Official: (Bengals) Game will not be resumed this week UPDATE: OFFICIALLY CANCELLED

[Boatdrinks]

4 minutes ago, Dancing Fool said:

That would punish both teams for this event. Why should both teams be further damaged because they experienced a tragedy of this magnitude?

There isn’t much of an alternative .. no punishment involved 

[YoloinOhio]

2 minutes ago, Rubes said:

I just don't see how they can even put the effort into practice and preparation for another game just a few days away.

 

From a pure football perspective, the only positive is that they are playing a team that they already prepared for once this year and have played 3  times in the last 12.5 months. 

Edited January 3, 2023 by YoloinOhio

[Boatdrinks]

Just now, The Red King said:

Coin toss.  Both teams are evenly matched.  One team gets the W, one the L as what would have happened (tie if it lands on edge).  The rest of the league's seeding doesn't get scrambled and they do not need to resume/replay the game.

 

Sounds odd, but really the fairest and least disruptive for the league.  And neither team has to relive the trauma.

I’d be surprised if that was the avenue chosen here. 

[colin]

4 minutes ago, Virgil said:

Maybe I'm the ####### here, but I just don't give a ***** about any of this.  At this point, the Bills could take the L for the Bengals and forfeit the Pats game.  It sucks from a football perspective and for all the hard work the players put in, but I think the players will tell you that none of this matters.

 

Hamlin's health is literally all that matters at this point.  I get that some people need to distract themselves in times like this, but I honestly feel like the majority of people talking standings are just being selfish.  The football part will play itself out.  But right now, it just doesn't matter.  

 

I almost wish this thread was pinned and locked, because the interest being on the wrong things is disturbing to me

 

 

this is getting a little ridiculous dude.  We all only care about Hamlin because we know who he is, and we only know who he is because he plays football (for the bills).  there were a thousand + other cardiac incidents last night none of us will ever know about.

 

there is a correct response to this, and i think (and i'd bet the vast majority of people would think) stopping last night was part of it, but playing next week is also reasonable.  

 

if someone's health is all that matters (not saying it doesn't, but it's not ALL that matters) you'd never have them playing football in the first place.

[Bob Jones]

6 minutes ago, Virgil said:

Maybe I'm the ####### here, but I just don't give a ***** about any of this.  At this point, the Bills could take the L for the Bengals and forfeit the Pats game.  It sucks from a football perspective and for all the hard work the players put in, but I think the players will tell you that none of this matters.

 

Hamlin's health is literally all that matters at this point.  I get that some people need to distract themselves in times like this, but I honestly feel like the majority of people talking standings are just being selfish.  The football part will play itself out.  But right now, it just doesn't matter.  

 

I almost wish this thread was pinned and locked, because the interest being on the wrong things is disturbing to me

What if Hamlin stays alive, but doesn't come out of this "well?" Or God forbid, passes. What should the Bills do? Just voluntarily end their season?

[RoyBatty is alive]

16 minutes ago, ALLEN1QB said:

I just don't understand how it's not acceptable to play on Tues or Wed but they can play on Sunday just does not make sense

The teams was or is in a collective state of shock, that is why.

 

And you need some adequate time to prepare safely for an NFL game.

[ehfeuh57]

31 minutes ago, KDIGGZ said:

Do you think the players are sitting at home saying gee I wonder who we play in the playoffs now? Who cares. You play who is on the schedule if and when they ever play again. Right now, who cares about anything to do with football

 

When is the time to start thinking about it?

Are you going to come on here and make an announcement when its OK?

and even then, what if someone else still thinks it not OK, then are you the bad guy also?

[The Red King]

Just now, Boatdrinks said:

I’d be surprised if that was the avenue chosen here. 

 

Oh, I agree.  It's off the wall, but it is fair, and one team at least gets a full W.  And technically the players decide the outcome.  I'd be more comfortable with this then if the league arbitrarily kneecaps both teams without them having any chance to influence the outcome.

[The Firebaugh Kid]

2 minutes ago, Bob Jones said:

What if Hamlin stays alive, but doesn't come out of this "well?" Or God forbid, passes. What should the Bills do? Just voluntarily end their season?

Play on for their brother in his honor. 

[RoyBatty is alive]

3 minutes ago, The Red King said:

Coin toss.  Both teams are evenly matched.  One team gets the W, one the L as what would have happened (tie if it lands on edge).  The rest of the league's seeding doesn't get scrambled and they do not need to resume/replay the game.

 

Sounds odd, but really the fairest and least disruptive for the league.  And neither team has to relive the trauma.

I think it is a viable option unless the NFL has provisions for cancelled game and playoff seedings.

