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

[stlbills13]

Just now, BillyBilliams said:

 

A college football National Championship is nowhere close to the same scope as a Super Bowl event.  The Super Bowl is a global event.  College football is a national event.  I think you're taking the SB for granted.

 

Plus Georgia and TCU do get 9 days off. Not a full bye but it's not played in a normal timeframe either

The week off before the Super Bowl is a big deal. But getting rid of it may still be the best solution. I just don't think the NFL will do it. I also am not so sure having the Bills/Bengals play a standalone week 19 game is a good idea for the emotional well-being of the teams. And I definitely don't like the idea of all the other playoff teams getting a bye. 

[SoCal Deek]

Just now, BillyBilliams said:

 

A college football National Championship is nowhere close to the same scope as a Super Bowl event.  The Super Bowl is a global event.  College football is a national event.  I think you're taking the SB for granted.

Now we’re going in circles. The initial comment was whether the teams needed the week off. They do not. Now as to whether some Japanese beer distributor had planned a party two weeks before the game (which nobody will attend)…I honestly don’t care. It seems like a silly thing to prioritize right now. 

[Beast]

10 minutes ago, BillyBilliams said:

 

Again, this is not fair to the Bills or the Bengals.  They get a standalone game for what?  To decide who's the 2 or 3 seed?  So Cincinnati wins, they are the 2 seed....woohoo!!!!  Now they get to play the 7 seeded Dolphins who got an extra week to prepare for the Bengals.  The 3 seeded Bills just played a hard fought game, lost, but now the 6 seeded Ravens got an extra week to let Lamar Jackson rest up and get healthy.  

 

Why are you wanting to do a standalone game so the 6 and 7 seeds are benefitted?  Makes no sense to me.

Dude, you have ***** issues.

[BillsFanSD]

9 minutes ago, boyst said:

The NFL MUST let it be known to all teams what the plan is for Bengals/Bills before games begin Thursday night.

I agree with you, and you'd think this would be obvious, but my hunch is that the NFL fully intends to fly by the seat of its pants this week.  They could have made a decision and announced it yesterday pretty easily.  The fact that they didn't makes me think that no announcement will be forthcoming until they see what happens in week 18.  

 

It's really kind of amazing that the league doesn't have a procedure in place for dealing with games that can't be played for one reason or another.  I've belonged to fantasy leagues that had more thoughtful, forward-looking rules.

[BillyBilliams]

1 minute ago, Just in Atlanta said:

Fail to see that logic. 

• Cinci doesn't get the chance to move up.
• KC gets the No. 1 seed automatically - leaving us to play yet again in KC
• We played a half quarter; other than the emotional trauma it's a partial bye week. 
• There are probably many other results of a missed game as well. 

 

 

Cincy does get a chance to move up.  They can move to the 2 seed.  The Bengals have the 4th tie breaker on us which is Strength of Victory in all games.  Cincinnati is at a .483 and Buffalo is at a .479.  The 5th tie breaker is SOS which Cincy is at .508 to Buffalo .496.

[SoCal Deek]

4 minutes ago, stlbills13 said:

 

Plus Georgia and TCU do get 9 days off. Not a full bye but it's not played in a normal timeframe either

The week off before the Super Bowl is a big deal. But getting rid of it may still be the best solution. I just don't think the NFL will do it. I also am not so sure having the Bills/Bengals play a standalone week 19 game is a good idea for the emotional well-being of the teams. And I definitely don't like the idea of all the other playoff teams getting a bye. 

Call me crazy…but I’m rooting for the scenario that allows my Buffalo Bills to play their way into the #1 seed and an assured WNY path to the Super Bowl! After fanatically rooting for this team for SIXTY years, the last thing I want is some asterisk after their championship.

[Warriorspikes51]

Waiting until Week 18 results may be what happens.

