NFL: Bills-Bengals postponement impact on schedule discussion (UPD: Game cancelled)

[misterchainsaw]

No contest, not a tie. If they go that route, the Bills and Bengals will play 16 games this year and everything will go by winning percentage. Which yes, is functionally the same thing as a tie.

 

[TheMoreYouKnow]

I think it's an obvious Bills forfeit. Easy solution.

 

[mouser]

I think it's an obvious Bills forfeit. Easy solution.

The NFL suspended the game, not the Bills. Why should Buffalo be penalized with a forfeit?

 

[Blitzkrug]

I feel like the only choice will be to play the game either on short notice tomorrow night (80 minute flight isn't much assuming the Bills left all their shit in Cincy) or Wednesday.

Thursday is too far because of implications for week 18 and there's not much you can do to shuffle games around given CBS has both the Bengals and Bills games in said week.

Don't like the idea of the tie but at the same time i respect the players choice on whatever they decide is best.

 

[MikeyMike01]

Play the game on Wednesday. Move Bills/Bengals Week 18 games to Monday night.

 

[zombie kopitar]

Maybe they postpone till after week 18 to see if the game will make any difference by then?

I agree with this as the best solution, but no wiggle room before the playoffs makes it a straight nightmare, and I feel like it's almost guaranteed to affect seeding in some way....

 

[spintheblackcircle]

The game has to be played.

What if the AFC postpones the playoffs for a week and have the Bills/Bengals play the same day as the NFL Wild Card games? There are 2 weeks between the conference championship and Super Bowl, have the AFC Championship game be during the off-week before the Super Bowl.

It's messy, but it's the BEST way to make sure the Bills and Bengals have a chance to have a 'fair' game that can impact every playoff game.

 

[BB88]

The game has to be played.

What if the AFC postpones the playoffs for a week and have the Bills/Bengals play the same day as the NFL Wild Card games? There are 2 weeks between the conference championship and Super Bowl, have the AFC Championship game be during the off-week before the Super Bowl.

It's messy, but it's the BEST way to make sure the Bills and Bengals have a chance to have a 'fair' game that can impact every playoff game.

No matter what they decide it will have an affect on these playoffs.


Reading around I don’t know how you can demand the Bills to play this week.

 

[hatterson]

It would be so much easier if it was an irrelevant game, but it’s not.

If the Bills win and then win next week (a game in which they’re favored) they’re the 1 seed.

If the Bengals win, win against the Raiders next week, and the Chiefs lose, Cincy is the 1 seed.

If the Bills lose (either this rescheduled game or next week) and the Chiefs win, Chiefs are the 1 seed.

Obviously that potential home game in the AFC championship would be huge for either of the three teams.

That said, as a Bills fan I just don’t know what to feel/advocate for. Last night as things were happening, it didn’t matter at all. I legitimately would have rather the Bills forfeited than the game continue, so I was glad the NFL postponed it, but I don’t know what’s right to do at this point.

Wednesday is likely the only option on the calendar, but even that is going to be really hard both physically and emotionally on all the players, especially as news develops on Hamlin.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

The option that makes the most sense to me is to finish this game Wednesday or Thursday, push both of their week 18 games back to Monday or more likely Tuesday of that week to avoid going up against the college football championship, and then preemptively guarantee that their and their week 18 opponents’ respective first round playoff games gets played on Monday of wild card weekend. This is probably the pathway of least resistance as really the only argument against is that their respective final games next weekend would be played already knowing exactly what needs to happen to maximize their postseason chances, which is a pretty small price to pay for such an extenuating circumstance.

If not that, then declare the game a tie.

 

[Voight]

I doubt they will get away with not playing the game.

 

[wildthing202]

The NFL suspended the game, not the Bills. Why should Buffalo be penalized with a forfeit?

Their player, their fault......

Also they should just cancel the season while we're at it, who can play when this happened totally not saying this because his team got eliminated from the playoffs.

Not being serious so don't take it seriously.

 

[TheMoreYouKnow]

The NFL suspended the game, not the Bills. Why should Buffalo be penalized with a forfeit?