 

Of course if they do they should have already been articulated to the public,

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

Just now, Bob Jones said:

What if Hamlin stays alive, but doesn't come out of this "well?" Or God forbid, passes. What should the Bills do? Just voluntarily end their season?

 

I think... watching a close friend receive CPR and AED is traumatic.  Trying to resume "business as usual" at that point is impossible.

 

Regarding the future if things take a turn... you have some time to process things.  It's less about your last moment with a person, and more about their life, their memory, their impact.

[No_Matter_What]

1 hour ago, Kiva said:

Not going to happen. The league can’t penalize us for an act of god. We must play this game or give both teams the W. 

So if there is no reasonable date for the game to be played, you want to penalize other teams by awarding us and Bengals W, right?

[Southern_Bills]

Just now, No_Matter_What said:

So if there is no reasonable date for the game to be played, you want to penalize other teams by awarding us and Bengals W, right?

 

There is no good outcome here, there will be winners and losers.

 

I don't see how they can reschedule this game at this point.

 

 

[Brand J]

The only scenario in which the game wouldn’t matter last night is if the Bills beat the Pats, the Bengals lose to the Ravens, and the Chiefs lose to the Raiders. If it doesn’t play out exactly like this, I’m all for the coin toss to determine the 1 seed versus just handing it to KC because the game went down as a no contest.

 

EDIT: Actually in this scenario it’d matter to the Bengals because the Ravens could potentially win the division on the coin flip. It won’t be fair to any team it looks like, whatever is decided.

Edited January 3, 2023 by JayBaller10

[Beck Water]

14 minutes ago, Rubes said:

I just don't see how they can even put the effort into practice and preparation for another game just a few days away.

 

 

People process things differently.

 

Football players are definitely creatures of routine.  Getting home so late - plane landed around 3 am, probably players not home before 3:30 or 4 am, this afternoon they will come in for evaluation and treatment of new or existing injuries, maybe a recovery workout. 

 

McDermott and/or team leaders may sound them out to see if they want to get together for a prayer service today and share verbally whatever details they have of the injury and explain the treatment, to counter rumors floating around the Twitterverse (but you have to do it verbally because some moth-head will tweet or re-tweet anything that's messaged and that's for the family to control.)  I would expect that is something most of the players would want. 

 

I would expect the Bills would reach out and offer mental health services to the players.

 

After that, people cope with things differently but many find it comforting to stick to a routine.  These are all guys who are used to vigorous physical activity.  Hard physical effort can take your mind off things, and relieve stress and anxiety.  If something tragic happens, a routine can always be stopped, but if there's a decision to play, neglected preparations can never be retroactively started.

 

 

 

Edited January 3, 2023 by Beck Water

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

23 minutes ago, Virgil said:

Maybe I'm the ####### here, but I just don't give a ***** about any of this.  At this point, the Bills could take the L for the Bengals and forfeit the Pats game.  It sucks from a football perspective and for all the hard work the players put in, but I think the players will tell you that none of this matters.

 

Hamlin's health is literally all that matters at this point.  I get that some people need to distract themselves in times like this, but I honestly feel like the majority of people talking standings are just being selfish.  The football part will play itself out.  But right now, it just doesn't matter.  

 

I almost wish this thread was pinned and locked, because the interest being on the wrong things is disturbing to me

You mentioned it in a throwaway sentence but I personally really only care about the playoff seeding because the players have worked so hard and fought through so much adversity this season. It may not happen in the next week or two, but they may rally and want a chance to win it all for demar.  If the players and coaches decided they wanted to end the season right now I would 100% endorse that decision.

 

 I can’t speak for everyone but for me it has absolutely nothing to do with wanting to see my team win a Super Bowl. to me caring about demars health/the well being of the players is not some mutually exclusive idea to them being given a chance to compete still should they want it.  

Edited January 3, 2023 by Generic_Bills_Fan

[DabillsDaBillsDaBills]

1 minute ago, JayBaller10 said:

The only scenario in which the game wouldn’t matter last night is if the Bills beat the Pats, the Bengals lose to the Ravens, and the Chiefs lose to the Raiders. If it doesn’t play out exactly like this, I’m all for the coin toss to determine the 1 seed versus just handing it to KC because the game went down as a no contest.

 

Your scenario would have the 11-5 Bengals clinch the AFCN over the 11-6 Ravens. The Bills/Bengals matchup would determine who wins the AFCN (Bills would be locked in at #1 regardless). 

 

 

[Virgil]

13 minutes ago, Bob Jones said:

What if Hamlin stays alive, but doesn't come out of this "well?" Or God forbid, passes. What should the Bills do? Just voluntarily end their season?

