How will the NFL handle scheduling the remainder of football this year? (1 Viewer)

[Capella]

Of course the no brainer would be the home game over the bye. The extra game would be a home game slam dunk vs the 7th seed. That's why I think it's a dumb "solution".

Anytime you play you can lose but it KC plays say Pitt in round one they are probably 80% to win. If they go to Buffalo in round 3 they are probably 45% to win. If Buffalo comes to KC the Chiefs are probably 52% to win. Is absorbing a 20% chance at losing worth picking up a 7-9% chance of winning a game that may not even happen?

Yeah when you do the math the numbers are a lot closer than I thought. If you assume 80% win probability for g1 and 55% win probability for afc championship with home field vs 45% for afc championship on the road the numbers work out to about the same. .8x.55 = .44.

There ya go. It’ll be interesting to see what they choose if that becomes the option. I’d still take the home field advantage.

 

[belljr]

Game will not be made up

 

[Capella]

Setting aside the obvious horribleness Hamlin and the teams have gone through, this is a fascinating situation with the playoff scheduling.

 

[jobarules]

If Baltimore beats Cincy, they will flip a coin to see who hosts the AFC wild card game.

The AFC Championship game MAY be at a neutral site (depending on who is involved).

They are voting on both matters tomorrow.

 

[pokin]

The Bengals (unsurprisingly) got hosed. They basically have the exact result as if they had lost Monday night to the bills.

 

[karl.Racki]

If Baltimore beats Cincy, they will flip a coin to see who hosts the AFC wild card game.

The AFC Championship game MAY be at a neutral site (depending on who is involved).

They are voting on both matters tomorrow.

Ridiculous. NFL got to be one of the worst run leagues in the world.

 

[-OZ-]

In an effort to mitigate those inequities, NFL clubs will consider tomorrow in a Special League Meeting a resolution recommended by the Commissioner and approved today by the Competition Committee, consisting of two elements:
1 - The AFC Championship Game will be played at a neutral site if the participating teams played an unequal number of games and both could have been the number one seed and hosted the game had all AFC clubs played a full 17-game regular season. Those circumstances involve Buffalo or Cincinnati qualifying for the game as a road team and are listed below:

Scenario 1

Buffalo and Kansas City both win or both tie – a Buffalo vs Kansas City championship game would be at a neutral site.
Scenario 2
Buffalo and Kansas City both lose and Baltimore wins or ties – a Buffalo vs Kansas City championship game would be at a neutral site.
Scenario 3
Buffalo and Kansas City both lose and Cincinnati wins – a Buffalo or Cincinnati vs Kansas City championship game would be at a neutral site.
2 - If Baltimore defeats Cincinnati in Week 18 it will have defeated Cincinnati, a divisional opponent, twice but will not be able to host a playoff game because Cincinnati will have a higher winning percentage for a 16-game schedule than Baltimore will for a 17-game schedule.
If Baltimore defeats Cincinnati and if those two clubs are schedule to play a Wild Card game against one another, the site for that game would be determined by a coin toss. If Cincinnati wins the Week 18 game or if Baltimore and Cincinnati are not scheduled to play one another in the Wild Card round, the game sites would be determined by the regular scheduling procedures.
"As we considered the football schedule, our principles have been to limit disruption across the league and minimize competitive inequities," Goodell said. "I recognize that there is no perfect solution. The proposal we are asking the ownership to consider, however, addresses the most significant potential equitable issues created by the difficult, but necessary, decision not to play the game under these extraordinary circumstances."

 

[jobarules]

The Bengals (unsurprisingly) got hosed. They basically have the exact result as if they had lost Monday night to the bills.

Not really. If they lost to the Bills and lost to Baltimore they'd be going on the road. This solution is basically saying the results of the game vs Buffalo was a coinflip which is basically true.

 

[Grigs Allmoon]

The Bengals (unsurprisingly) got hosed. They basically have the exact result as if they had lost Monday night to the bills.

So do the Bills.

 

[amnesiac]

 

[jabarony]

The Bengals (unsurprisingly) got hosed. They basically have the exact result as if they had lost Monday night to the bills.

So do the Bills.

So did the Chiefs. They've had to play 1 more game than than those 2.

 

[pokin]

The Bengals (unsurprisingly) got hosed. They basically have the exact result as if they had lost Monday night to the bills.

Not really. If they lost to the Bills and lost to Baltimore they'd be going on the road. This solution is basically saying the results of the game vs Buffalo was a coinflip which is basically true.