 

- Ravens win over Bengals =  Random Number Generator picks a game on Ravens schedule as "no contest" to see who wins AFC North
(Otherwise, Bengals have already clinched their Division)

- Bills win over Patriots & Chiefs win over Raiders =  Random Number Generator picks a game on Chiefs schedule as "no contest"  
(Bills have 14/17 chance at 1 seed, or 15/17 if their win against the Chiefs is excluded) 

 

[What a Tuel]

43 minutes ago, Greg S said:

 

Chiefs haven't been playing all that. They are winning but struggling to do so. The Raiders gave SF a hell of game. The way they moved the ball against that defense was very impressive. These teams hate each other so I am sure the Raiders would love to knock the Chiefs off from the #1 seed. KC will probably win but an upset isn't out of the question.

 

Agree it can happen and the raiders were playing great against the best defense in the league (49ers) but then as illogical as football is, watch them just fall completely on their faces against the chiefs. 

 

For example, I lost my fantasy league because I benched Trevor Lawrence against the cowboys defense and he gets like 45 points, and then in another league I play Lawrence against the Texans and he gets 4 pts in a blowout. The NFL is just matchup chaos.

Edited January 4, 2023 by What a Tuel

[BillyBilliams]

14 minutes ago, SoCal Deek said:

Now we’re going in circles. The initial comment was whether the teams needed the week off. They do not. Now as to whether some Japanese beer distributor had planned a party two weeks before the game (which nobody will attend)…I honestly don’t care. It seems like a silly thing to prioritize right now. 

 

Of course you personally don't care.  I personally don't care either, but the NFL does.  The NFL is about making money.  If they lose $30M in revenue due to the fact they aren't giving sponsors time to host their big events, then they lose money.  Calling some regular season MNF game a wash is financially more valueable to them than to cancel any type of Super Bowl event.

[What a Tuel]

1 minute ago, BillyBilliams said:

 

Of course you personally don't care.  I personally don't care either, but the NFL does.  The NFL is about making money.  If they lose $30M in revenue due to the fact they aren't giving sponsors time to host their big events, then they lose money.  Calling some regular season MNF game a wash is financially more valueable to them than to cancel any type of Super Bowl event.

 

This is where the NFL needs to step up and put their money where their mouth is and do it right instead of worrying about a few million more dollars. Easy for me to say sure, but I bet it earns some decent respect and loyalty from fans. A random number generator will fall flat with fans.

[boyst]

18 minutes ago, BillyBilliams said:

 

Cincy does get a chance to move up.  They can move to the 2 seed.  The Bengals have the 4th tie breaker on us which is Strength of Victory in all games.  Cincinnati is at a .483 and Buffalo is at a .479.  The 5th tie breaker is SOS which Cincy is at .508 to Buffalo .496.

May have missed this   but   We have 3rd tiebreaker over them. It is only if we lose that it'd matter 

[SoCal Deek]

10 minutes ago, BillyBilliams said:

 

Of course you personally don't care.  I personally don't care either, but the NFL does.  The NFL is about making money.  If they lose $30M in revenue due to the fact they aren't giving sponsors time to host their big events, then they lose money.  Calling some regular season MNF game a wash is financially more valueable to them than to cancel any type of Super Bowl event.

I’ve been to two super bowls….and live in a city that just hosted the last one. There was almost nothing going on in Los Angeles last year during the bye week. Sure, the NFL experience was happening (not even at the stadium site) but that was just advertised locally to SoCal residents. They were practically begging people to go. I cannot believe that more than a few dozen people plan on spending over a week in Phoenix. Local residents who still want to visit the NFL Experience would still be able to do so. 

1 minute ago, SoCal Deek said:

 

 

Edited January 4, 2023 by SoCal Deek

[Mark92]

48 minutes ago, Beast said:

I believe the two easiest solutions are play the Bills/Bengals game in 2 Sundays, pushing the playoff games back a week but keeping the SB date the same, or…..