 

Have that conversation when it happens.  Why is there a rush on everything else?  It hasn't even been 24 hours

[RocCityRoller]

48 minutes ago, BigDingus said:

 

It's possible to care about more than one thing...

 

My grandfather recently passed away 2 weeks ago, but I still had take care of my house, feed my pets, pay my bills, and do dozens of other things that still mattered, even while prioritizing funeral & travel arrangements.

 

No need to disparage people who aren't meeting your threshold for expected grief. 

I'm sorry for your direct loss. I'm in a similar boat by proxy. One of my best friend's mom passed away Thursday. We almost didn't gather for the game, but most of us decided to. We wanted to regain some normalcy and have a distraction. As you can imagine the evening did not go well.

 

I'm still here curious about what will happen now. Maybe that makes me a monster, maybe it means I am in total shock right now, and am looking for a distraction? People pointing fingers at each other and castigating them over how they are handling things is very poor behavior IMO. People handle things differently.

Edited January 3, 2023 by RocCityRoller

[Success]

Nothing is going to be perfect, or even that close to it.  These are unusual and extraordinary circumstances.

 

Any team that was going to make the playoffs anyway - they're still going to make the playoffs.  Maybe a team that should have had a week off won't get that now, and maybe another team will have to play one more game on the road than they might have otherwise.

 

But everyone is still going to get their shot in the playoffs, and the teams battling for the 7 seed will still get to stake their claim on the field.  Some fans will complain, but there just isn't an ideal solution here.  As a Bills fan, I just want to see them get their shot in the playoffs, even if it's not as the 1 seed that they were close to earning.

 

[PatsFanNH]

23 minutes ago, RoyBatty is alive said:

Cancel the season for the Bills. 

 

No forfeiting the games for the Bills is ridiculous  imo.   Again, these are pros.  They see pain and risk their life every snap. 

They could cancel Cincy, their is to much riding on the Pats game for to many teams make the playoffs not to have a decision 1 way or the other. Mind you the Bills could have their worst game of the year and still spank my Pats.. lol 

25 minutes ago, ALLEN1QB said:

Is this fair to the other teams example just letting New England win and they make the playoffs and another team getting eliminated that would otherwise have made it

No! But is it fair to the Pays to lose out on the playoffs because the Bills can’t play. No matter what they decide someone gonna be unhappy. This is unprecedented and I don’t see a perfect solution for anyone. 

[BillsSbSoon]

Honestly we should probably just forfeit. It’s not fair to cincy 

[The Red King]

11 minutes ago, JayBaller10 said:

The only scenario in which the game wouldn’t matter last night is if the Bills beat the Pats, the Bengals lose to the Ravens, and the Chiefs lose to the Raiders. If it doesn’t play out exactly like this, I’m all for the coin toss to determine the 1 seed versus just handing it to KC because the game went down as a no contest.

 

EDIT: Actually in this scenario it’d matter to the Bengals because the Ravens could potentially win the division on the coin flip. It won’t be fair to any team it looks like, whatever is decided.

 

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.

[RochesterLifer]

4 minutes ago, BillsSbSoon said:

Honestly we should probably just forfeit. It’s not fair to cincy 

I agree with this. It would be honorable in a number of ways:

- Cincinnati; the coach, the team, the city, was selfless in their concern for Damar and the Bills. Give them the W and say thank you.

- It would show our players that we care about their mental and emotional wellbeing

- It would be a true, brotherly statement to Damar - his life and health is more important than the game.

 

Something terrible happened last night. We can't make all outcomes be good.

[The Red King]

Just now, RochesterLifer said:

I agree with this. It would be honorable in a number of ways:

- Cincinnati; the coach, the team, the city, was selfless in their concern for Damar and the Bills. Give them the W and say thank you.

- It would show our players that we care about their mental and emotional wellbeing

- It would be a true, brotherly statement to Damar - his life and health is more important than the game.

 

Something terrible happened last night. We can't make all outcomes be good.

 

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

[BarleyNY]

52 minutes ago, DapperCam said:

It’s possible they did and the team or NFLPA pushed back. Pure speculation and we’ll never know for sure.

Definitely a possibility. The report I heard talked about the NFL speaking with the teams and NFLPA among others before making their decision. I think there’s still a real chance the game gets completed. 

[RoyBatty is alive]

14 minutes ago, Virgil said:

 

Have that conversation when it happens.  Why is there a rush on everything else?  It hasn't even been 24 hours

Because life goes on and not everyone has to crawl into a fetal position sucking their thumbs when bad things happen.

 

What do you think Bil Belichek is doing?  Do you think he is having sensitivity training for his players, or is he plotting how to exploit this tragedy to his benefit?