If the bengals had lost the bills game:
1.Locked into the 3 seed
2.Can’t overtake KC
3.Would have to beat Bal to win the division

If the Bengals had won the Bills game:
1.Would have been the 2 seed
2.Had a shot at the 1 seed depending on the KC outcome in week 18.
3.would have clinched the AFC North

Current proposal:
1.Will get the 3 seed unless Bills lose week 18
2. No scenario where they can be ahead of KC even if KC loses
3.Have to beat BAL to get the home playoff game that usually comes with a division win.

The current proposal is the exact same as a loss would have been with the tiny added benefit of a coin toss to determine where the wildcard game would be played even though the Bengals would be “division winners” and I’m assuming get the tougher 1st place schedule next year.

 

[pokin]

The Bengals (unsurprisingly) got hosed. They basically have the exact result as if they had lost Monday night to the bills.

So do the Bills.

If the Bills had lost Monday they would have been the 3 seed. With this proposal as long as they beat the Patriots they will be the 2 seed.

 

[IHEARTFF]

I must have missed it, but how do the 11-4 bengals not win the division over the 10-6 ravens regardless?

 

[jobarules]

The Bengals (unsurprisingly) got hosed. They basically have the exact result as if they had lost Monday night to the bills.

Not really. If they lost to the Bills and lost to Baltimore they'd be going on the road. This solution is basically saying the results of the game vs Buffalo was a coinflip which is basically true.

If the bengals had lost the bills game:
1.Locked into the 3 seed
2.Can’t overtake KC
3.Would have to beat Bal to win the division

If the Bengals had won the Bills game:
1.Would have been the 2 seed
2.Had a shot at the 1 seed depending on the KC outcome in week 18.
3.would have clinched the AFC North

Current proposal:
1.Will get the 3 seed unless Bills lose week 18
2. No scenario where they can be ahead of KC even if KC loses
3.Have to beat BAL to get the home playoff game that usually comes with a division win.

The current proposal is the exact same as a loss would have been with the tiny added benefit of a coin toss to determine where the wildcard game would be played even though the Bengals would be “division winners” and I’m assuming get the tougher 1st place schedule next year.

If the Bengals had lost vs Buffalo....

If they beat Baltimore they win the division and host WC game.
If they lose to Baltimore they lose the division and go on the road in the WC game.

Instead, now if they lose to Baltimore, there's a coin flip to determine who hosts the WC game.

It's not the same as of they lost vs Buffalo.

 

[jobarules]

I must have missed it, but how do the 11-4 bengals not win the division over the 10-6 ravens regardless?

They're basically saying if Baltimore beats Cincy they'd be half a game behind Cincy (and having held the tie breaker) it's not fair Cincy only played 16 games.

Yeah it's not perfect but no solution would be perfect.

 

[belljr]

The Bengals (unsurprisingly) got hosed. They basically have the exact result as if they had lost Monday night to the bills.

Not really. If they lost to the Bills and lost to Baltimore they'd be going on the road. This solution is basically saying the results of the game vs Buffalo was a coinflip which is basically true.

If the bengals had lost the bills game:
1.Locked into the 3 seed
2.Can’t overtake KC
3.Would have to beat Bal to win the division

If the Bengals had won the Bills game:
1.Would have been the 2 seed
2.Had a shot at the 1 seed depending on the KC outcome in week 18.
3.would have clinched the AFC North

Current proposal:
1.Will get the 3 seed unless Bills lose week 18
2. No scenario where they can be ahead of KC even if KC loses
3.Have to beat BAL to get the home playoff game that usually comes with a division win.

The current proposal is the exact same as a loss would have been with the tiny added benefit of a coin toss to determine where the wildcard game would be played even though the Bengals would be “division winners” and I’m assuming get the tougher 1st place schedule next year.

Your current proposal #3 is now a coin flip if they lose

 

[Ministry of Pain]

In an effort to mitigate those inequities, NFL clubs will consider tomorrow in a Special League Meeting a resolution recommended by the Commissioner and approved today by the Competition Committee, consisting of two elements:
1 - The AFC Championship Game will be played at a neutral site if the participating teams played an unequal number of games and both could have been the number one seed and hosted the game had all AFC clubs played a full 17-game regular season. Those circumstances involve Buffalo or Cincinnati qualifying for the game as a road team and are listed below:

Scenario 1

Buffalo and Kansas City both win or both tie – a Buffalo vs Kansas City championship game would be at a neutral site.
Scenario 2
Buffalo and Kansas City both lose and Baltimore wins or ties – a Buffalo vs Kansas City championship game would be at a neutral site.
Scenario 3
Buffalo and Kansas City both lose and Cincinnati wins – a Buffalo or Cincinnati vs Kansas City championship game would be at a neutral site.
2 - If Baltimore defeats Cincinnati in Week 18 it will have defeated Cincinnati, a divisional opponent, twice but will not be able to host a playoff game because Cincinnati will have a higher winning percentage for a 16-game schedule than Baltimore will for a 17-game schedule.
If Baltimore defeats Cincinnati and if those two clubs are schedule to play a Wild Card game against one another, the site for that game would be determined by a coin toss. If Cincinnati wins the Week 18 game or if Baltimore and Cincinnati are not scheduled to play one another in the Wild Card round, the game sites would be determined by the regular scheduling procedures.
"As we considered the football schedule, our principles have been to limit disruption across the league and minimize competitive inequities," Goodell said. "I recognize that there is no perfect solution. The proposal we are asking the ownership to consider, however, addresses the most significant potential equitable issues created by the difficult, but necessary, decision not to play the game under these extraordinary circumstances."

I got a headache reading this after a bit, I applaud you for doing this
I thought I heard they might expand to 8 teams for the Playoffs this year

 

[IHEARTFF]

I must have missed it, but how do the 11-4 bengals not win the division over the 10-6 ravens regardless?

They're basically saying if Baltimore beats Cincy they'd be half a game behind Cincy (and having held the tie breaker) it's not fair Cincy only played 16 games.

Yeah it's not perfect but no solution would be perfect.

Weird. I guess the only reasonable thing about Cincy’s scenario is they would be trying to beat Baltimore regardless of whether they won or lost to Buffalo. Had they won l, they would be working on 2 or maybe even the 1 seed. had they lost, they would be ensuring they win the division.

 

[pokin]

The Bengals (unsurprisingly) got hosed. They basically have the exact result as if they had lost Monday night to the bills.

Not really. If they lost to the Bills and lost to Baltimore they'd be going on the road. This solution is basically saying the results of the game vs Buffalo was a coinflip which is basically true.

If the bengals had lost the bills game:
1.Locked into the 3 seed
2.Can’t overtake KC
3.Would have to beat Bal to win the division

If the Bengals had won the Bills game:
1.Would have been the 2 seed
2.Had a shot at the 1 seed depending on the KC outcome in week 18.
3.would have clinched the AFC North

Current proposal:
1.Will get the 3 seed unless Bills lose week 18
2. No scenario where they can be ahead of KC even if KC loses
3.Have to beat BAL to get the home playoff game that usually comes with a division win.

The current proposal is the exact same as a loss would have been with the tiny added benefit of a coin toss to determine where the wildcard game would be played even though the Bengals would be “division winners” and I’m assuming get the tougher 1st place schedule next year.

If the Bengals had lost vs Buffalo....

If they beat Baltimore they win the division and host WC game.
If they lose to Baltimore they lose the division and go on the road in the WC game.

Instead, now if they lose to Baltimore, there's a coin flip to determine who hosts the WC game.

It's not the same as of they lost vs Buffalo.

It’s awfully close and in my (admittedly biased) opinion the Bengals are by far the most negatively impacted team from a competitive balance perspective.

 

[jobarules]

The Bengals (unsurprisingly) got hosed. They basically have the exact result as if they had lost Monday night to the bills.

Not really. If they lost to the Bills and lost to Baltimore they'd be going on the road. This solution is basically saying the results of the game vs Buffalo was a coinflip which is basically true.

If the bengals had lost the bills game:
1.Locked into the 3 seed
2.Can’t overtake KC
3.Would have to beat Bal to win the division

If the Bengals had won the Bills game:
1.Would have been the 2 seed
2.Had a shot at the 1 seed depending on the KC outcome in week 18.
3.would have clinched the AFC North

Current proposal:
1.Will get the 3 seed unless Bills lose week 18
2. No scenario where they can be ahead of KC even if KC loses
3.Have to beat BAL to get the home playoff game that usually comes with a division win.

The current proposal is the exact same as a loss would have been with the tiny added benefit of a coin toss to determine where the wildcard game would be played even though the Bengals would be “division winners” and I’m assuming get the tougher 1st place schedule next year.

If the Bengals had lost vs Buffalo....

If they beat Baltimore they win the division and host WC game.
If they lose to Baltimore they lose the division and go on the road in the WC game.

Instead, now if they lose to Baltimore, there's a coin flip to determine who hosts the WC game.

It's not the same as of they lost vs Buffalo.