 

Not playing the Bills/Bengals game and allowing 8 teams into the AFC playoffs because teams are fighting for the top seed and fighting to get in. It wouldn’t be fair to teams with playoff aspirations to not make it because a game isn’t played. Also, nobody would get the top seed and no bye.

I kind of like this idea

[Seventeen]

Not saying this would happen but what if the #1 seed in the AFC was determined by taking the best 16 games from each team ( can't throw out head to head ), apply the normal tie-break rules including HTH, conference recs and SOS. So all of the Bills & Bengals games would could and KC would lose their worst game (x/c HTH).

 

There is no guarantee that the Bills will be in the right mindset come this Sunday and this would eliminate totally the impact of the Bills-Bengals game. 

 

Certainly, I am not thinking clearly here ...

 

  

Edited January 4, 2023 by Roy Hobbs

[Warriorspikes51]

1 minute ago, Roy Hobbs said:

Not saying this would happen but what if the #1 seed in the AFC was determined by taking the best 16 games from each team ( can't throw out head to head ), apply the normal tie-break rules including HTH, conference recs and SOS. 

 

There is no guarantee that the Bills will be in the right mindset come this Sunday and this would eliminate totally the impact of the Bills-Bengals game. 

 

Certainly, I am not thinking clearly here ...

 

 

This all would have been much simpler if the Broncos or Texans had beaten the Chiefs

[Seventeen]

Just now, Warriorspikes51 said:

This all would have been much simpler if the Broncos or Texans had beaten the Chiefs

 

After further review and assuming they don't lose to the Raiders, the Chiefs would get the #1 seed by dropping the Indy game.

[LyndonvilleBill]

So many thoughts. So many ideas. Here's another one.

 

Why not just do a FG kickoff.  Start at the 20, move back 5 yards, kick again. At least it would involve actual players, not a computer or some random generator that has nothing to do with football. Can be done in your own stadium with officials. Long snapper, Holder and Kicker. Bass vs McPherson. Kickers are players too.😉

[Greg S]

6 minutes ago, LyndonvilleBill said:

So many thoughts. So many ideas. Here's another one.

 

Why not just do a FG kickoff.  Start at the 20, move back 5 yards, kick again. At least it would involve actual players, not a computer or some random generator that has nothing to do with football. Can be done in your own stadium with officials. Long snapper, Holder and Kicker. Bass vs McPherson. Kickers are players too.😉

 

Bass would be at a disadvantage right now if he had to kick in his own stadium. Weather in OP at this time of the year...No thanks! I guess anything is possible. Hockey uses the SO to determine who wins if nobody scores in OT. As Howie Rose (former Rangers and Isles broadcaster) used to say the game portion of hockey has ended and we now move on to the skills competition to decide a winner.

Edited January 4, 2023 by Greg S

[GunnerBill]

46 minutes ago, Just in Atlanta said:

Fail to see that logic. 

• Cinci doesn't get the chance to move up.
• KC gets the No. 1 seed automatically - leaving us to play yet again in KC
• We played a half quarter; other than the emotional trauma it's a partial bye week. 
• There are probably many other results of a missed game as well. 

 

Moving the playoffs back a week and giving 5 teams a bye while asking 2 teams to play an extremely emotionally charged game knowing all the other permiatations is less fair IMO. 

[LyndonvilleBill]

1 minute ago, Greg S said:

 

Bass would be at a disadvantage right now if he had to kick in his own stadium. Weather in OP at this time of the year...No thanks! I guess anything is possible. Hockey uses the SO to determine who wins if nobody scores in OT. As Howie Rose (former Rangers and Isles broadcaster) used to say the game portion of hockey has ended and we now move on to the skills competition to decide a winner.

Doesn't the original football game (soccer😉) have something similar? Penalty shootout? 🤔

[Einstein]

 

 

[Greg S]

Just now, LyndonvilleBill said:

Doesn't the original football game (soccer😉) have something similar? Penalty shootout? 🤔

 

I don't know. I never watched soccer and I never will.