[Bob Jones]

I read either in this thread or another thread in here that NFL rules and bylaws MANDATE that the league commissioner must reschedule this game so it can be resumed. Is this not true? Not seeing much discussion about this in here.

[Rochesterfan]

1 hour ago, YoloinOhio said:

Can’t really push to Monday or Tuesday. Then you are putting teams at a rest disadvantage for the playoffs.

Agreed - especially since it impacts not just the Bills and NE, but potentially the Jets, Miami, and Pittsburgh and who plays when and who plays whom.

 

 

[ehfeuh57]

15 minutes ago, BillsSbSoon said:

Honestly we should probably just forfeit. It’s not fair to cincy 

 

NFLPA agreed to postpone. They did not agree to postpone and give only the Bills a loss.

 

It's only a forfeit of they reschedule the game and we choose to not take the field at that date.

[Kiva]

5 minutes ago, RochesterLifer said:

I agree with this. It would be honorable in a number of ways:

- Cincinnati; the coach, the team, the city, was selfless in their concern for Damar and the Bills. Give them the W and say thank you.

- It would show our players that we care about their mental and emotional wellbeing

- It would be a true, brotherly statement to Damar - his life and health is more important than the game.

 

Something terrible happened last night. We can't make all outcomes be good.

No. This is not a possibility. We will not forfeit. Only solution is for the nfl to make up the game.

[Success]

17 minutes ago, BillsSbSoon said:

Honestly we should probably just forfeit. It’s not fair to cincy 

 

What happened yesterday was the choice of both teams and coaches, from what I understand.  I don't think Cincy's players could have gone through w/ the game either.

 

Just because it was a Bills player doesn't mean the Bills have 100% ownership of the situation.  I think whatever happens should be equitable at least between the 2 teams.

 

[stevewin]

38 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

From a pure football perspective, the only positive is that they are playing a team that they already prepared for once this year and have played 3  times in the last 12.5 months. 

And has Mac Jones as QB

[TBBills]

2 minutes ago, Kiva said:

No. This is not a possibility. We will not forfeit. Only solution is for the nfl to make up the game.

I think it will be more the Bills Bengals playing for #2/3 seed with smallest chance for #1 in week 18.

Edited January 3, 2023 by TBBills

[YoloinOhio]

Something I just thought of as it pertains to the “bye week” part of the 1 seed, specifically the value of the time off. The Bills essentially will have played less than a quarter of football in 15 days, between 12/24 and 1/8. So while they still practiced for 3 days, the one concern some had about getting the 1 seed had to do with their early bye week and having a chance to recoup with injuries  before the playoffs. They don’t have that exact advantage and would need to play a wild card game, but all is not totally lost out of the value of the 1 seed as it relates to that one specific thing (if they don’t get it).

[PatsFanNH]

1 minute ago, stevewin said:

And has Mac Jones as QB

Worse, has Matt Patricia as OC.. 🤮 

 

like I said  the Bills could beat my Pats on their worse day.. My one concern is the potential someone getting badly hurt because their head wasn’t in the game. I am guessing Football just like hockey, and if you’re not 100% focused you could get seriously hurt.. and I don’t want see that again for any team! Especially not your Bills having it happen 2 weeks in a row.. hopefully the coaches on the Bills can see the players who shouldn’t play and sit them.. 

[dave mcbride]

3 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

Something I just thought of as it pertains to the “bye week” part of the 1 seed, specifically the value of the time off. The Bills essentially will have played less than a quarter of football in 15 days, between 12/24 and 1/8. So while they still practiced for 3 days, the one concern some had about getting the 1 seed had to do with their early bye week and having a chance to recoup with injuries  before the playoffs. They don’t have that exact advantage and would need to play a wild card game, but all is not totally lost out of the value of the 1 seed as it relates to that one specific thing (if they don’t get it).

That only matters if they avoid injuries in their “bye” week. That obviously is not the case with the Bills.

[PatsFanNH]

23 minutes ago, The Red King said:

 

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.

There is no player on either team who would want that deciding their fate! 

[Boatdrinks]

13 minutes ago, RoyBatty is alive said:

Because life goes on and not everyone has to crawl into a fetal position sucking their thumbs when bad things happen.

 

What do you think Bil Belichek is doing?  Do you think he is having sensitivity training for his players, or is he plotting how to exploit this tragedy to his benefit?

BB isn’t plotting how to exploit a tragedy. He’s trying to figure out how the hell his team is going to have a chance to win vs Josh Allen. Early forecast is 38 degrees and partly cloudy. Maybe if the Bills rest their starters but I don’t see that happening. 

[The Red King]

2 minutes ago, PatsFanNH said:

There is no player on either team who would want that deciding their fate! 

 

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?