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

How will the NFL handle scheduling the remainder of football this year?

  • variation on option 1, where both teams are credited with a win.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    107

SeniorVBDStudent

Footballguy
I trust we are all aligned that nfl schedule impacts, like FF impacts, are far less important than the health and well-being of Damar Hamlin.

There is already a FF implications thread, but the intent of this thread is to be purely about how the rest of the football season is conducted.

Having said that, there are some significant choices that the league has to make, including obtaining concensus from 32 owners and the players union.

Various options I've heard are reflected in the poll.

Your thoughts?

It seems to me that option 1 is the logical choice in that the league will oppose option 2, but the league will have to herd cats to arrive at concensus.
 
If KC and Buffalo both win out this weekend then I think the game is more likely to be rescheduled
If Baltimore were to beat Cincinnati and the above also happens then the Buff/Cinci has a lot of impact

If KC wins and Buffalo were to lose to New England, the pressure to reschedule the Bills-Bengals game lessens quite a bit.
There's other scenarios too but I'm trying to keep it simple.

Imagine that everyone gets an extra week except Cin and Buff, a built in bye week across the board
They cut down on the 2 weeks in between Conference Championship and Super Bowl
 
I voted for the first option, but my #1 preferred option is to decide the "winner" of Bills-Bengals by flipping a coin. This approach gives both teams approximately the same chances that they had at whatever-outcome heading into the game, and it leaves the other 30 teams unaffected.
 
Read something that suggested they could skip this game and if KC/Buf end up in the afc title game it could go to a neutral site like Detroit. Seems extremely unlikely due to lost revenue but interesting idea all the same.
 
I think the NFL kicked the can down the road by saying that the game would not be completed this week. They are waiting to see how W18 shakes out and see how important the BUF/CIN game really is to the overall playoff seeding before deciding if they will finish the game. If it is critical to seeding I think they play the game. I voted for Option 2 based on this scenario.
 
Read something that suggested they could skip this game and if KC/Buf end up in the afc title game it could go to a neutral site like Detroit. Seems extremely unlikely due to lost revenue but interesting idea all the same.

Ford Field is relatively small. Like I think if we sold out every game they’d finish 30th in attendance.

(they also sold SRO often so it’s not really 65K)

The 5 stadiums which are over 80K would be more likely? But boy would that be a bad deal for their fans.

edit: word
 
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I think the NFL kicked the can down the road by saying that the game would not be completed this week. They are waiting to see how W18 shakes out and see how important the BUF/CIN game really is to the overall playoff seeding before deciding if they will finish the game. If it is critical to seeding I think they play the game. I voted for Option 2 based on this scenario.

I've wondered that too. They definitely kicked the can for a few days.

But they HAVE to announce a decision before the Week 18 games, don't they?
 
I think the NFL kicked the can down the road by saying that the game would not be completed this week. They are waiting to see how W18 shakes out and see how important the BUF/CIN game really is to the overall playoff seeding before deciding if they will finish the game. If it is critical to seeding I think they play the game. I voted for Option 2 based on this scenario.

I've wondered that too. They definitely kicked the can for a few days.

But they HAVE to announce a decision before the Week 18 games, don't they?
this is what frustrates me about the NFL.

they will kick the can down the road and hope things work out.

personally, i would much prefer if they make the best decision they can as soon as possible, announce it, and move on.

this isn't the first time we've seen this happen, although this tactic usually involves player discipline.

it just seems like a lack of strong leadership to me.

:2cents:
 
But they HAVE to announce a decision before the Week 18 games, don't they?
Why? Without announcing it everyone involved has to play hard for week 18 because they don't know what will happen with that game. They can't take chances that it will or won't be cancelled.

cross post from @derek245583 in the game thread:

Bills Win, Chiefs Win, Bengals Win (Chiefs/Bills 1/3 seed)
Bills Lose, Chiefs Win, Bengals Win (Bengals/Bills 2/3 seed)
Bills Lose, Chiefs Lose, Bengals Win (Bengals/Chiefs 1/3 seed)
Bills Lose, Chiefs Lose, Bengals Lose (Bengals/Ravens Division Winner)
Bills Win, Chiefs Lose, Bengals Win (Bills/Bengals 1/3 Seed)
Bills Win, Chiefs Lose, Bengals Lose (Bengals/Ravens Division Winner)
 
Cleveland is pretty close to the midpoint between Buffalo and Cincinnati (actually slightly closer to Buffalo, but not by much) -- if they wanted to play in a neutral site.
 
I think the game will only be played if Baltimore beats the Bengals. I don’t think they want to award a division due to a cancellation.

My guess is that if it is only a matter of the 1 seed they will cancel it and base seeding on winning percentage.
 
I think the NFL kicked the can down the road by saying that the game would not be completed this week. They are waiting to see how W18 shakes out and see how important the BUF/CIN game really is to the overall playoff seeding before deciding if they will finish the game. If it is critical to seeding I think they play the game. I voted for Option 2 based on this scenario.

