Update (1/5/23): MNF Bills/Bengals game will not be resumed, per the Associated Press

[csmopar]

Per nfl dot com the game will remain suspended this week. League will determine after next Monday whether to finish the game  or not. 
 

 

my guess is they’re gonna see if it would even affect the playoff picture to call it a tie or whatever 

[chad72]

I totally understand but I don't agree in the name of lack of fairness to both teams unless the plan is to scrap the Pro Bowl week and play it then. It is not between two teams out of the playoffs, it will have repercussions if it is called a tie handing HFA to the Chiefs.

 

A tie will also give the Bills a No.2 seeding and the Bengals will stay at No.3 without a chance for the No.2 or No.1 seeding whatsoever. Bills are the ones that lose out the most in the case of a tie and both teams will play a wild card game as a result since only the Bills could have come out with HFA with a win in this game since the Bengals would have been in a wild card game anyways, assuming Chiefs, Bills and Bengals win their last game but Bengals could have hosted the Bills as opposed to the other way if they met up in the divisional round.

[csmopar]

1 hour ago, chad72 said:

I totally understand but I don't agree in the name of lack of fairness to both teams unless the plan is to scrap the Pro Bowl week and play it then. It is not between two teams out of the playoffs, it will have repercussions if it is called a tie handing HFA to the Chiefs.

 

A tie will also give the Bills a No.2 seeding and the Bengals will stay at No.3 without a chance for the No.2 or No.1 seeding whatsoever. Bills are the ones that lose out the most in the case of a tie and both teams will play a wild card game as a result since only the Bills could have come out with HFA with a win in this game since the Bengals would have been in a wild card game anyways, assuming Chiefs, Bills and Bengals win their last game but Bengals could have hosted the Bills as opposed to the other way if they met up in the divisional round. No way the NFLPA goes for having two games within 3 days of each other

The problem is when do you play it? It’ll have to be after week 18 and before the wildcard round. 

[chad72]

13 minutes ago, csmopar said:

The problem is when do you play it? It’ll have to be after week 18 and before the wildcard round. 

They should just hand out bye weeks for all wild card teams while giving 2 weeks for the No.1 seed that will not be determined till they play their game. Yeah, I am thinking a tie or handing both of them wins is the only logical thing they can do without hurting the schedule.

 

It is easy to say scrap the Pro Bowl week but there are lot of media, celebrities and folks that get there the first week of the SB. The NFL would then have to quantify and reimburse a SB host for lost revenue etc., very hard to do. The NFL is first and foremost about revenue and money and the players want a piece of that pie too, so you can't have a solution that makes everyone happy, that is why I doubt that first week of SB preparations gets scrapped.

[csmopar]

8 minutes ago, chad72 said:

They should just hand out bye weeks for all wild card teams while giving 2 weeks for the No.1 seed that will not be determined till they play their game. Yeah, I am thinking a tie or handing both of them wins is the only logical thing they can do without hurting the schedule.

 

It is easy to say scrap the Pro Bowl week but there are lot of media, celebrities and folks that get there the first week of the SB. The NFL would then have to quantify and reimburse a SB host for lost revenue etc., very hard to do. The NFL is first and foremost about revenue and money and the players want a piece of that pie too, so you can't have a solution that makes everyone happy, that is why I doubt that first week of SB preparations gets scrapped.

Handing them both wins makes it worse yet. Honestly, the only real solution is to call the game at the time of injury. Meaning bengals win.

 

handing byes kills revenue and such. I don’t see them doing that.

[csmopar]

@NFLfan could you change the title to the game will not be resumed at all. Per the Associated Press

 

 

league is still determining how to set the record for playoff seating

[sb41champs]

There are a lot of "moving pieces" to this unprecedented scenario.

 

Playoff standings and seeding.

 

Travel accommodations for the Buffalo Bills.

 

It will take some time to sort thru everything.

[NFLfan]

3 minutes ago, csmopar said:

@NFLfan could you change the title to the game will not be resumed at all. Per the Associated Press

 

 

league is still determining how to set the record for playoff seating

.

Does the title work?

[csmopar]

3 minutes ago, NFLfan said:

.

Does the title work?

Yep thank you very much

[Chrisaaron1023]

Wow crazy. So no more HFA.. will be a crazy postseason 

[RollerColt]

No solution was going to be perfect. This is such an unprecedented situation, so expect unprecedented decisions.

[NewColtsFan]

Good.   I think this is the right call. 
 

UPDATE:  A new article I just read (8:00) says the two teams will advance with their record from 16 games.   They are not giving each team a tie.   The NFL has simply eliminated one game for each team. 
 

I hope both Buffalo and Cincinnati are satisfied with the final outcome. 
 

As I mentioned in a previous post, sometimes there just isn’t a good solution.  There are only bad options.  So you try to pick the least bad one.   Regretfully,  this is a good example of that.    But I think the NFL has made the right call. 

[Myles]

Probably the best call they could make in this situation.  

Personally, I think they should have finished the game on Monday.  

