to feel (rightly or wrongly) as having been engineered to advantage certain teams.  "Coin flip" doesn't require reworking any schedules or squeezing in a makeup game, and it removes human decisionmakers from determining the outcome.  

Yes.  Best of 3. 

[Billz4ever]

8 minutes ago, UKBillFan said:

Weren’t the Bengals 22-0 up against the Pats last week, yet were a Stevenson fumble away from losing the game Come the end of the fourth quarter? And look at Colts-Vikings. How anyone can say we were bound to lose down 7-3 in the first quarter beats me.

The Bears went up on us early too then the Defense clamped down.  Basing anything off what the score was with over 5 mins left in the first quarter is nonsense.

[quinnearlysghost88]

Here’s the reality: 

 

We’re either going to re-play the game soon and it will be insensitive and the players won’t be in the right headspace to play 

 

or

 

the nfl says no game and we seed with a different metric. Most likely we lose the 1 seed. 
 

You’re not getting both. 
 

everyone is arguing point a or b in different ways. It’s pretty straightforward. 

[DieHardBillsFan]

8 hours ago, Cheektowaga Chad said:

Personally rather just forfeit if the choice is between pushing the game 2 weeks and forfeit 

 

So potentially the Bills and Bengals are the only teams not to get a bye week heading round 1? Seems like a disadvantage 

I would say, if the Bills can play any game in the future, why not this one later as well. Play in 2 weeks and the AFC seeds will be decided after.

[boyst]

14 minutes ago, Giuseppe Tognarelli said:

You say it's ridiculous to hand the Chiefs the #1 seed and yet you advocate for just that by suggesting they'll use win percentage to determine seeding.

It's subtly different in my mind to go off of win % then giving a win. If they go off wins and there is a fluke where KC loses then it's time breaker.  If it's % it's more settled. 

[Mynamemike]

2 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

It doesn't matter.

Agree. I feel like anything I’ve learned from McDermott and the squad is they always deal with adversity well.  As long as Hamlin comes out of this relatively ok the team will use this as a rallying cry like they always do.  You could see it in coaches eyes last night this hit him hard just like it did the players.  Not many professional sports clubs can truly say they are like a family but this teams its 100% legit.   Go Bills

[LabattBlue]

No one here is going to like a solution that gifts KC the #1 seed, but the best solution is to cancel the game, and use winning percentage to determine standings. 
 

A coin flip?  Seriously? 

[boyst]

1 minute ago, quinnearlysghost88 said:

Here’s the reality: 

 

We’re either going to re-play the game soon and it will be insensitive and the players won’t be in the right headspace to play 

 

or

 

the nfl says no game and we seed with a different metric. Most likely we lose the 1 seed. 
 

You’re not getting both. 
 

everyone is arguing point a or b in different ways. It’s pretty straightforward. 

I know we are all going through many emotions and differently.

 

But, I'd be VERY curious to see this game played soon with how the players behaved. Would Mixon tone it down? Would the big play plays be less hyped and celebrated? Would it be a more passive game?

 

I'd hedge a bet it started very passive and kind then aggressive. By the 4th Q I'd think they'd be back to normal.  

[SCBills]

1 minute ago, Billz4ever said:

The Bears went up on us early too then the Defense clamped down.  Basing anything off what the score was with over 5 mins left in the first quarter is nonsense.

Its not just that they scored on their first two drives … it’s that it looked so easy.   Every play the Bears ran looked to be the perfect play against our defense.  
 

Then they clamped down.  
 

Same thing early on against Cinci. 
 

It’s annoying, but it’s been our defenses M.0. all year. 
 

I doubt we clamp down Cinci like we did Chicago, but I also think they could adjust enough with our Offense looking ready for a track meet. 

[Gary Marangi]

Just now, LabattBlue said:

No one here is going to like a solution that gifts KC the #1 seed, but the best solution is to cancel the game, and use winning percentage to determine standings. 
 

A coin flip?  Seriously? 

