ADVERTISEMENT

NFL Playoff Seedings If the Bills and Bengals Do Not Play

C

College#19

Senior
Gold Member
Feb 2, 2011
6,603
4,261
113
First and Foremost, thank god Hamlin is still with us and it sounds like he has a chance to make a full recovery. I do think the NFL did the right thing is not playing last night.

Anybody think they know exactly how the Seedings will be impacted if the Bills and Bengals do not play. I just don't see how they play the game at this point because neither teams nor the players association is going to want to play 3 games in 2 weeks at this point in the season.

KC seems like they will get the one seed if they beat the Raiders because they will have one more win than the Bills

Buffalo seems like they will get the two seed if they beat the Patriots because they will have one more win than the Bengals

The Bengals might of clinched the AFC North because even if they lose to Baltimore their winning percentage will be better than the Ravens. But the Ravens would of won equal amount of games and beat the Bengals head to head twice. Not sure how this works.

There is no precedent for Playoff Seedings when two of the top teams did not play equal amount of games.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JasonRDunn
I don't know how you can penalize them or claim a tie because that has major implications for the entire playoff. It shifts home field advantage and an extra bye into the next round. Cinci isn't so much affected as it's a matter of 2 or 3 but the Bills absolutely are. To me, you either count it as a win for both with an asterisk beside it or you play the game.
 
  • Like
Reactions: vhcat70
Weird spot for the Bengals. A no contest wins them the division but likely takes them out of the 2 seed contention. So one one hand they at least clinch the AFC North and get a home playoff game but then they’d have to go to Buffalo and KC as a likely path to the Super Bowl. The NFL has some tough decisions to make.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JC CATS and sjjones
It is going to be interesting to see what the NFL does with seedings because there is absolutely no precedent for this and in looking at the NFL tie breakers I wasn't able to find anything about playing one less game
 
College#19 said:
It is going to be interesting to see what the NFL does with seedings because there is absolutely no precedent for this and in looking at the NFL tie breakers I wasn't able to find anything about playing one less game
Click to expand...
I think in that case the only teams that a tie breaker would be necessary for would be the Bengals and Bills. The standings are based on win percentage so if teams have played 1 more or 1 fewer game, they can’t tie.
 
NFL rescheduled all kinds of games during Covid year. Don’t see why they can’t move schedules around to find an appropriate time to play….unless both teams agree to a tie or Bills forfeit.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JasonRDunn
I haven’t even seen any potential solutions from any reporter or credentialed person on Twitter or anything. Just fans like us wondering. That makes me think this game isn’t going to get played.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Girthang
Profootballtalk posted the League Office said the game if it is played has to be done within the next 2 days and the Bengals and Bills final games would be moved to Monday to give them an extra day. Similar schedule to those teams that play on Sunday and then on a Thursday. But no decisions have been made
 
College#19 said:
Profootballtalk posted the League Office said the game if it is played has to be done within the next 2 days and the Bengals and Bills final games would be moved to Monday to give them an extra day. Similar schedule to those teams that play on Sunday and then on a Thursday. But no decisions have been made
Click to expand...
That was what I was guessing.
 
Now Profootballtalk just posted the NFL is saying the game will not resume this week and the NFL will decide at a later date on what to do. Sounds like maybe the NFL wants the other games to play out and see how things stand
 
College#19 said:
Now Profootballtalk just posted the NFL is saying the game will not resume this week and the NFL will decide at a later date on what to do. Sounds like maybe the NFL wants the other games to play out and see how things stand
Click to expand...
Perhaps, but then the rest of the league is in limbo until Sunday about whether or not they have playoff games the next week? The Ravens need to know before Sunday whether or not their game has any bearing on winning the division or not. I’m sure that will impact whether or not they try to play Lamar.
 
JBHolmesfan said:
Perhaps, but then the rest of the league is in limbo until Sunday about whether or not they have playoff games the next week? The Ravens need to know before Sunday whether or not their game has any bearing on winning the division or not. I’m sure that will impact whether or not they try to play Lamar.
Click to expand...
The NFL is allowing for a "worst case" outcome, you know they have as much info as possible.
 
OR let KC have the number one seed, Buffalo/Cincinnati keep the 2/3, but IF they were to meet in the Divisional Round, they play a neutral site game in Pittsburgh. Tickets split 50/50.

Assuming all three take care of business this weekend.
 
I don’t think the bills should have to forfeit either, but you can’t just throw the game out and call it a tie. It was 7-3 and the bengals were driving to go up 14-3. You can’t say oh it’s a tie - by the way bengals you’ll need to go beat Kc at KC and beat Buffalo at Buffalo to get back to the super bowl. That can not happen
 
barbourfor3 said:
I don’t think the bills should have to forfeit either, but you can’t just throw the game out and call it a tie. It was 7-3 and the bengals were driving to go up 14-3. You can’t say oh it’s a tie - by the way bengals you’ll need to go beat Kc at KC and beat Buffalo at Buffalo to get back to the super bowl. That can not happen
Click to expand...

