The fix is in

[cincygrad]

For those that believe the league influences outcomes..... Keep in mind what the league has in play for a KC/Buffalo championship game - A game they wanted desperately ever since the last one ended last January.

 

[cincygrad]

I think the Bengals were just called for holding..... Wait, the game hasn't started yet?

 

[CrashDavisSports]

For those that believe the league influences outcomes..... Keep in mind what the league has in play for a KC/Buffalo championship game - A game they wanted desperately ever since the last one ended last January.

I believe it fully.

We will be playing two competitors on Sunday, the Bills and the refs.

 

[futballiscool]

Not this year for obvious reasons but I actually like the idea of neutral sites for conference championship games going forward. With the new 7 team playoff format the 1 seed gets such a huge advantage with a bye that everyone in contention will still go all out for that seed. Once you make it to a conference title game make it a level playing field like the SB

 

[futballiscool]

The way the NFL handled this was very strange. The Bengals/Ravens was potentially subject to a coin flip for home field advantage, a Chiefs/Bills AFC game is played in a neutral site if it happens, but no impact on the Bills/Bengals divisional round? Makes absolutely zero sense

 

[CrashDavisSports]

The way the NFL handled this was very strange. The Bengals/Ravens was potentially subject to a coin flip for home field advantage, a Chiefs/Bills AFC game is played in a neutral site if it happens, but no impact on the Bills/Bengals divisional round? Makes absolutely zero sense

Supposedly because they had the same number of games played and the Bills had 1 win more.

 

[cincygrad]

Not this year for obvious reasons but I actually like the idea of neutral sites for conference championship games going forward. With the new 7 team playoff format the 1 seed gets such a huge advantage with a bye that everyone in contention will still go all out for that seed. Once you make it to a conference title game make it a level playing field like the SB

I think the league likes it as well. It also eliminates any potential issues with weather. The league didn't build itself on QB play only to watch two superstars throw 12 times in a game due to 50 mph winds and snow. It doesn't look like this will be a factor this week, but it's going to be a factor sooner or later in Buffalo.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

I think the league likes it as well. It also eliminates any potential issues with weather. The league didn't build itself on QB play only to watch two superstars throw 12 times in a game due to 50 mph winds and snow. It doesn't look like this will be a factor this week, but it's going to be a factor sooner or later in Buffalo.

I can appreciate that take.

 

[futballiscool]

I think the league likes it as well. It also eliminates any potential issues with weather. The league didn't build itself on QB play only to watch two superstars throw 12 times in a game due to 50 mph winds and snow. It doesn't look like this will be a factor this week, but it's going to be a factor sooner or later in Buffalo.

It's an early forecast but looks like they're might be measurable snow during the game. Not sure who that favors as both teams are pass first

 

[DanBengalfan]

they told KC and Buf to go ahead and start selling tickets on the assumption the Bengals were going to lose.

this is unprecedented I think.

I distinctly heard an announcer slip and say that the Bengals would lose in Buffalo when he meant the Bengals will go to Buffalo. I guess that could have been an innocent slip of the tongue though.

thing is, the AFC is a three headed monster now, although whoever wins the AFC North is not as predictable. we're the best team, but Baltimore is capable (with Lamar), Cleveland might improve with a full season with a franchise QB, and Pittsburgh will likely come back again.

 

[alf8478]

they told KC and Buf to go ahead and start selling tickets on the assumption the Bengals were going to lose.

this is unprecedented I think.

I distinctly heard an announcer slip and say that the Bengals would lose in Buffalo when he meant the Bengals will go to Buffalo. I guess that could have been an innocent slip of the tongue though.

thing is, the AFC is a three headed monster now, although whoever wins the AFC North is not as predictable. we're the best team, but Baltimore is capable (with Lamar), Cleveland might improve with a full season with a franchise QB, and Pittsburgh will likely come back again.

I think that's just common sense, you can't wait until 9pm Sunday night after the games to put AFCCG tickets on sale, the system will crash like people trying to get Taylor Swift tickets.

And for what its worth the Bills are selling tickets for a home AFCG.

The fix is definitely in, but not because of tickets being sold.

 

[Hank Kingsley]

The way the NFL handled this was very strange. The Bengals/Ravens was potentially subject to a coin flip for home field advantage, a Chiefs/Bills AFC game is played in a neutral site if it happens, but no impact on the Bills/Bengals divisional round? Makes absolutely zero sense

It is fucked up. I agree.

Had Cincy won the Monday night game they would have had home field correct?

That game should have been finished same day.

Last Monday we got to see a guy (Gage) become a possible quad, everybody stood around all concerned (rightly so) and on the scoreboard the game was done. No way for TB to come back. Very little time on clock.

But they finished that game.

 

[DanBengalfan]

yea, I still say that some teams in the league, but only a few, would only accept a forfeit, they wouldn't agree to cancel the game.

 

[futballiscool]

It is fucked up. I agree.

Had Cincy won the Monday night game they would have had home field correct?

That game should have been finished same day.

Last Monday we got to see a guy (Gage) become a possible quad, everybody stood around all concerned (rightly so) and on the scoreboard the game was done. No way for TB to come back. Very little time on clock.

But they finished that game.

