Looking for a way to solve the AFC playoffs after Monday night Buffalo Bills-Cincinnati Bengals game canceledNFL owners have approved a resolution that will change the playoff structure.
NFL owners modify AFC playoffs
Monday night’s game was canceled after Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest in the first quarter. fortunately, Hamlin is recovering And he spoke to his teammates on Friday via video call.
Because this contest would have affected the AFC playoff seeding and standings, the NFL Competition Committee proposed several solutions to modify the playoff bracket. The resolution required the approval of 24 of the league’s 32 owners. Twenty-five voted “yes”, three or four voted “no” and the others abstained, for Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.
The first change will affect the venue of the AFC Championship game. Because the Chiefs, Bills and Bengals all had a shot at becoming number one in the AFC. 1 seed before Monday night’s game, the league will change the site of the AFC title match in certain scenarios:
- Buffalo and Kansas City both win or tie in Week 18 – a Buffalo vs. Kansas City’s championship game would be played at a neutral site.
- Buffalo and Kansas City both lose, and Baltimore wins or draws in Week 18 – a Buffalo vs. Kansas City’s championship game would be played at a neutral site.
- Buffalo and Kansas City both lose and Cincinnati wins in Week 18 – a Buffalo or Cincinnati v. Kansas City’s championship game would be played at a neutral site.
The NFL is still working on potential venues for a neutral-site AFC title game. Roger Goodell will ultimately make the final decision. Outdoor stadiums are being considered, as the Chiefs, Bills and Bengals all play outdoors, for NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
Additionally, the location of a possible Bengals-Ravens Wild Card game could be changed. If Baltimore beats Cincinnati in Week 18, they will have beaten the Bengals twice. Still, Cincinnati would still have a higher winning percentage as they will have only played 16 games.
If the Ravens beat the Bengals on Sunday and the Chargers beat the Broncos, Cincinnati and Baltimore would face off as the No. 3 and No. 3 6 seeds. In this case, a draw will determine the location of this Wild Card contest.
Breaking down AFC playoff changes
With those changes approved, Kansas City can still earn a first-round bye by beating the Raiders on Saturday. If the Chiefs win and the Bills lose to the Patriots in Week 18, any AFC title game involving the Chiefs will be played in Kansas City.
As for grabbing the No. 1 seed, the Bills were in control of their own destiny heading into Week 17. Had they beaten the Bengals on Monday night and New England in Week 18, Buffalo would have gotten the home-court advantage and a first-round bye. Now they’ll need a loss to the Chiefs on Saturday to hopefully get those benefits.
Meanwhile, the Bengals also had a chance to be the AFC’s top seed heading into Week 17. Had they beaten the Bills and Ravens to close out the season, Cincinnati would have needed a loss. against the Chiefs in Week 18 to claim the No. 1. 1 seed. Now they have no chance of claiming the first-round bye.
Bengals not happy with changes
The Bengals aren’t happy with the AFC’s new playoff format, and they have every right to be upset.
If Cincinnati loses to Baltimore on Sunday, the Ravens will be half a game behind the Bengals in the AFC North. Still, the location of a possible Ravens-Bengals Wild Card match will be decided by a coin toss as the teams will have played tied games.
Meanwhile, there is also a scenario where the Bengals finish half a game behind the Chiefs in the AFC standings and then face Kansas City in the Divisional Round. It’s an identical situation to Ravens-Bengals, but this potential game would be played in Kansas City – no heads or tails.
Also, there will be no draw if the Bengals face the Bills in the Divisional Round. Cincinnati controls its fate as the AFC’s No. 2 seed heading into Monday night. Had they won, the Bengals would have been seeded second ahead of the Bills.
The Bengals tried to convince NFL owners not to ratify the proposal, according to Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports. Cincinnati leader Katie Blackburn is on the NFL competition committee and submitted a memo saying the league should follow rules already in place, including that winning percentages determine seeding and home-field advantage in the case of a canceled match.
“The proper process to change the rules (sic) is out of season,” Blackburn wrote, by ESPN. “It is not appropriate to put teams in a position to vote for something that may introduce bias, favor one team over another or impact their own situation when the vote takes place immediately before the playoffs. playoffs.”
Speaking to the media on Friday, Bengals head coach Zac Taylor also claimed the changes were unfair to his team.
“Opportunities lost to us that we had a chance to control and that we no longer control,” Taylor said. Fine. But it seems that there are positives for a lot of teams and only negatives for us. We therefore have the possibility of playing for a coin flip which can only negatively impact us.
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