I've wondered that too. They definitely kicked the can for a few days.

But they HAVE to announce a decision before the Week 18 games, don't they?
this is what frustrates me about the NFL.

they will kick the can down the road and hope things work out.

personally, i would much prefer if they make the best decision they can as soon as possible, announce it, and move on.

this isn't the first time we've seen this happen, although this tactic usually involves player discipline.

it just seems like a lack of strong leadership to me.

:2cents:

Goodell makes $63.9 million a year. Seems plenty to be able to make a quick decision like this.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereks...-to-other-top-execs-and-sports-commissioners/
 
I heard a radio guy mention just delaying the AFC playoffs a week. This would in effect create an extra week of playoffs. Doesn't sound fair in that the NFC champ would still have the extra week off before the Super Bowl. Yet because of an extra week with games it might interest the NFL and networks.
 
I heard a radio guy mention just delaying the AFC playoffs a week. This would in effect create an extra week of playoffs. Doesn't sound fair in that the NFC champ would still have the extra week off before the Super Bowl. Yet because of an extra week with games it might interest the NFL and networks.
If the NFC were to win the Super Bowl that would come with a major asterisk.
 
I heard a radio guy mention just delaying the AFC playoffs a week. This would in effect create an extra week of playoffs. Doesn't sound fair in that the NFC champ would still have the extra week off before the Super Bowl. Yet because of an extra week with games it might interest the NFL and networks.
If the NFC were to win the Super Bowl that would come with a major asterisk.
For sure. I can't imagine that will be the course of action, despite the fact that it would alleviate a lot of the logistical hassle of shifting the playoff schedule.
 
For sure. I can't imagine that will be the course of action, despite the fact that it would alleviate a lot of the logistical hassle of shifting the playoff schedule.
At this point what is the real hassle? You don't know what games are on what days or where yet. Everything is in limbo until the season ends and all seeds are confirmed. The only real hassle would be moving the date of the Super Bowl since that is already known but that doesn't have to happen since there is the week in between already built in.
 
I heard a radio guy mention just delaying the AFC playoffs a week. This would in effect create an extra week of playoffs. Doesn't sound fair in that the NFC champ would still have the extra week off before the Super Bowl. Yet because of an extra week with games it might interest the NFL and networks.
I honestly can't understand why anybody would think that this is a better solution than just calling it a tie, or a Bills loss. Those solutions are "unfair" in some Platonic sense, but they at least involve a light touch and leave all but one or two teams unharmed. Re-arranging the calendar this way is grossly unfair and heavy-handed on top of it.

Also, I think we all need to recognize that now that this Pandora's box has been opened, it will be opened again in the future. The next time a player suffers a spinal cord injury -- and there will be a next time -- this game is going to be invoked as a precedent for shutting it down. That's workable if the league has a parsimonious procedure in place for dealing with a canceled game. It can't be the league making it up as they go along every 3-4 years.
 
For sure. I can't imagine that will be the course of action, despite the fact that it would alleviate a lot of the logistical hassle of shifting the playoff schedule.
At this point what is the real hassle? You don't know what games are on what days or where yet. Everything is in limbo until the season ends and all seeds are confirmed. The only real hassle would be moving the date of the Super Bowl since that is already known but that doesn't have to happen since there is the week in between already built in.
Good point. I was thinking there would be a lot of hotel/flight stuff for both teams and fans to shuffle, but none of that could be set right now. I totally whiffed on that.
 
1. Fully expect the NFL to wait until the end of Week 18 games (or at least the afternoon window) to decide what to do about this game. No need to set a precedent if the game ends up being irrelevant to final seeding.
2. After 9/11, the NFL mandated an extra week between championship games and Super Bowl to allow them the flexibility to push playoffs out a week if they needed to. (There was no break that year, and there was logistical/financial chaos caused by the fact that there was a huge auto dealer convention in the Superdome the following week.) This seems like a good use of that flexibility.
 
Also, I think we all need to recognize that now that this Pandora's box has been opened, it will be opened again in the future. The next time a player suffers a spinal cord injury -- and there will be a next time -- this game is going to be invoked as a precedent for shutting it down. That's workable if the league has a parsimonious procedure in place for dealing with a canceled game. It can't be the league making it up as they go along every 3-4 years.
I think this incident was different than most injuries as the Hamlin was in cardiac arrest and his life was being saved on the field. I think suspending the game that night was the right call and necessary given that scenario. The look on players & coaches faces was unlike anything I had ever seen before in relation to an on field injury.

However, now that Hamlin is stable (even though still critical condition) this now shifts to be more like a paralysis situation which hasn't caused this kind of turmoil.