[Seventeen]

3 minutes ago, Einstein said:

 

 

 

Not gonna happen - no way Bills would agree to play this Sunday on the same field where Hamlin was injured and him still in the hospital.

[4thandGoal]

You peeps go back and forth on what they should do - its great to talk about it but nothing we can do or say will change what the NFL will end up doing. I DO NOT CARE if we get the 1 seed, 2 seed or 3 seed-- I just want to hear great news on Damar's health and all else is secondary. Whatever the NFL decides-- it will be unfair to one or more teams and if it is unfair to our Buffalo Bills-- I am 110 percent fine with that. If the Bills get the #1 seed - I am sure all here will be happy and giddy about that-- anything less--you will see alot of bashing, cussing and blame.

[WotAGuy]

Give Cincy the W and play out the last week. Bills have the 3 seed locked up. Just move on. It’s not that important anymore.  

[Greg S]

4 minutes ago, Roy Hobbs said:

 

Not gonna happen - no way Bills would agree to play this Sunday on the same field where Hamlin was injured and him still in the hospital.

 

I feel bad for the Bengals players. They have to play the Ravens at home this Sunday. That can't be easy for them either. Both teams were shaken by what they saw Monday night.

Edited January 4, 2023 by Greg S

[WotAGuy]

11 minutes ago, Einstein said:

 

 

Whatever Doug Whaley says, we should do the opposite. 🤣

[BillsFanSD]

19 minutes ago, Einstein said:

 

 

My thoughts are that there's a good reason why Doug Whaley is not employed in the NFL anymore.  

[Dan Darragh]

I FIGURED OUT THE SOLUTION!

 

The fairest way is to determine the seedings NOT based on the number of wins each team has, but based on the number of LOSSES each team has.

 

We have 3 losses.  KC has 3 losses.  If neither one of us loses in week 18, we're tied and the tiebreaker goes to head to head record.

[What a Tuel]

41 minutes ago, Roy Hobbs said:

 

Not gonna happen - no way Bills would agree to play this Sunday on the same field where Hamlin was injured and him still in the hospital.

 

I don't understand this. I mean I understand the emotional trauma, but are they going to refuse if we have to go back there for the playoffs too?

 

If they are traumatized to the point they cannot face Paycor Stadium, then they should be discussing options to take the rest of the year off and get right mentally before playing again.

21 minutes ago, Dan Darragh said:

I FIGURED OUT THE SOLUTION!

 

The fairest way is to determine the seedings NOT based on the number of wins each team has, but based on the number of LOSSES each team has.

 

We have 3 losses.  KC has 3 losses.  If neither one of us loses in week 18, we're tied and the tiebreaker goes to head to head record.

 

Great idea that suits the Bills but Chiefs fans are probably saying wins matter more haha.

[Seventeen]

Just now, What a Tuel said:

 

I don't understand this. I mean I understand the emotional trauma, but are they going to refuse if we have to go back there for the playoffs too?

 

If they are traumatized to the point they cannot face Paycor Stadium, then they should be discussing options to take the rest of the year off and get right mentally before playing again.

 

I would think by the time the Bills might return to Paycor for a playoff game, we'd have a good picture of where Damar stands, Until then, no.

[Warriorspikes51]

45 minutes ago, WotAGuy said:

Give Cincy the W and play out the last week. Bills have the 3 seed locked up. Just move on. It’s not that important anymore.  

 

Hamlin is getting better....and the playoff seeding will matter. 

 

[BillyBilliams]

1 hour ago, What a Tuel said:

 

This is where the NFL needs to step up and put their money where their mouth is and do it right instead of worrying about a few million more dollars. Easy for me to say sure, but I bet it earns some decent respect and loyalty from fans. A random number generator will fall flat with fans.