It’s awfully close and in my (admittedly biased) opinion the Bengals are by far the most negatively impacted team from a competitive balance perspective.

50% is not awfully close

If they lost to both Buf and Bal they'd have 0% chance of hosting WC game. Now if they lose to Bal they have 50% chance of hosting WC game.

IMO Buffalo is the most negatively impacted because they controlled their own destiny for a bye AND home field advantage and now they probably won't have either.

 

[Cobbler1]

The Bengals (unsurprisingly) got hosed. They basically have the exact result as if they had lost Monday night to the bills.

Not really. If they lost to the Bills and lost to Baltimore they'd be going on the road. This solution is basically saying the results of the game vs Buffalo was a coinflip which is basically true.

If the bengals had lost the bills game:
1.Locked into the 3 seed
2.Can’t overtake KC
3.Would have to beat Bal to win the division

If the Bengals had won the Bills game:
1.Would have been the 2 seed
2.Had a shot at the 1 seed depending on the KC outcome in week 18.
3.would have clinched the AFC North

Current proposal:
1.Will get the 3 seed unless Bills lose week 18
2. No scenario where they can be ahead of KC even if KC loses
3.Have to beat BAL to get the home playoff game that usually comes with a division win.

The current proposal is the exact same as a loss would have been with the tiny added benefit of a coin toss to determine where the wildcard game would be played even though the Bengals would be “division winners” and I’m assuming get the tougher 1st place schedule next year.

If the Bengals had lost vs Buffalo....

If they beat Baltimore they win the division and host WC game.
If they lose to Baltimore they lose the division and go on the road in the WC game.

Instead, now if they lose to Baltimore, there's a coin flip to determine who hosts the WC game.

It's not the same as of they lost vs Buffalo.

It’s awfully close and in my (admittedly biased) opinion the Bengals are by far the most negatively impacted team from a competitive balance perspective.

Going from 0% shot at division champs with a loss to 50% shot at winning the division is most certainly not awfully close.

 

[houston]

(3) Cincy having to go on the road to (2) Buffalo in the second round should have been mentioned with some thoughts on fixing. Not sure why they are admitting that home field potentially wasn’t earned for the championship game but not worrying about in the second round.

 

[IHEARTFF]

(3) Cincy having to go on the road to (2) Buffalo in the second round should have been mentioned with some thoughts on fixing. Not sure why they are admitting that home field potentially wasn’t earned for the championship game but not worrying about in the second round.

Agreed

 

[jobarules]

(3) Cincy having to go on the road to (2) Buffalo in the second round should have been mentioned with some thoughts on fixing. Not sure why they are admitting that home field potentially wasn’t earned for the championship game but not worrying about in the second round.

I think it's because both teams played 16 games

 

[houston]

(3) Cincy having to go on the road to (2) Buffalo in the second round should have been mentioned with some thoughts on fixing. Not sure why they are admitting that home field potentially wasn’t earned for the championship game but not worrying about in the second round.

Agreed

Wonder if they realize and address when the final records and seeds are set.

 

[houston]

(3) Cincy having to go on the road to (2) Buffalo in the second round should have been mentioned with some thoughts on fixing. Not sure why they are admitting that home field potentially wasn’t earned for the championship game but not worrying about in the second round.

I think it's because both teams played 16 games

I can buy that. But tough to ignore that their game with each other didn’t happen.

 

[Capella]

(3) Cincy having to go on the road to (2) Buffalo in the second round should have been mentioned with some thoughts on fixing. Not sure why they are admitting that home field potentially wasn’t earned for the championship game but not worrying about in the second round.

I think it's because both teams played 16 games

Right. You can’t award Cincy an advantage when they played the same amount of games and have one more loss. Or even if they both end up with 4 you have tiebreakers you can apply.

 

[jobarules]

(3) Cincy having to go on the road to (2) Buffalo in the second round should have been mentioned with some thoughts on fixing. Not sure why they are admitting that home field potentially wasn’t earned for the championship game but not worrying about in the second round.

I think it's because both teams played 16 games

I can buy that. But tough to ignore that their game with each other didn’t happen.

According to the NFL the game was a no contest. Pretend it never happened. Makes sense to me. Not every team plays each other.