This is a very unfortunate situation but at this point it seems to fall in line with other serious injuries that players risk all the time and teammates play through all the time. It's why I think the game should have been played tonight once Hamlin was deemed to be in critical yet stable condition early Tuesday.
 
Read something that suggested they could skip this game and if KC/Buf end up in the afc title game it could go to a neutral site like Detroit. Seems extremely unlikely due to lost revenue but interesting idea all the same.
This seems so bizarre. So they want to be "neutral" from the pov of who would get the home game in this scenario, while ignoring that one of them would get a #1 seed and bye why the other doesn't? :crazy:
 
Also, I think we all need to recognize that now that this Pandora's box has been opened, it will be opened again in the future. The next time a player suffers a spinal cord injury -- and there will be a next time -- this game is going to be invoked as a precedent for shutting it down. That's workable if the league has a parsimonious procedure in place for dealing with a canceled game. It can't be the league making it up as they go along every 3-4 years.
I think this incident was different than most injuries as the Hamlin was in cardiac arrest and his life was being saved on the field. I think suspending the game that night was the right call and necessary given that scenario. The look on players & coaches faces was unlike anything I had ever seen before in relation to an on field injury.

However, now that Hamlin is stable (even though still critical condition) this now shifts to be more like a paralysis situation which hasn't caused this kind of turmoil.

This is a very unfortunate situation but at this point it seems to fall in line with other serious injuries that players risk all the time and teammates play through all the time. It's why I think the game should have been played tonight once Hamlin was deemed to be in critical yet stable condition early Tuesday.
The NFL could have allowed them to play Today/Tonight and then perhaps Mon/Tue for the 2 teams involved Cin/Buff in week 18, either gets the 1 seed, they get some extra rest, whichever didn't, try to make them the last Playoff game of Wildcard weekend even if they have to do something new and move 1 game to a special Mon Night Football-Wildcard Edition, the ratings would fly thru the roof, it could have been pulled off.
Fans in the stands today? Perhaps not but I feel a game could have been played this afternoon or tonight and things would stay almost on track
 
Also, I think we all need to recognize that now that this Pandora's box has been opened, it will be opened again in the future. The next time a player suffers a spinal cord injury -- and there will be a next time -- this game is going to be invoked as a precedent for shutting it down. That's workable if the league has a parsimonious procedure in place for dealing with a canceled game. It can't be the league making it up as they go along every 3-4 years.
I think this incident was different than most injuries as the Hamlin was in cardiac arrest and his life was being saved on the field. I think suspending the game that night was the right call and necessary given that scenario. The look on players & coaches faces was unlike anything I had ever seen before in relation to an on field injury.

However, now that Hamlin is stable (even though still critical condition) this now shifts to be more like a paralysis situation which hasn't caused this kind of turmoil.

This is a very unfortunate situation but at this point it seems to fall in line with other serious injuries that players risk all the time and teammates play through all the time. It's why I think the game should have been played tonight once Hamlin was deemed to be in critical yet stable condition early Tuesday.
Everybody keeps saying that this situation is unprecedented, but not only is it not unprecedented, it's not even unprecedented for the Buffalo Bills. What's unprecedented is the decision to postpone the game. Somebody should have thought one step ahead before making that decision.
 
Also, I think we all need to recognize that now that this Pandora's box has been opened, it will be opened again in the future. The next time a player suffers a spinal cord injury -- and there will be a next time -- this game is going to be invoked as a precedent for shutting it down. That's workable if the league has a parsimonious procedure in place for dealing with a canceled game. It can't be the league making it up as they go along every 3-4 years.
I think this incident was different than most injuries as the Hamlin was in cardiac arrest and his life was being saved on the field. I think suspending the game that night was the right call and necessary given that scenario. The look on players & coaches faces was unlike anything I had ever seen before in relation to an on field injury.

However, now that Hamlin is stable (even though still critical condition) this now shifts to be more like a paralysis situation which hasn't caused this kind of turmoil.

This is a very unfortunate situation but at this point it seems to fall in line with other serious injuries that players risk all the time and teammates play through all the time. It's why I think the game should have been played tonight once Hamlin was deemed to be in critical yet stable condition early Tuesday.
Everybody keeps saying that this situation is unprecedented, but not only is it not unprecedented, it's not even unprecedented for the Buffalo Bills. What's unprecedented is the decision to postpone the game. Somebody should have thought one step ahead before making that decision.
Safe to say the Bills played again the following week?
Great link, forgot about Everett, glad he recovered to at least live a normal life
Guy was paralyzed at the start of his rehab
 
Also, I think we all need to recognize that now that this Pandora's box has been opened, it will be opened again in the future. The next time a player suffers a spinal cord injury -- and there will be a next time -- this game is going to be invoked as a precedent for shutting it down. That's workable if the league has a parsimonious procedure in place for dealing with a canceled game. It can't be the league making it up as they go along every 3-4 years.
I think this incident was different than most injuries as the Hamlin was in cardiac arrest and his life was being saved on the field. I think suspending the game that night was the right call and necessary given that scenario. The look on players & coaches faces was unlike anything I had ever seen before in relation to an on field injury.