[Chrisaaron1023]

1 hour ago, Myles said:

Probably the best call they could make in this situation.  

Personally, I think they should have finished the game on Monday.  

I get maybe not finishing Monday but definently Tuesday. But when i saw Buffalo go home that night I was like... ooookay why? 

 

This is going to be an interesting post season.. Image the number 1 seed having to play at a nuteral field. Or even Buffalo NOT having the Buffalo advantage.. oh well they made the best decision they could I guess lol

[Chrisaaron1023]

I was just talking to a co-worker of mine who's a Bills fan.. he thought they should push the playoffs back too. He said imagine the ratings that game would pull had they reseumed next week.

 

We also discussed a pretty probable divisional match up Bengals AT Bills.. man that's rough

[2006Coltsbestever]

10 minutes ago, Chrisaaron1023 said:

I was just talking to a co-worker of mine who's a Bills fan.. he thought they should push the playoffs back too. He said imagine the ratings that game would pull had they reseumed next week.

 

We also discussed a pretty probable divisional match up Bengals AT Bills.. man that's rough

Not having the redo/resume benefits the Bills as far as if they have to play the Bengals again because that game would be at Buffalo in the playoffs assuming both teams win this week. Problem is, Buffalo will still have to go to Arrowhead if that matchup happens.

[Chrisaaron1023]

7 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Not having the redo/resume benefits the Bills as far as if they have to play the Bengals again because that game would be at Buffalo in the playoffs assuming both teams win this week. Problem is, Buffalo will still have to go to Arrowhead if that matchup happens.

Well they are talking about going to the neutral site for the AFFCG if KC and Bills make it. So really the bengals are getting the biggest shaft having to go to Buffalo for the divional round, so IMO that game should be neutral site too if we are going this route of totally breaking down the AFC postseason

[chad72]

2 hours ago, Chrisaaron1023 said:

Well they are talking about going to the neutral site for the AFFCG if KC and Bills make it. So really the bengals are getting the biggest shaft having to go to Buffalo for the divional round, so IMO that game should be neutral site too if we are going this route of totally breaking down the AFC postseason

 

Absolutely. 

 

To be honest, you need to get to the AFCCG before all of this matters, that is the first premise, right? So, the Bengals who could have had a win over the Bills and been hosting the divisional round game are the ones, objectively speaking, got screwed the most. Not only do they go on the road vs the Bills for the divisional round game but IF they lose to the Ravens, they are at the mercy of a coin toss flip for whether they host the wild card game or not. In other words, the Bengals' upside is limited while the downside is worse compared to all the other teams here.

 

Objectively speaking, the Bengals are the ones that got the raw end of the deal the most here. The Bills are the ones that stand to gain the most from this. The Chiefs, half a dozen one way half a dozen another. Maybe, if they choose Indianapolis to host the AFCCG, Chiefs can exorcize some demons from the early part of the season. Or The Chiefs, assuming they beat the Raiders, hope for playing the Bengals in Arrowhead in the AFCCG because the Bengals could not get the #1 seed if the Chiefs beat the Raiders, period.

 

If they do choose to move on with this malarkey, they absolutely should play a potential Bills Bengals game at a neutral site. Otherwise, like with the changing OT rules, the League seems to be favoring Buffalo in its decisions. Otherwise, Bengals are at a huge disadvantage. Josh Allen is the new darling of the NFL. Like Joey Porter accused the league of wanting Peyton Manning to win a SB when they overturned a good INT from Polamalu in the 2005 playoff game, the league is slanting a few things towards the Bills and Josh Allen, at least for being the flavor of this season.  The league is thinking "hey, Mahomes has been to 2, Burrow has been to 1, now let us get Josh Allen there too, lol"

 

Like @crazycolt1 said, they should have just found a way to play this game Wednesday evening and moved the Bengals-Ravens and Bills-Patriots to Monday night and moved on.

[VikingsFanInChennai]

1 hour ago, chad72 said:

 

Absolutely. 

 

To be honest, you need to get to the AFCCG before all of this matters, that is the first premise, right? So, the Bengals who could have had a win over the Bills and been hosting the divisional round game are the ones, objectively speaking, got screwed the most. Not only do they go on the road vs the Bills for the divisional round game but IF they lose to the Ravens, they are at the mercy of a coin toss flip for whether they host the wild card game or not. In other words, the Bengals' upside is limited while the downside is worse compared to all the other teams here.

 

Objectively speaking, the Bengals are the ones that got the raw end of the deal the most here. The Bills are the ones that stand to gain the most from this. The Chiefs, half a dozen one way half a dozen another. Maybe, if they choose Indianapolis to host the AFCCG, Chiefs can exorcize some demons from the early part of the season. Or The Chiefs, assuming they beat the Raiders, hope for playing the Bengals in Arrowhead in the AFCCG because the Bengals could not get the #1 seed if the Chiefs beat the Raiders, period.