 

[ignatiusjreilly]

In an effort to mitigate those inequities, NFL clubs will consider tomorrow in a Special League Meeting a resolution recommended by the Commissioner and approved today by the Competition Committee, consisting of two elements:
1 - The AFC Championship Game will be played at a neutral site if the participating teams played an unequal number of games and both could have been the number one seed and hosted the game had all AFC clubs played a full 17-game regular season. Those circumstances involve Buffalo or Cincinnati qualifying for the game as a road team and are listed below:

Scenario 1

Buffalo and Kansas City both win or both tie – a Buffalo vs Kansas City championship game would be at a neutral site.
Scenario 2
Buffalo and Kansas City both lose and Baltimore wins or ties – a Buffalo vs Kansas City championship game would be at a neutral site.
Scenario 3
Buffalo and Kansas City both lose and Cincinnati wins – a Buffalo or Cincinnati vs Kansas City championship game would be at a neutral site.
2 - If Baltimore defeats Cincinnati in Week 18 it will have defeated Cincinnati, a divisional opponent, twice but will not be able to host a playoff game because Cincinnati will have a higher winning percentage for a 16-game schedule than Baltimore will for a 17-game schedule.
If Baltimore defeats Cincinnati and if those two clubs are schedule to play a Wild Card game against one another, the site for that game would be determined by a coin toss. If Cincinnati wins the Week 18 game or if Baltimore and Cincinnati are not scheduled to play one another in the Wild Card round, the game sites would be determined by the regular scheduling procedures.
"As we considered the football schedule, our principles have been to limit disruption across the league and minimize competitive inequities," Goodell said. "I recognize that there is no perfect solution. The proposal we are asking the ownership to consider, however, addresses the most significant potential equitable issues created by the difficult, but necessary, decision not to play the game under these extraordinary circumstances."

I think this is needlessly complex, but I also don’t think it’s the end of the world. Better to tinker with stuff like HFA than shift the entire playoff schedule around

 

[Anarchy99]

In an effort to mitigate those inequities, NFL clubs will consider tomorrow in a Special League Meeting a resolution recommended by the Commissioner and approved today by the Competition Committee, consisting of two elements:
1 - The AFC Championship Game will be played at a neutral site if the participating teams played an unequal number of games and both could have been the number one seed and hosted the game had all AFC clubs played a full 17-game regular season. Those circumstances involve Buffalo or Cincinnati qualifying for the game as a road team and are listed below:

Scenario 1

Buffalo and Kansas City both win or both tie – a Buffalo vs Kansas City championship game would be at a neutral site.
Scenario 2
Buffalo and Kansas City both lose and Baltimore wins or ties – a Buffalo vs Kansas City championship game would be at a neutral site.
Scenario 3
Buffalo and Kansas City both lose and Cincinnati wins – a Buffalo or Cincinnati vs Kansas City championship game would be at a neutral site.
2 - If Baltimore defeats Cincinnati in Week 18 it will have defeated Cincinnati, a divisional opponent, twice but will not be able to host a playoff game because Cincinnati will have a higher winning percentage for a 16-game schedule than Baltimore will for a 17-game schedule.
If Baltimore defeats Cincinnati and if those two clubs are schedule to play a Wild Card game against one another, the site for that game would be determined by a coin toss. If Cincinnati wins the Week 18 game or if Baltimore and Cincinnati are not scheduled to play one another in the Wild Card round, the game sites would be determined by the regular scheduling procedures.
"As we considered the football schedule, our principles have been to limit disruption across the league and minimize competitive inequities," Goodell said. "I recognize that there is no perfect solution. The proposal we are asking the ownership to consider, however, addresses the most significant potential equitable issues created by the difficult, but necessary, decision not to play the game under these extraordinary circumstances."

I think this is needlessly complex, but I also don’t think it’s the end of the world. Better to tinker with stuff like HFA than shift the entire playoff schedule around

From what I am seeing, any of the proposed tweaks don’t conform to the league rules and require a league wide vote on each issue. There’s some confusion on what would make a motion pass, but the thought is it would take 24 votes of the 32 owners. Based on that, teams could vote down the proposals. Not sure where that would leave things.

 

[amnesiac]

In an effort to mitigate those inequities, NFL clubs will consider tomorrow in a Special League Meeting a resolution recommended by the Commissioner and approved today by the Competition Committee, consisting of two elements:
1 - The AFC Championship Game will be played at a neutral site if the participating teams played an unequal number of games and both could have been the number one seed and hosted the game had all AFC clubs played a full 17-game regular season. Those circumstances involve Buffalo or Cincinnati qualifying for the game as a road team and are listed below:

Scenario 1

Buffalo and Kansas City both win or both tie – a Buffalo vs Kansas City championship game would be at a neutral site.
Scenario 2
Buffalo and Kansas City both lose and Baltimore wins or ties – a Buffalo vs Kansas City championship game would be at a neutral site.
Scenario 3
Buffalo and Kansas City both lose and Cincinnati wins – a Buffalo or Cincinnati vs Kansas City championship game would be at a neutral site.
2 - If Baltimore defeats Cincinnati in Week 18 it will have defeated Cincinnati, a divisional opponent, twice but will not be able to host a playoff game because Cincinnati will have a higher winning percentage for a 16-game schedule than Baltimore will for a 17-game schedule.
If Baltimore defeats Cincinnati and if those two clubs are schedule to play a Wild Card game against one another, the site for that game would be determined by a coin toss. If Cincinnati wins the Week 18 game or if Baltimore and Cincinnati are not scheduled to play one another in the Wild Card round, the game sites would be determined by the regular scheduling procedures.
"As we considered the football schedule, our principles have been to limit disruption across the league and minimize competitive inequities," Goodell said. "I recognize that there is no perfect solution. The proposal we are asking the ownership to consider, however, addresses the most significant potential equitable issues created by the difficult, but necessary, decision not to play the game under these extraordinary circumstances."

I think this is needlessly complex, but I also don’t think it’s the end of the world. Better to tinker with stuff like HFA than shift the entire playoff schedule around

From what I am seeing, any of the proposed tweaks don’t conform to the league rules and require a league wide vote on each issue. There’s some confusion on what would make a motion pass, but the thought is it would take 24 votes of the 32 owners. Based on that, teams could vote down the proposals. Not sure where that would leave things.

you said earlier the commissioner could do whatever he wanted.

 

[Anarchy99]

In an effort to mitigate those inequities, NFL clubs will consider tomorrow in a Special League Meeting a resolution recommended by the Commissioner and approved today by the Competition Committee, consisting of two elements:
1 - The AFC Championship Game will be played at a neutral site if the participating teams played an unequal number of games and both could have been the number one seed and hosted the game had all AFC clubs played a full 17-game regular season. Those circumstances involve Buffalo or Cincinnati qualifying for the game as a road team and are listed below:

Scenario 1

Buffalo and Kansas City both win or both tie – a Buffalo vs Kansas City championship game would be at a neutral site.
Scenario 2
Buffalo and Kansas City both lose and Baltimore wins or ties – a Buffalo vs Kansas City championship game would be at a neutral site.
Scenario 3
Buffalo and Kansas City both lose and Cincinnati wins – a Buffalo or Cincinnati vs Kansas City championship game would be at a neutral site.
2 - If Baltimore defeats Cincinnati in Week 18 it will have defeated Cincinnati, a divisional opponent, twice but will not be able to host a playoff game because Cincinnati will have a higher winning percentage for a 16-game schedule than Baltimore will for a 17-game schedule.
If Baltimore defeats Cincinnati and if those two clubs are schedule to play a Wild Card game against one another, the site for that game would be determined by a coin toss. If Cincinnati wins the Week 18 game or if Baltimore and Cincinnati are not scheduled to play one another in the Wild Card round, the game sites would be determined by the regular scheduling procedures.
"As we considered the football schedule, our principles have been to limit disruption across the league and minimize competitive inequities," Goodell said. "I recognize that there is no perfect solution. The proposal we are asking the ownership to consider, however, addresses the most significant potential equitable issues created by the difficult, but necessary, decision not to play the game under these extraordinary circumstances."

I think this is needlessly complex, but I also don’t think it’s the end of the world. Better to tinker with stuff like HFA than shift the entire playoff schedule around

From what I am seeing, any of the proposed tweaks don’t conform to the league rules and require a league wide vote on each issue. There’s some confusion on what would make a motion pass, but the thought is it would take 24 votes of the 32 owners. Based on that, teams could vote down the proposals. Not sure where that would leave things.

you said earlier the commissioner could do whatever he wanted.

That’s what the article said and the passage of the rules indicated. Apparently in the discussion of potential outcomes, there was push back that that only applies to the rescheduling of the games, not changing things like home field or neutral site games for the playoffs. None of this happened before, so the league, owners, and NFLPA aren’t totally sure what the rules are and the process to resolve them actually is. Sounds like there has been a lot of discussion out of the public eye. I’m sure more will come out tomorrow.

 

[pokin]

(3) Cincy having to go on the road to (2) Buffalo in the second round should have been mentioned with some thoughts on fixing. Not sure why they are admitting that home field potentially wasn’t earned for the championship game but not worrying about in the second round.