However, now that Hamlin is stable (even though still critical condition) this now shifts to be more like a paralysis situation which hasn't caused this kind of turmoil.

This is a very unfortunate situation but at this point it seems to fall in line with other serious injuries that players risk all the time and teammates play through all the time. It's why I think the game should have been played tonight once Hamlin was deemed to be in critical yet stable condition early Tuesday.
Everybody keeps saying that this situation is unprecedented, but not only is it not unprecedented, it's not even unprecedented for the Buffalo Bills. What's unprecedented is the decision to postpone the game. Somebody should have thought one step ahead before making that decision.
Safe to say the Bills played again the following week?
Great link, forgot about Everett, glad he recovered to at least live a normal life
Guy was paralyzed at the start of his rehab
Yes of course. Nobody thought twice about finishing that game and playing the following week. This thing where we expect adults to become non-functional in the face of tragedy is an extremely recent development. Brett Favre was universally lionized when he started a game after his dad died. Back in the olden days of 2020, Josh Allen was universally lionized for starting a game the day after his grandmother died. That's what we should expect from people. Not this type of thing.
 
There have been tweets out there that indicate Goodell, the Bills, and the Bengals are still discussing what to do (per Breer). Also tweets suggesting that the status of the BUF/NE game is still up in the air (stated by Troy Vincent, reported by PFT). At this point, I think it's a pretty fluid situation and don't believe the league has a clearly defined plan moving forward.
 
I think the likely option is Bills/Bengals week 19, push playoffs back. There are a lot of playoff implications at stake. They've already said week 18 is a go as normal. No way they change that now.
 
Also, I think we all need to recognize that now that this Pandora's box has been opened, it will be opened again in the future. The next time a player suffers a spinal cord injury -- and there will be a next time -- this game is going to be invoked as a precedent for shutting it down. That's workable if the league has a parsimonious procedure in place for dealing with a canceled game. It can't be the league making it up as they go along every 3-4 years.
I think this incident was different than most injuries as the Hamlin was in cardiac arrest and his life was being saved on the field. I think suspending the game that night was the right call and necessary given that scenario. The look on players & coaches faces was unlike anything I had ever seen before in relation to an on field injury.

However, now that Hamlin is stable (even though still critical condition) this now shifts to be more like a paralysis situation which hasn't caused this kind of turmoil.

This is a very unfortunate situation but at this point it seems to fall in line with other serious injuries that players risk all the time and teammates play through all the time. It's why I think the game should have been played tonight once Hamlin was deemed to be in critical yet stable condition early Tuesday.
Everybody keeps saying that this situation is unprecedented, but not only is it not unprecedented, it's not even unprecedented for the Buffalo Bills. What's unprecedented is the decision to postpone the game. Somebody should have thought one step ahead before making that decision.
Safe to say the Bills played again the following week?
Great link, forgot about Everett, glad he recovered to at least live a normal life
Guy was paralyzed at the start of his rehab
Yes of course. Nobody thought twice about finishing that game and playing the following week. This thing where we expect adults to become non-functional in the face of tragedy is an extremely recent development. Brett Favre was universally lionized when he started a game after his dad died. Back in the olden days of 2020, Josh Allen was universally lionized for starting a game the day after his grandmother died. That's what we should expect from people. Not this type of thing.
Question IK if you don't mind

What happens if that's a 1:00 game on CBS this past Sunday?
-ESPN, Primetime, Suzy Kolber and Adam Schefter exchanging tissues back and forth, Joe Buck being Joe Buck in the booth
I'm not trying to make light of the injury, simply wondering what happens? Is the game stopped in the same manner? I want to believe so but I'm not totally sure and I don't know if I see the same Dominique Foxworth rant on Tuesday Morning like what i saw on Get Up yesterday.

And there's rumblings Buffalo doesn't play this weekend, so i'll ask 1 more question for enquiring minds.
Should Buffalo watch KC win Sat Night and knowing that winning % might be the final verdict which would make the game vs the Patriots meaningless and rather than play it like preseason and risk injuries to anyone on the field, just dial down into the mental health vein and inform the NFL that you all will be ready to roll when Wildcard weekend starts? Just tell us where we are playing...you catch my drift?
Why risk further injuries if Sunday doesn't count? You can't just play scrubs, there still will be starting players that shuffle into the game, all things considered, they can make their own Bye week this week and just get ready for JAX/TEN
 
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It would be silly to keep changing things as they go.
Make determination on this one game and stick to it. This is what I think they will do
 
And there's rumblings Buffalo doesn't play this weekend, so i'll ask 1 more question for enquiring minds.
Should Buffalo watch KC win Sat Night and knowing that winning % might be the final verdict which would make the game vs the Patriots meaningless and rather than play it like preseason and risk injuries to anyone on the field, just dial down into the mental health vein and inform the NFL that you all will be ready to roll when Wildcard weekend starts? Just tell us where we are flying into, looks like Jacksonville possibly...you catch my drift?
Why risk further injuries if Sunday doesn't count? You can't just play scrubs, there still will be starting players that shuffle into the game, all things considered, they can make their own Bye week this week and just get ready for JAX/TEN
Wait. Are you saying the Bills may opt-out of playing this Sunday and take the forfeit?
 