I know the coin flip idea sucks

[flmike]

1 hour ago, Stretch said:

You can’t move those games to next Thursday without impacting the playoff schedule (which could be done).  Either the Pats or bengals/Ravens loser playing on 2 days rest in the wild card?  If you are going to move the playoffs, you might as well make up the Bills/Bengals game in week 19 and get rid of the unnecessary 2 week break between conference championships and the Super Bowl.

I've always thought that 2-week break was dumb and I believe it cost the Bills a win in their first SB appearance. 

[Warriorspikes51]

2 minutes ago, quinnearlysghost88 said:

Here’s the reality: 

 

We’re either going to re-play the game soon and it will be insensitive and the players won’t be in the right headspace to play 

 

or

 

the nfl says no game and we seed with a different metric. Most likely we lose the 1 seed. 
 

You’re not getting both. 
 

everyone is arguing point a or b in different ways. It’s pretty straightforward. 

Cancel game, Bills and Bengals records remain the same....

*If KC is 13-4, CIN is 12-4, BUF is 12-4:      CIN 1, BUF 2, KC 3
*If KC is 14-3, BUF is 13-3:             BUF 1, KC 2, CIN 3

Why? Both BUF and CIN defeated KC
 

[Greg S]

Just now, SCBills said:

Its not just that they scored on their first two drives … it’s that it looked so easy.   Every play the Bears ran looked to be the perfect play against our defense.  
 

Then they clamped down.  
 

Same thing early on against Cinci. 
 

It’s annoying, but it’s been our defenses M.0. all year. 
 

I doubt we clamp down Cinci like we did Chicago, but I also think they could adjust enough with our Offense looking ready for a track meet. 

 

Look at the Ravens game as another example. Didn't the Bills fall behind 20-0 or 20-3 and ended up winning 23-20. I believe the defense pitched a SO in the 2nd half.

[chongli]

37 minutes ago, ToGoGo said:

 

Hamlin is still alive. What are you even saying? 

 

His life is on the line, including the quality of his life. I hope it ends well for him.

[Warriorspikes51]

3 minutes ago, LabattBlue said:

No one here is going to like a solution that gifts KC the #1 seed, but the best solution is to cancel the game, and use winning percentage to determine standings. 
 

A coin flip?  Seriously? 

Do you not understand that win% gifts KC the 1 unless they lose next week 

[No_Matter_What]

8 minutes ago, Giuseppe Tognarelli said:

That's not fair when not all teams have played an equal number of games and when it's totally obvious that KC, of all teams, is the one and only beneficiary.

Well that's sort of the point. You go by winning % precisely because not all teams have played an equal number of games.

 

As for KC, it is what it is. You do understand that vis maior prevented a game to end so there is no ideal solution to this?

 

I really don't get why people are trying so hard to find some magical solution. Just cancel the game, and go by winning %.

[ProcessTruster]

8 hours ago, Cheektowaga Chad said:

Personally rather just forfeit if the choice is between pushing the game 2 weeks and forfeit 

 

So potentially the Bills and Bengals are the only teams not to get a bye week heading round 1? Seems like a disadvantage 

They are pretty much getting a bye week right now, there is value in that I suppose from a team health perspective... trying to fit 3 games in two weeks reminds me of Covid times, and that did not seem right at all... the league probably learned from that ?  I'd be surprised if they try to continue this game

Edited January 3, 2023 by ProcessTruster

[BillsBy50]

Anyone in here saying Bills were going to get beat based off 1.5 drives you don’t deserve to be a part of this Mafia. Log out and be gone!

 

let’s not forget Titans game we won 41-7, and that 7 came on their first drive….

[Big Turk]

 

[wvbillsfan]

I’d take the loss

move on to the patriots game, rest your starters, as many as you possibly can. 
 

Gives the team the best possible chance to be in the right head space at playoff time. Get some rest and hopefully get healthy. 
 

Who and where we play seems irrelevant at this point. 

[chongli]

37 minutes ago, Warriorspikes51 said:

That's NOT what I said.  

 

Ok, I meant to write "fairness, but the "f";s got me.Early in the morning for me. I apologize for that.

 

My point still stands though. The trivial needs of the millions in this situation do not compare to Hamlin, when his life and health are at stake.