 

If they do choose to move on with this malarkey, they absolutely should play a potential Bills Bengals game at a neutral site. Otherwise, like with the changing OT rules, the League seems to be favoring Buffalo in its decisions. Otherwise, Bengals are at a huge disadvantage. Josh Allen is the new darling of the NFL. Like Joey Porter accused the league of wanting Peyton Manning to win a SB when they overturned a good INT from Polamalu in the 2005 playoff game, the league is slanting a few things towards the Bills and Josh Allen, at least for being the flavor of this season.  The league is thinking "hey, Mahomes has been to 2, Burrow has been to 1, now let us get Josh Allen there too, lol"

 

Like @crazycolt1 said, they should have just found a way to play this game Wednesday evening and moved the Bengals-Ravens and Bills-Patriots to Monday night and moved on.

I don't think so. 

 

At the end of week 15, Bills were 12-3 and had lost 3 games. 

 

Bengals were 11-4 and had lost 4 games. 

 

Josh Allen had nothing to do with the fact that Bengals couldn't match Bills or Chiefs record, when the unfortunate incident happened leading to Bills and Bengals not being able to have a result in week 16 game. 

 

As it is fair to have Cowboys ranked only the 5th seed after Tampa Bay even though they've 12-4 record, it's not like Cowboys got screwed because of Tom the Goat Brady. 

 

It's all fair game.

 

Bengals did very well to get to 11-4 after starting the season 0-2, winning 7 games in a row. 

 

So did the Bills, who after losing to Jets and Vikings, won 6 games in a row to get to 12-3.

 

In the end, when the Bills - Bengals game got cancelled, Bills have one fewer loss than the Bengals. In the same number of games played by both teams. 

 

That's all that matters. 

 

Teams having more losses get to go through tougher path to the Super Bowl (unless they are division winners of a bad performing division). That's how it should work.

 

It's tough, but that's the point. 

 

Good thing is either Burrow or Allen or Mahomes would relish such challenges. 

[teganslaw]

This NFL isn't used to this kind of situation. They did what they thought best, and no matter what they decided, some people won't like it. They can't please everyone, and others need to live with the results. 

 

Is it fair? I don't know, but things don't always go the way one expects. 

[crazycolt1]

15 hours ago, VikingsFanInChennai said:

Good thing is either Burrow or Allen or Mahomes would relish such challenges. 

It's not only the QBs that are effected.  There's quite a possibility of a home field advantage taken away and that effects a whole city. The fans and the city loses the funds. Now a neutral city may even take that away.  

Just saying. 

[SOMDColtsfan]

A simple coin toss determining a winner between Bengals - Bills Monday night would've been so much simpler. JS

[VikingsFanInChennai]

3 hours ago, crazycolt1 said:

It's not only the QBs that are effected.  There's quite a possibility of a home field advantage taken away and that effects a whole city. The fans and the city loses the funds. Now a neutral city may even take that away.  

Just saying. 

Agreed, but this kind of cancellation happens really rarely in the NFL, they very rarely have cancelled a game in the past, even during Covid times. 

 

If this same situation has happened early in the season, NFL would've easily accommodated one game but this had to happen so close to the playoff schedule. 

 

So, when such rarity happens, not much can be done about that, just have to take the losses and move on. 

 

The most important part is the player seems to be recovering and the league goes on, life goes on, everybody has to move on to finish the season and may the best team win. 

[chad72]

21 hours ago, VikingsFanInChennai said:

I don't think so. 

 

At the end of week 15, Bills were 12-3 and had lost 3 games. 

 

Bengals were 11-4 and had lost 4 games. 

 

Josh Allen had nothing to do with the fact that Bengals couldn't match Bills or Chiefs record, when the unfortunate incident happened leading to Bills and Bengals not being able to have a result in week 16 game. 

 

As it is fair to have Cowboys ranked only the 5th seed after Tampa Bay even though they've 12-4 record, it's not like Cowboys got screwed because of Tom the Goat Brady. 

 

It's all fair game.

 

Bengals did very well to get to 11-4 after starting the season 0-2, winning 7 games in a row. 

 

So did the Bills, who after losing to Jets and Vikings, won 6 games in a row to get to 12-3.

 

In the end, when the Bills - Bengals game got cancelled, Bills have one fewer loss than the Bengals. In the same number of games played by both teams. 

 

That's all that matters. 

 

Teams having more losses get to go through tougher path to the Super Bowl (unless they are division winners of a bad performing division). That's how it should work.

 

It's tough, but that's the point. 

 

Good thing is either Burrow or Allen or Mahomes would relish such challenges. 

I strongly disagree.

 

The neutral site for Buffalo for the AFCCG was based on the upside premise the Bills COULD have gotten the No.1 seed. The coin flip for the Ravens for the wild card game was based on the upside premise the Ravens COULD have won the division. 
 

Similarly a neutral site for the Bills- Bengals divisional round should be based on the upside premise that the Bengals COULD have gotten the No.2 seed.

 

Thats fair across the board based on the identical premises chosen for the Bills and Ravens. Very logical, IMO.

[chad72]

I do think they choose Nashville for the neutral site AFCCG if it’s Bills vs Chiefs