Also, I think we all need to recognize that now that this Pandora's box has been opened, it will be opened again in the future. The next time a player suffers a spinal cord injury -- and there will be a next time -- this game is going to be invoked as a precedent for shutting it down. That's workable if the league has a parsimonious procedure in place for dealing with a canceled game. It can't be the league making it up as they go along every 3-4 years.
I think this incident was different than most injuries as the Hamlin was in cardiac arrest and his life was being saved on the field. I think suspending the game that night was the right call and necessary given that scenario. The look on players & coaches faces was unlike anything I had ever seen before in relation to an on field injury.

However, now that Hamlin is stable (even though still critical condition) this now shifts to be more like a paralysis situation which hasn't caused this kind of turmoil.

This is a very unfortunate situation but at this point it seems to fall in line with other serious injuries that players risk all the time and teammates play through all the time. It's why I think the game should have been played tonight once Hamlin was deemed to be in critical yet stable condition early Tuesday.
Everybody keeps saying that this situation is unprecedented, but not only is it not unprecedented, it's not even unprecedented for the Buffalo Bills. What's unprecedented is the decision to postpone the game. Somebody should have thought one step ahead before making that decision.
Safe to say the Bills played again the following week?
Great link, forgot about Everett, glad he recovered to at least live a normal life
Guy was paralyzed at the start of his rehab
Yes of course. Nobody thought twice about finishing that game and playing the following week. This thing where we expect adults to become non-functional in the face of tragedy is an extremely recent development. Brett Favre was universally lionized when he started a game after his dad died. Back in the olden days of 2020, Josh Allen was universally lionized for starting a game the day after his grandmother died. That's what we should expect from people. Not this type of thing.
Question IK if you don't mind

What happens if that's a 1:00 game on CBS this past Sunday?
-ESPN, Primetime, Suzy Kolber and Adam Schefter exchanging tissues back and forth, Joe Buck being Joe Buck in the booth
I'm not trying to make light of the injury, simply wondering what happens? Is the game stopped in the same manner? I want to believe so but I'm not totally sure and I don't know if I see the same Dominique Foxworth rant on Tuesday Morning like what i saw on Get Up yesterday.

And there's rumblings Buffalo doesn't play this weekend, so i'll ask 1 more question for enquiring minds.
Should Buffalo watch KC win Sat Night and knowing that winning % might be the final verdict which would make the game vs the Patriots meaningless and rather than play it like preseason and risk injuries to anyone on the field, just dial down into the mental health vein and inform the NFL that you all will be ready to roll when Wildcard weekend starts? Just tell us where we are flying into, looks like Jacksonville possibly...you catch my drift?
Why risk further injuries if Sunday doesn't count? You can't just play scrubs, there still will be starting players that shuffle into the game, all things considered, they can make their own Bye week this week and just get ready for JAX/TEN
I would say that the game was stopped primarily because of the reactions of the players and the resulting actions of Sean McDermott and Zac Taylor. The timing or stage of the game had nothing to do with that.
 
Also, I think we all need to recognize that now that this Pandora's box has been opened, it will be opened again in the future. The next time a player suffers a spinal cord injury -- and there will be a next time -- this game is going to be invoked as a precedent for shutting it down. That's workable if the league has a parsimonious procedure in place for dealing with a canceled game. It can't be the league making it up as they go along every 3-4 years.
I think this incident was different than most injuries as the Hamlin was in cardiac arrest and his life was being saved on the field. I think suspending the game that night was the right call and necessary given that scenario. The look on players & coaches faces was unlike anything I had ever seen before in relation to an on field injury.

However, now that Hamlin is stable (even though still critical condition) this now shifts to be more like a paralysis situation which hasn't caused this kind of turmoil.