Well they aren't rescheduling it this week so idk what's gonna happen. They won at TN and at KC last season so the bengals can do it again if need be with Buffalo and kc.
 
SaltyCat22 said:
OR let KC have the number one seed, Buffalo/Cincinnati keep the 2/3, but IF they were to meet in the Divisional Round, they play a neutral site game in Pittsburgh. Tickets split 50/50.

Assuming all three take care of business this weekend.
Click to expand...
And 20 percent of gate is donated to the “Get hit in chest, but have no heart attack” research fund.
 
SaltyCat22 said:
OR let KC have the number one seed, Buffalo/Cincinnati keep the 2/3, but IF they were to meet in the Divisional Round, they play a neutral site game in Pittsburgh. Tickets split 50/50.

Assuming all three take care of business this weekend.
Click to expand...
Lol let them have a one seed? No. Bills beat them. That’s home field advantage and an automatic bye. No way.
 
VaxxedObamaCat said:
Lol let them have a one seed? No. Bills beat them. That’s home field advantage and an automatic bye. No way.
Click to expand...
Cincinnati beat Kansas City too.

And doesn’t matter, Buffalo had no shot Monday Night. You’re high if you think the Bills are winning that one.
 
SaltyCat22 said:
Give Cincinnati the win 7-3 or by forfeit 2-0. There are things more important than football so the Bills won’t complain, they’ll understand.

Then we’ll just have a rematch fair and square in Cincinnati for the playoffs.
Click to expand...
Read an article y'day that went through the NFL rules that cover various scenarios ... and those are two things that definitely won't happen. The Commish has very limited power to declare forfeits and they mainly involve situations where teams refuse to play. And they definitely won't just give a team a win when there is any remote chance that the outcome isn't certain ... and with an entire game to still be played, that's definitely the case here.
 
maysvilleky said:
NFL rescheduled all kinds of games during Covid year. Don’t see why they can’t move schedules around to find an appropriate time to play….unless both teams agree to a tie or Bills forfeit.
Click to expand...
Difference there is that they had an entire season and schedules with byes to work with. Here they only have one week to work with before the playoffs and everyone has a game scheduled already.
 
I believe they will have to play the game at some point. The lawsuits from the players for playing the number of games in their contract will be less than the millions tied directly to the outcome of the game for the owners and local businesses.

No way I would silently accept the game isn't played if I am The Bengals owner.

Wait until they try to change the rules some more to prevent something that has never happened before in the NFL from happening again.
 
SaltyCat22 said:
Cincinnati beat Kansas City too.

And doesn’t matter, Buffalo had no shot Monday Night. You’re high if you think the Bills are winning that one.
Click to expand...
Lol It was 7-3 in the first quarter. Yes, I think the Bills are better than the Bengals.

And Cinci doesn’t have a chance at a one seed so this doesn’t matter to them. They weren’t getting a bye. So the Bills should not have to concede home field advantage to the Chiefs simply cause the game got canceled.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: barbourfor3
Cincy very much has a chance at a one seed, and at least a 2 - they were driving to go up 14-3 not sure why you seem to think the Bills should just be handed the number one seed, it’s ridiculous. Even if they don’t get a one seed the two seed is very much in play, probable actually. That would avoid trips to Buffalo and KC
 
barbourfor3 said:
Cincy very much has a chance at a one seed, and at least a 2 - they were driving to go up 14-3 not sure why you seem to think the Bills should just be handed the number one seed, it’s ridiculous. Even if they don’t get a one seed the two seed is very much in play, probable actually. That would avoid trips to Buffalo and KC
Click to expand...
I think the Bills and Bengals should play; not be "handed" a one seed. They already have a win over KC as does Cinci but with another loss. Cinci would need for KC to lose to the Raiders in addition to a Bengals win over the Bills to get the one seed and that's not happening.

And you were at your own 39 yard line. That's a big leap to think you're just automatically going to score another TD there. The Bills are top four in total yards and top five in ppg. They would have put up points and yards against a mid-tier defense of the Bengals.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: PhattyJ4UK
It’s not a big leap at all, they were averaging about 8 yards a play - granted it was early but nothing I saw in that game up to that point looked like they weren’t gonna score. They weren’t at the 39 yard line either, they’d crossed mid field when the injury occurred.

You said the bengals had no chance at a one seed, that’s absolutely incorrect, but really beside the point. They DID have a strong shot at the two seed, which would avoid them from having to play at Buffalo and at KC, this is important.
 
barbourfor3 said:
It’s not a big leap at all, they were averaging about 8 yards a play - granted it was early but nothing I saw in that game up to that point looked like they weren’t gonna score. They weren’t at the 39 yard line either, they’d crossed mid field when the injury occurred.