I think it's because both teams played 16 games

Right. You can’t award Cincy an advantage when they played the same amount of games and have one more loss. Or even if they both end up with 4 you have tiebreakers you can apply.

If KC loses this weekend and Buf and Cin win why is there no coin flip to decide where the divisional playoff game would be? Under this proposal KC would be the 2 seed and Cin the 3 but they would have played a different number of games and Cin has the head to head tie breaker. Why no coin flip there?

 

[Stinkin Ref]

so at some points we are cool with coin flips and winning percentages....but only in parts of the process....but when it comes to certain potential matchups down the road, like the semi finals....we just going to a "neutral site".....because we think "that makes things right"....got it...

 

[renesauz]

I think they did this as well as it could have been done. Starting with the premise that the game meant nothing as to who MADE the playoffs, they simply moved to neutrasl sites any game where the new home team may not have been the home team relative to the team they were about to host. Not sure why anyone would have a problem with that. Slight advantage to KC for the bye, but not an egregious one since they still would have played one more game then Cincy or Buffalo and might well have won that top seed anyway. Bravo

 

[Dr. Octopus]

Has the NFL considered all the money that was bet on the game? Have they considered that people don't get their money back if the game is declared a no-contest? I truly believe the NFL needs to seriously consider those factors before making any decision on the Bills-Bengals game.

Of course you get your money back - the bet is voided.

 

[Mr. Peterson]

It might have been touched on but I missed it.
Assuming Bills and Chiefs both win this weekend, who gets the first round bye?

 

[jobarules]

It might have been touched on but I missed it.
Assuming Bills and Chiefs both win this weekend, who gets the first round bye?

It sounds like KC would get the bye based on winning % but if they meet in the AFC Championship game it would be held at a neutral site.

 

[SeniorVBDStudent]

From Rotoworld...

The NFL has officially declared the Bills and Bengals' Week 17 game a no contest.

This means the game is no longer in a state of postponement and will not be made up. It also means all statistics that were accumulated up to the point of the Monday evening postponement will be null and void. It's a tough development for fantasy managers who had championships riding on the outcome of Monday evening's game, but the only reasonable path forward for the league. The league has also announced it is implementing a number of playoff contingencies based on the results of this weekend's contest. If the Ravens beat the Bengals, for instance, the host of that Wild Card contest will be determined via coin flip. The AFC Championship Game could also be played at a neutral site if "the participating teams played an unequal number of games and both could have been the number one seed and hosted the game had all AFC clubs played a full 17-game regular season." This is because the seeding is now based on winning percentage instead of raw record and head-to-head tiebreakers. The league will formally vote on the proposal Friday, but we would expect it to pass.

Seems a bit unfair to BUF in that 13-3 is a slight better percentage than 12-3, so the only way BUF can get the 1 seed is if they win and KC loses, but c'est la vie.

 

[cheese]

I think they did this as well as it could have been done. Starting with the premise that the game meant nothing as to who MADE the playoffs, they simply moved to neutrasl sites any game where the new home team may not have been the home team relative to the team they were about to host. Not sure why anyone would have a problem with that. Slight advantage to KC for the bye, but not an egregious one since they still would have played one more game then Cincy or Buffalo and might well have won that top seed anyway. Bravo

Bengals win against Bills and Ravens, the game would be in Cincinnati. Instead, the game is in Buffalo. If they had done this exact solution, but changed that one scenario this would've made so much more sense.

 

[Pipes]

Noone was going to be happy here and let's be realistic the NFL wasn't going to bump the playoffs back a week this late in the season. Seems like the NFL did the best they could and didn't end up giving anyone an unfair advantage in the AFC.

 

[cheese]

Noone was going to be happy here and let's be realistic the NFL wasn't going to bump the playoffs back a week this late in the season. Seems like the NFL did the best they could and didn't end up giving anyone an unfair advantage in the AFC.

Massive advantage given to the Bills imo

 

[SeniorVBDStudent]

Noone was going to be happy here and let's be realistic the NFL wasn't going to bump the playoffs back a week this late in the season. Seems like the NFL did the best they could and didn't end up giving anyone an unfair advantage in the AFC.

Massive advantage given to the Bills imo

Declaring the prior game a no contest gives a 1 seed advantage to the Chiefs over the Bills (13-3 versus 12-3). We'll never know if the Bills would have beaten the Bengals but if they did they would have been 13-3.

If the advantage you're talking about is in the scenario where the Ravens beat the Bengals, I don't consider that a realistic scenario.

But either way, saying the advantage is "massive" seems like a stretch.