This is a very unfortunate situation but at this point it seems to fall in line with other serious injuries that players risk all the time and teammates play through all the time. It's why I think the game should have been played tonight once Hamlin was deemed to be in critical yet stable condition early Tuesday.
Everybody keeps saying that this situation is unprecedented, but not only is it not unprecedented, it's not even unprecedented for the Buffalo Bills. What's unprecedented is the decision to postpone the game. Somebody should have thought one step ahead before making that decision.
Safe to say the Bills played again the following week?
Great link, forgot about Everett, glad he recovered to at least live a normal life
Guy was paralyzed at the start of his rehab
Yes of course. Nobody thought twice about finishing that game and playing the following week. This thing where we expect adults to become non-functional in the face of tragedy is an extremely recent development. Brett Favre was universally lionized when he started a game after his dad died. Back in the olden days of 2020, Josh Allen was universally lionized for starting a game the day after his grandmother died. That's what we should expect from people. Not this type of thing.
Question IK if you don't mind

What happens if that's a 1:00 game on CBS this past Sunday?
-ESPN, Primetime, Suzy Kolber and Adam Schefter exchanging tissues back and forth, Joe Buck being Joe Buck in the booth
I'm not trying to make light of the injury, simply wondering what happens? Is the game stopped in the same manner? I want to believe so but I'm not totally sure and I don't know if I see the same Dominique Foxworth rant on Tuesday Morning like what i saw on Get Up yesterday.

And there's rumblings Buffalo doesn't play this weekend, so i'll ask 1 more question for enquiring minds.
Should Buffalo watch KC win Sat Night and knowing that winning % might be the final verdict which would make the game vs the Patriots meaningless and rather than play it like preseason and risk injuries to anyone on the field, just dial down into the mental health vein and inform the NFL that you all will be ready to roll when Wildcard weekend starts? Just tell us where we are flying into, looks like Jacksonville possibly...you catch my drift?
Why risk further injuries if Sunday doesn't count? You can't just play scrubs, there still will be starting players that shuffle into the game, all things considered, they can make their own Bye week this week and just get ready for JAX/TEN
How would it be meaningless? The Bills are still competing with Cincinnati for the #2 seed in that scenario, and if the Bills lose (or forfeit) against the Patriots this week, and the Bengals defeat Baltimore, Cinci becomes the #2 seed, dropping Buffalo to the #3 seed. (If I understand the tie-breakers correctly)
 
And there's rumblings Buffalo doesn't play this weekend, so i'll ask 1 more question for enquiring minds.
Should Buffalo watch KC win Sat Night and knowing that winning % might be the final verdict which would make the game vs the Patriots meaningless and rather than play it like preseason and risk injuries to anyone on the field, just dial down into the mental health vein and inform the NFL that you all will be ready to roll when Wildcard weekend starts? Just tell us where we are flying into, looks like Jacksonville possibly...you catch my drift?
Why risk further injuries if Sunday doesn't count? You can't just play scrubs, there still will be starting players that shuffle into the game, all things considered, they can make their own Bye week this week and just get ready for JAX/TEN
Wait. Are you saying the Bills may opt-out of playing this Sunday and take the forfeit?
I'll try and do this as delicately as possible

I'm Sean McDermott, let's pretend
"Hi Roger Goodell, so you want to go with overall winning % even though KC will have the advantage by simply playing 1 more game than us, same number of losses and we won H2H match up against them earlier in the season?"

Goodell: "Yep, that's what I'm saying"

"Ok Roger, well we just landed back here in Buffalo after a long night at the hospital and many of the players are still pretty distraught. I think it would be in their best interest from a mental health standpoint if we don't take part in the games this weekend and use that time to be mentally prepared for the opening round of the Playoffs, you can see the video and looks on their faces less than 48 hours ago, this is a fluid situation we have going on here, not sure you understand the bond these 52-53 are going thru right now."

Goodell: "Uh huh...I'll have to get back to you on that, let me speak with Dawn Aponte, she was at the game that night."
Click...
Goodell: "Sean, are you there...hello Coach McDermott?"

That's my POV on it
 
Problem with having a week 19 with only Buf/Cin creates every team gets a bye week except Buf/Cin
i've seen several people mention this, so this isn't directed just to you, but..

is that really that big of a deal? didn't Buf/Cin essentially have a bye week this past weekend? as far as physical abuse from a full game, obviously they did not have planned time off.

but if the game is that important to them to get in, there has to be some sort of give and take?
 
Also, I think we all need to recognize that now that this Pandora's box has been opened, it will be opened again in the future. The next time a player suffers a spinal cord injury -- and there will be a next time -- this game is going to be invoked as a precedent for shutting it down. That's workable if the league has a parsimonious procedure in place for dealing with a canceled game. It can't be the league making it up as they go along every 3-4 years.
I think this incident was different than most injuries as the Hamlin was in cardiac arrest and his life was being saved on the field. I think suspending the game that night was the right call and necessary given that scenario. The look on players & coaches faces was unlike anything I had ever seen before in relation to an on field injury.

However, now that Hamlin is stable (even though still critical condition) this now shifts to be more like a paralysis situation which hasn't caused this kind of turmoil.