It depends on whether Buffalo left town on their own account or the NFL told them to go home. It seems like playing the game early today would have been by far the most practical way to do it.

 

[John Price]

It depends on whether Buffalo left town on their own account or the NFL told them to go home. It seems like playing the game early today would have been by far the most practical way to do it.

yeah but they all want back to buffalo

wonder if they resume this week or next

 

[NJDevs26]

It's impossible that it won't make a difference

Pretty much - in a best case, the Raiders beat the Chiefs and the Bills/Bengals win their Week 18 games so it doesn’t matter for Buffalo, but even then the #2-3 seed would be in the balance for Cinci. Or the Chiefs win and Bills lose rendering the matchup strictly for seeding. Any other scenario and the top seed/bye would be on the line.

 

[Tuggy]

Honestly no idea at this point what the NFL will/should do.

I think they'll need to see where Hamlin is at.

If his condition improves then maybe they play tomorrow but if he remains in critical condition then I don't know how the Bills play the game this week.

Hopefully today they get good news on Hamlin. Horrible situation for him and his family.

 

[hatterson]

Honestly no idea at this point what the NFL will/should do.

I think they'll need to see where Hamlin is at.

If his condition improves then maybe they play tomorrow but if he remains in critical condition then I don't know how the Bills play the game this week.

Hopefully today they get good news on Hamlin. Horrible situation for him and his family.

I think of the Eriksen stuff from a couple years ago. I think Denmark was able to go on with the game so quickly because the recovery (at least in a human level) looked good. He was able to talk to his teammates and let them know where he was at.

That obviously hasn’t, yet, happened with Hamlin. We can hope and pray he makes a full recovery, but I can’t fathom how a the team plays a game at NFL intensity if their teammate is still in a medically induced coma.

 

[TheMoreYouKnow]

I think of the Eriksen stuff from a couple years ago. I think Denmark was able to go on with the game so quickly because the recovery (at least in a human level) looked good. He was able to talk to his teammates and let them know where he was at.

That obviously hasn’t, yet, happened with Hamlin. We can hope and pray he makes a full recovery, but I can’t fathom how a the team plays a game at NFL intensity if their teammate is still in a medically induced coma.

What do you think happens in the factory where they make your clothes, phone, food etc. or a warehouse where they transport those items when a worker has a serious accident...that work needs to get done and will be done.

I've worked shifts in my life where co-workers were carted off by ambulances after accidents and 20 minutes later everyone was back at work.

We all get why in the immediate moment they didn't continue with the game, but Buffalo cannot use this incident as an excuse not to play football until they know the dude is well. If they do, they need to be prepared to take the Ls.

 

[GKJ]

I think of the Eriksen stuff from a couple years ago. I think Denmark was able to go on with the game so quickly because the recovery (at least in a human level) looked good. He was able to talk to his teammates and let them know where he was at.

That obviously hasn’t, yet, happened with Hamlin. We can hope and pray he makes a full recovery, but I can’t fathom how a the team plays a game at NFL intensity if their teammate is still in a medically induced coma.

The Denmark players did not want to continue.

 

[BB88]

The Denmark players did not want to continue.

They also looked way off

The situation was a bit different at the time, now there’s much more uncertainty.

& the players are having trouble with sleeping.
Game this week is the last thing they need

 

[GKJ]

They also looked way off

The situation was a bit different at the time, now there’s much more uncertainty.

& the players are having trouble with sleeping.
Game this week is the last thing they need

There was a measure of coercion in that, there was kind of a line drawn about being forced to forfeit, but they were critical of the decision afterwards.

 

[John Price]

 

[Troy McClure]

They're going to have Joe Burrow play Josh Allen in Madden.

 

[Halladay]

They're going to have Joe Burrow play Josh Allen in Madden.

I was going to suggest those two have a dance off but madden works.

 

[GKJ]

I have a hard time seeing them go forward with his condition still in the balance. The next nightmare worst-case scenario, apart from it actually happening, is that they’re playing the game and news breaks that he passes.