 

[Grigs Allmoon]

Noone was going to be happy here and let's be realistic the NFL wasn't going to bump the playoffs back a week this late in the season. Seems like the NFL did the best they could and didn't end up giving anyone an unfair advantage in the AFC.

Massive advantage given to the Bills imo

This will almost certainly cost the Bills the #1 seed, which is an ENORMOUS advantage. How in the world do they benefit from this?

 

[Anarchy99]

Noone was going to be happy here and let's be realistic the NFL wasn't going to bump the playoffs back a week this late in the season. Seems like the NFL did the best they could and didn't end up giving anyone an unfair advantage in the AFC.

Massive advantage given to the Bills imo

Declaring the prior game a no contest gives a 1 seed advantage to the Chiefs over the Bills (13-3 versus 12-3). We'll never know if the Bills would have beaten the Bengals but if they did they would have been 13-3.

If the advantage you're talking about is in the scenario where the Ravens beat the Bengals, I don't consider that a realistic scenario.

But either way, saying the advantage is "massive" seems like a stretch.

We don't know how the Week 18 games are going to go, so we don't know teams' final records yet. We also don't know how teams will vote on the various proposals. If none of them pass, I believe the default will be what is written in the rules (seeding decided by winning percentage). It's possible there will either be no need for some of the proposals, or they don't pass at all. BUF could still earn the top seed even playing one less game, there may be no need for neutral site contingencies, and the coin toss solution for BAL/CIN might not pass. Still a way's away from knowing exacting how the playoffs will shape up.

 

[Anarchy99]

Noone was going to be happy here and let's be realistic the NFL wasn't going to bump the playoffs back a week this late in the season. Seems like the NFL did the best they could and didn't end up giving anyone an unfair advantage in the AFC.

Massive advantage given to the Bills imo

This will almost certainly cost the Bills the #1 seed, which is an ENORMOUS advantage. How in the world do they benefit from this?

IMO, the Bills need to live with losing the #1 seed. I am confident the league approached both the Bills and Bengals and asked what they wanted to do. From the looks of it, the Bills didn't want to play out the game. They were given the option and punted (and from the sound of it, the Bengals said they would go along with whatever the Bills wanted to do). While it appears the Chiefs got a huge advantage, the Bills essentially picked that option on their own. I feel less sympathetic for the Bills than I did a few days ago.

 

[Rubi]

Noone was going to be happy here and let's be realistic the NFL wasn't going to bump the playoffs back a week this late in the season. Seems like the NFL did the best they could and didn't end up giving anyone an unfair advantage in the AFC.

Massive advantage given to the Bills imo

Declaring the prior game a no contest gives a 1 seed advantage to the Chiefs over the Bills (13-3 versus 12-3). We'll never know if the Bills would have beaten the Bengals but if they did they would have been 13-3.

If the advantage you're talking about is in the scenario where the Ravens beat the Bengals, I don't consider that a realistic scenario.

But either way, saying the advantage is "massive" seems like a stretch.

We don't know how the Week 18 games are going to go, so we don't know teams' final records yet. We also don't know how teams will vote on the various proposals. If none of them pass, I believe the default will be what is written in the rules (seeding decided by winning percentage). It's possible there will either be no need for some of the proposals, or they don't pass at all. BUF could still earn the top seed even playing one less game, there may be no need for neutral site contingencies, and the coin toss solution for BAL/CIN might not pass. Still a way's away from knowing exacting how the playoffs will shape up.

But it all adds another layer of intrigue in the greatest reality show on t.v. The NFL

 

[cheese]

Noone was going to be happy here and let's be realistic the NFL wasn't going to bump the playoffs back a week this late in the season. Seems like the NFL did the best they could and didn't end up giving anyone an unfair advantage in the AFC.

Massive advantage given to the Bills imo

This will almost certainly cost the Bills the #1 seed, which is an ENORMOUS advantage. How in the world do they benefit from this?

1st of all, they made it at least a realistic scenario where Baltimore could take the Bengals out. Unlikely, but not impossible. 2nd of all, they were given a neutral AFCCG neutral site when the league's own rules say it should be by win pct if someone plays less games. 3rd, despite all the maybes they were given the benefit of the doubt on, they completely ignored the Buff/Cincy game and just left it alone.

Forget all those other games for a minute, we know the teams are KC/BUF/CIN. The location of those games is what has real impact. They got the best of both worlds on the location of those games (used current record for the CIN game and used possibly, maybe exception to put the KC game neutral).

 

[Enderdog]

Hopefully nine owners will vote 'No" to changing the rules in the middle of the season.