This is a very unfortunate situation but at this point it seems to fall in line with other serious injuries that players risk all the time and teammates play through all the time. It's why I think the game should have been played tonight once Hamlin was deemed to be in critical yet stable condition early Tuesday.
Everybody keeps saying that this situation is unprecedented, but not only is it not unprecedented, it's not even unprecedented for the Buffalo Bills. What's unprecedented is the decision to postpone the game. Somebody should have thought one step ahead before making that decision.
Safe to say the Bills played again the following week?
Great link, forgot about Everett, glad he recovered to at least live a normal life
Guy was paralyzed at the start of his rehab
Yes of course. Nobody thought twice about finishing that game and playing the following week. This thing where we expect adults to become non-functional in the face of tragedy is an extremely recent development. Brett Favre was universally lionized when he started a game after his dad died. Back in the olden days of 2020, Josh Allen was universally lionized for starting a game the day after his grandmother died. That's what we should expect from people. Not this type of thing.
Question IK if you don't mind

What happens if that's a 1:00 game on CBS this past Sunday?
-ESPN, Primetime, Suzy Kolber and Adam Schefter exchanging tissues back and forth, Joe Buck being Joe Buck in the booth
I'm not trying to make light of the injury, simply wondering what happens? Is the game stopped in the same manner? I want to believe so but I'm not totally sure and I don't know if I see the same Dominique Foxworth rant on Tuesday Morning like what i saw on Get Up yesterday.

And there's rumblings Buffalo doesn't play this weekend, so i'll ask 1 more question for enquiring minds.
Should Buffalo watch KC win Sat Night and knowing that winning % might be the final verdict which would make the game vs the Patriots meaningless and rather than play it like preseason and risk injuries to anyone on the field, just dial down into the mental health vein and inform the NFL that you all will be ready to roll when Wildcard weekend starts? Just tell us where we are flying into, looks like Jacksonville possibly...you catch my drift?
Why risk further injuries if Sunday doesn't count? You can't just play scrubs, there still will be starting players that shuffle into the game, all things considered, they can make their own Bye week this week and just get ready for JAX/TEN
How would it be meaningless? The Bills are still competing with Cincinnati for the #2 seed in that scenario, and if the Bills lose (or forfeit) against the Patriots this week, and the Bengals defeat Baltimore, Cinci becomes the #2 seed, dropping Buffalo to the #3 seed. (If I understand the tie-breakers correctly)
Understood but the end result is still opening round or Wildcard weekend, the seeding would matter more in the possible Semi if both higher seeds advanced
 
Also, I think we all need to recognize that now that this Pandora's box has been opened, it will be opened again in the future. The next time a player suffers a spinal cord injury -- and there will be a next time -- this game is going to be invoked as a precedent for shutting it down. That's workable if the league has a parsimonious procedure in place for dealing with a canceled game. It can't be the league making it up as they go along every 3-4 years.
I think this incident was different than most injuries as the Hamlin was in cardiac arrest and his life was being saved on the field. I think suspending the game that night was the right call and necessary given that scenario. The look on players & coaches faces was unlike anything I had ever seen before in relation to an on field injury.

However, now that Hamlin is stable (even though still critical condition) this now shifts to be more like a paralysis situation which hasn't caused this kind of turmoil.

This is a very unfortunate situation but at this point it seems to fall in line with other serious injuries that players risk all the time and teammates play through all the time. It's why I think the game should have been played tonight once Hamlin was deemed to be in critical yet stable condition early Tuesday.
Everybody keeps saying that this situation is unprecedented, but not only is it not unprecedented, it's not even unprecedented for the Buffalo Bills. What's unprecedented is the decision to postpone the game. Somebody should have thought one step ahead before making that decision.
Safe to say the Bills played again the following week?
Great link, forgot about Everett, glad he recovered to at least live a normal life
Guy was paralyzed at the start of his rehab
Yes of course. Nobody thought twice about finishing that game and playing the following week. This thing where we expect adults to become non-functional in the face of tragedy is an extremely recent development. Brett Favre was universally lionized when he started a game after his dad died. Back in the olden days of 2020, Josh Allen was universally lionized for starting a game the day after his grandmother died. That's what we should expect from people. Not this type of thing.
Question IK if you don't mind

What happens if that's a 1:00 game on CBS this past Sunday?
-ESPN, Primetime, Suzy Kolber and Adam Schefter exchanging tissues back and forth, Joe Buck being Joe Buck in the booth
I'm not trying to make light of the injury, simply wondering what happens? Is the game stopped in the same manner? I want to believe so but I'm not totally sure and I don't know if I see the same Dominique Foxworth rant on Tuesday Morning like what i saw on Get Up yesterday.

And there's rumblings Buffalo doesn't play this weekend, so i'll ask 1 more question for enquiring minds.
Should Buffalo watch KC win Sat Night and knowing that winning % might be the final verdict which would make the game vs the Patriots meaningless and rather than play it like preseason and risk injuries to anyone on the field, just dial down into the mental health vein and inform the NFL that you all will be ready to roll when Wildcard weekend starts? Just tell us where we are flying into, looks like Jacksonville possibly...you catch my drift?
Why risk further injuries if Sunday doesn't count? You can't just play scrubs, there still will be starting players that shuffle into the game, all things considered, they can make their own Bye week this week and just get ready for JAX/TEN
They're not going to Jacksonville. Bills would have a home game.
 