I don't know, I think that moment was such an intense trauma it would have been near impossible to finish that night. The football would have been bad and there's even a question of player safety.
Since it basically controlled the order of the top 3 seeds in the AFC I do think it should have been rescheduled, even if that meant shuffling other games in the playoffs to a later date and losing the bye before the SB

 

[Cincyfan78]

I don't know, I think that moment was such an intense trauma it would have been near impossible to finish that night. The football would have been bad and there's even a question of player safety.
Since it basically controlled the order of the top 3 seeds in the AFC I do think it should have been rescheduled, even if that meant shuffling other games in the playoffs to a later date and losing the bye before the SB

Moving the games was a non-starter - it was a near logistical impossibility.

The games are what they are - and I actually have zero issue with how they decided to do the setup - other than I think KC should still host over Buff should they win.

Only issue I had was with the coin-flip for the Bengals/Ravens - which thankfully didn't matter.

This all could have been avoided if the NFL just followed its own rules that it already had on the books for a situation just like this.

 

[DanBengalfan]

Moving the games was a non-starter - it was a near logistical impossibility.

The games are what they are - and I actually have zero issue with how they decided to do the setup - other than I think KC should still host over Buff should they win.

Only issue I had was with the coin-flip for the Bengals/Ravens - which thankfully didn't matter.

This all could have been avoided if the NFL just followed its own rules that it already had on the books for a situation just like this.

Seems like rule changes in favor of other teams are ok.

 

[Cincyfan78]

Seems like rule changes in favor of other teams are ok.

The only rule that I think was unduly fair was the coin flip - I was not OK with that.

As for moving the games - if I was KC, I'd be pissed. I want that game at home. But, that game won't affect the Bengals.

You can't even really fault the Bengals for going to Buff - they played the same amount of games, and Buff won 1 more...sucks they didn't get to finish the 1 head-to-head to see if there could have been a tie, with a tie-break for the Bengals - but they did have the same opportunity with 16 games, so again - not really bothered about that.

The coin-flip, though, was a slap in the face at the Bengals ... that's the only one that really got me fired up.

 

[futballiscool]

Moving the games was a non-starter - it was a near logistical impossibility.

The games are what they are - and I actually have zero issue with how they decided to do the setup - other than I think KC should still host over Buff should they win.

Only issue I had was with the coin-flip for the Bengals/Ravens - which thankfully didn't matter.

This all could have been avoided if the NFL just followed its own rules that it already had on the books for a situation just like this.

The teams could have been given 24 hours to regroup then resume the game or they could have pushed the playoffs out a week on the AFC side and finished it during Wild Card Weekend. Both teams also could have declared the game a draw rather then a no contest. One team could have forfeited.
There wasn't a perfect solution but erasing the game wasn't the way to go IMO.

 

[Hank Kingsley]

I don't know, I think that moment was such an intense trauma it would have been near impossible to finish that night. The football would have been bad and there's even a question of player safety.
Since it basically controlled the order of the top 3 seeds in the AFC I do think it should have been rescheduled, even if that meant shuffling other games in the playoffs to a later date and losing the bye before the SB

I was all in favour of a week 19 and scuppering the off week before Super Bowl.

But they should have finished the game that day. If soccer players can do it, so can they.

 

[Cincyfan78]

The teams could have been given 24 hours to regroup then resume the game or they could have pushed the playoffs out a week on the AFC side and finished it during Wild Card Weekend. Both teams also could have declared the game a draw rather then a no contest. One team could have forfeited.
There wasn't a perfect solution but erasing the game wasn't the way to go IMO.

I don't see how the NFL was going to give everyone in the AFC an extra bye while forcing the 2 teams that had to deal with this trauma to complete the game - if logistics weren't already a nightmare on doing something like this - the PR on this move would have melted the NFL's face off.

If that weren't enough, half of the Buff team had already left - and if the argument for suspending the game was for the mental well-being of the players involved, 24 hours when he was still on life-support wasn't likely going to change that. You're not making a team stay in town for 2-3 days to "finish a game", in which they may or may not be able to even practice, and then force these teams to play 2-3 days later again on Sunday. NFLPA would not sign off on playing 2 games in 3 days - it took a decade+ for them to finally agree to Thursday night games...and even still players complain and the product is trash.

NFL players are not trained to play that many games in a short span, players already complain about Sunday/Thursday games - imagine trying to do 3 games in a normal week/10 day span in which the last of those games would have been a playoff game in which Buff and Cin players would have been completely depleted/exhausted to face those matchups. Talk about "unfair". I'll take the road game every single time before I would ever entertain the idea of playing a schedule like that - or giving other teams a "free" week bye before playing the Bengals - while the Bengals get no such advantage. Play the Ravens, off a bye week, in which the AFCN winner has to play, but the team in 2nd place doesn't? I mean, that's even LESS fair than what ended up happening. I'd take a straight trip to Bmore for the playoff game before I'd want that scenario to play out.

And - neither team was forfeiting - I mean - let's get real for a moment. That was less of an option than making these teams try and finish the game.

The no contest was 100% the right way to go - and there were already rules in place for such an issue. Where the NFL screwed the pooch was deciding they wanted to change those rules mid-stride - and allowed knee-jerk reactions and emotions to run their thought process.