 

What are they going to do, though?  If they have a standalone game, the Bills and Bengals are at a disadvantage.  If the Chiefs get the bye, they are now afforded TWO weeks off.  The 6 and 7 seeds get a bye week because of the standalone game while they watch the Bills/Bengals slug it out.  How is that fair that the 2 or 3 seed has to play the 6 or 7 seed while they are fully rested?

[Saint Doug]

I think they shouldn’t give anyone home field advantage this year. Just randomly draw where the games will be for all playoff teams. As for wild-card bye week, I don’t think it really matters if the Bills play this game or not. 

[Not Applicable]

3 minutes ago, Roy Hobbs said:

 

I would think by the time the Bills might return to Paycor for a playoff game, we'd have a good picture of where Damar stands, Until then, no.

He could be in limbo for awhile. The idea that the team simply doesn't play until his prognosis is 100% certain is unrealistic.

[What a Tuel]

1 minute ago, BillyBilliams said:

 

What are they going to do, though?  If they have a standalone game, the Bills and Bengals are at a disadvantage.  If the Chiefs get the bye, they are now afforded TWO weeks off.  The 6 and 7 seeds get a bye week because of the standalone game while they watch the Bills/Bengals slug it out.  How is that fair that the 2 or 3 seed has to play the 6 or 7 seed while they are fully rested?

 

If that is a large issue then swap the bengals vs bills and week 18 games. Bengals play Bills this weekend and week 18 games move to next week.

 

I don't think an extra week is that big of a deal as far as disadvantages go. No bigger of a deal than awarding a bye week with a competitive advantage based on a random number generator or a sudden change in the seeding rules.

[BillyBilliams]

52 minutes ago, WotAGuy said:

Give Cincy the W and play out the last week. Bills have the 3 seed locked up. Just move on. It’s not that important anymore.  

But why give Cincy the W?  What did they do to win the game?  The Bills didn't forfeit.  During the 5 minute warm up period, the Bengals went to the Bills sideline and they both agreed to mutually leave the field.  If Zac Taylor doesn't go across the field, we could have very well watched a game that night.  Just call it a no contest.  They literally didn't compete.  They played for 7 minutes, which is under 12% of the game.

5 minutes ago, What a Tuel said:

 

If that is a large issue then swap the bengals vs bills and week 18 games. Bengals play Bills this weekend and week 18 games move to next week.

 

I don't think an extra week is that big of a deal as far as disadvantages go. No bigger of a deal than awarding a bye week with a competitive advantage based on a random number generator or a sudden change in the seeding rules.

 

Or, just act as if the game never happened.  It's not that big of a deal.  Cincy just simply clinches the division, which is unfortunate for the Ravens, but I'm going to be real, they wouldn't beat Cincy without Jackson anyways.  Cincy still has the opportunity for the 2 seed.  Buffalo still has the opportunity for the 1 seed barring a KC loss.

[BillyBilliams]

9 minutes ago, What a Tuel said:

 

If that is a large issue then swap the bengals vs bills and week 18 games. Bengals play Bills this weekend and week 18 games move to next week.

 

I don't think an extra week is that big of a deal as far as disadvantages go. No bigger of a deal than awarding a bye week with a competitive advantage based on a random number generator or a sudden change in the seeding rules.

 

Like what was said earlier, this damages the NFL's money making venturs for Super Bowl Sunday.  You guys might not like it, but the NFL is here to make money.  The SB means way more than some regular season game.  The game on Monday does nothing to decide the outcome of the eventual Super Bowl winners.  

[UKBillFan]

3 hours ago, Aussie Joe said:

So would you be ok with the 8 seed winning the SB?

 

 

Yes. Is it much worse than the seventh seed managing it?

[Dan Darragh]

19 minutes ago, Patrick Fitzryan said:

He could be in limbo for awhile. The idea that the team simply doesn't play until his prognosis is 100% certain is unrealistic.

I say DELAY the games until Micah and Von are healthy

 

Crowder too

Edited January 4, 2023 by Dan Darragh