Also, I think we all need to recognize that now that this Pandora's box has been opened, it will be opened again in the future. The next time a player suffers a spinal cord injury -- and there will be a next time -- this game is going to be invoked as a precedent for shutting it down. That's workable if the league has a parsimonious procedure in place for dealing with a canceled game. It can't be the league making it up as they go along every 3-4 years.
I think this incident was different than most injuries as the Hamlin was in cardiac arrest and his life was being saved on the field. I think suspending the game that night was the right call and necessary given that scenario. The look on players & coaches faces was unlike anything I had ever seen before in relation to an on field injury.

However, now that Hamlin is stable (even though still critical condition) this now shifts to be more like a paralysis situation which hasn't caused this kind of turmoil.

This is a very unfortunate situation but at this point it seems to fall in line with other serious injuries that players risk all the time and teammates play through all the time. It's why I think the game should have been played tonight once Hamlin was deemed to be in critical yet stable condition early Tuesday.
Everybody keeps saying that this situation is unprecedented, but not only is it not unprecedented, it's not even unprecedented for the Buffalo Bills. What's unprecedented is the decision to postpone the game. Somebody should have thought one step ahead before making that decision.

One step ahead of???

Who is complaining?
 
Question IK if you don't mind

What happens if that's a 1:00 game on CBS this past Sunday?
-ESPN, Primetime, Suzy Kolber and Adam Schefter exchanging tissues back and forth, Joe Buck being Joe Buck in the booth
I'm not trying to make light of the injury, simply wondering what happens? Is the game stopped in the same manner? I want to believe so but I'm not totally sure and I don't know if I see the same Dominique Foxworth rant on Tuesday Morning like what i saw on Get Up yesterday.
No problem, MOP. I know you're going from a place of good faith in all of this. I think our society's expectations involving mental health, resiliency, and grit have changed a lot in just the last two years. We've seen that all over the place, not just in the NFL. For some reason, we've decided without any real discussion that grown adults shouldn't be expected to dust themselves off and get back on their bike after scraping their knee. I have a theory about why that is, and it isn't the pandemic although that accelerated it, but this isn't the forum for it. I think if (God forbid) a player suffered a spinal injury on Sunday, the game would be stopped. See the over-the-top reaction to Skip Bayless's completely uncontroversial Tweet for further evidence in support of this conjecture.

And there's rumblings Buffalo doesn't play this weekend, so i'll ask 1 more question for enquiring minds.
Should Buffalo watch KC win Sat Night and knowing that winning % might be the final verdict which would make the game vs the Patriots meaningless and rather than play it like preseason and risk injuries to anyone on the field, just dial down into the mental health vein and inform the NFL that you all will be ready to roll when Wildcard weekend starts? Just tell us where we are flying into, looks like Jacksonville possibly...you catch my drift?
Why risk further injuries if Sunday doesn't count? You can't just play scrubs, there still will be starting players that shuffle into the game, all things considered, they can make their own Bye week this week and just get ready for JAX/TEN
If things play out in such a way that BUF-NE is meaningless for Buffalo, I imagine they'll sit most of their starters. That's just a guess and I don't really know, but I do not want Josh Allen playing a game in week 18 just for practice. I know that's bad for your team, but things like this happen in the final week of the season every year. If KC had lost to Houston the other week, it would be the exact same situation.
 
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If KC and Buffalo both win out this weekend then I think the game is more likely to be rescheduled
If Baltimore were to beat Cincinnati and the above also happens then the Buff/Cinci has a lot of impact

If KC wins and Buffalo were to lose to New England, the pressure to reschedule the Bills-Bengals game lessens quite a bit.
There's other scenarios too but I'm trying to keep it simple.

Imagine that everyone gets an extra week except Cin and Buff, a built in bye week across the board
They cut down on the 2 weeks in between Conference Championship and Super Bowl
I think the NFL kicked the can down the road by saying that the game would not be completed this week. They are waiting to see how W18 shakes out and see how important the BUF/CIN game really is to the overall playoff seeding before deciding if they will finish the game. If it is critical to seeding I think they play the game. I voted for Option 2 based on this scenario.
Is it that or the nightmare of moving 16 games back a week? It’s easier moving the playoff games back a week and having this finish in Week “19”.
 
One step ahead of???

Who is complaining?
I suppose complaints out of either Buffalo or Cincinnati would be the only real complaints that matter. If both teams are willing to accept the playoff seeding consequences of a missed game, or the potential that they end up playing a Week #19 game while their future opponents rest, then I suppose it should not matter to the rest of the league.
 

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