You said the bengals had no chance at a one seed, that’s absolutely incorrect, but really beside the point. They DID have a strong shot at the two seed, which would avoid them from having to play at Buffalo and at KC, this is important.
Click to expand...
Then we are in agreement the game should be played.

And yes, judging an outcome of a game with six minutes left in the first quarter is a huge leap. Burrow could throw a pick-six right there on that drive and it's 10-7. You can't tell anything about a game with one and a half offensive possessions versus one offensive possession. It's like judging a basketball game with 13 minutes left in the first half and it being 16-12.
 
JBHolmesfan said:
I haven’t even seen any potential solutions from any reporter or credentialed person on Twitter or anything. Just fans like us wondering. That makes me think this game isn’t going to get played.
Click to expand...

Yep.
 
wildcatknh said:
Read an article y'day that went through the NFL rules that cover various scenarios ... and those are two things that definitely won't happen. The Commish has very limited power to declare forfeits and they mainly involve situations where teams refuse to play. And they definitely won't just give a team a win when there is any remote chance that the outcome isn't certain ... and with an entire game to still be played, that's definitely the case here.
Click to expand...

It's not a forfeit as much as it is who was winning when the game was called. The whole situation sucks, but aside from playing tonight or tomorrow, that's the only one because of contractual issues with the rest. Bengals were up 4 points with the ball when the game was called. That's the only measure you can go by.

I'm not a Bengals fan nor a Bill's fan. It just seems the most logical way to call things at this point.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Phil_The_Music


So stupid

I saw another media report that they were considering a random generated system where it randomly picked which game to remove from consideration for the Chiefs to judge all three teams winning percentage with the same amount of games.

That’s why the only logical solution was to resume the game on Wednesday or push everything back a week. Everything else is going to involve someone being screwed by outside sources and not having it determined on the field.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Girthang
The bottom line is...the Bengals got screwed in this.

Basically, the NFL's "tweaks" treated the canceled game like it was a Bengals loss.

In no scenario did they get any favors. The Bills got a few outcomes that at least hedged against what they "lost."
 
The NFL can't do anything unless they make it more complicated than it is and screw over the smaller market team. Fk em. Doesn't matter cause everyone will still watch the games and reward the league offices.
 
What an absolute load of BS! The Chiefs get the No. 1 seed simply because the NFL canceled the game? So the Bills and Bengals game is now treated as a loss for both teams. And now we have a neutral site championship game simply because the NFL doesn't want to do the right thing and resume the game or push things back a few days.

I loathe the Chiefs. They constantly benefit from officiating carrying them and now are getting it again.
 
The game should have been played Tuesday. This is their job and what they are paid to do. I have had a guy I worked next to die and the next day they let us know and guess what, we kept working. Life goes on with work. I am happy the guy is doing better but this is a business and game could have been played Tuesday.
 
UKWildcats1987 said:
The game should have been played Tuesday. This is their job and what they are paid to do. I have had a guy I worked next to die and the next day they let us know and guess what, we kept working. Life goes on with work. I am happy the guy is doing better but this is a business and game could have been played Tuesday.
Click to expand...
See, it's so insanely insensitive to make the Bills play a day or two after Hamlin collapsed but it's not insensitive for them to play six days after. So, basically grief is just a few days. LOL

There's no logic and of course the NFL messed it up and I'm sure the Chiefs will find a way to the Super Bowl now and avoid Buffalo/Cinci til the title game.
 
VaxxedObamaCat said:
See, it's so insanely insensitive to make the Bills play a day or two after Hamlin collapsed but it's not insensitive for them to play six days after. So, basically grief is just a few days. LOL

There's no logic and of course the NFL messed it up and I'm sure the Chiefs will find a way to the Super Bowl now and avoid Buffalo/Cinci til the title game.
Click to expand...

Yeah, there is no logic. Chiefs are good at choking other than the year my titans ran into them of course.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

gamalielkid

Will the rumored new playoff plan save the ACC and Big 12?

Replies
10
Views
1K
Wildcat Lair - Football Forum
gamalielkid
gamalielkid
gamalielkid

Regarding 9 conference Game schedule

Replies
28
Views
1K
Wildcat Lair - Football Forum
Grumpyolddawg
G
C

We lose in second game if….

Replies
76
Views
3K
Rupp Rafters - Basketball Forum
CatPhight
CatPhight
gamalielkid

A playoff plan that could save the ACC and be good for All?

Replies
27
Views
826
The House of Blue
HoptownCat93
HoptownCat93
W

Prayers for Scott Drew and Family

Replies
5
Views
1K
Rupp Rafters - Basketball Forum
shakestheclown564
S
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest posts

ADVERTISEMENT
Top Bottom
Back