The AFC playoffs are going to look a little different this year and that’s because all 32 NFL owners voted to make two major changes to the playoffs.
After making the decision Thursday night to cancel the Bills-Bengals game, the NFL He also offered two proposals to modify the AFC playoffs and these proposals were officially voted on on Friday.
According to the first proposal that was voted on, the AFC Championship will now be played at a neutral venue if one of the following three scenarios is met:
- Scenario 1: If Buffalo and Kansas City both win or tie in Week 18, then a Buffalo vs. Kansas City’s championship game would be played at a neutral site.
- Scenario 2: If the Invoices and Chiefs both lose in Week 18 and Baltimore wins or ties with the bengals, then a Buffalo vs. Kansas City’s championship game would be played at a neutral site.
- Scenario 3: If Buffalo and Kansas City both lose and Cincinnati beats Baltimore, then a Bills or Bengals vs. The Chiefs’ championship game would be played at a neutral venue.
If necessary, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will determine the game site.
The NFL also gives the crows a chance to eventually host a wild card game even though Baltimore will finish in second place in the AFC North no matter what happens Sunday against the Bengals. Even if the Ravens won, that would put them 11-6, which would still be half a game behind Cincinnati, which would finish 11-5 with a loss.
In this scenario, the Ravens would not win the division even if they swept the Bengals AND had a better division record. To address this issue, the owners have approved a proposal that will call for a coin toss to determine the host of a possible Bengals-Ravens wild card game. The draw would only occur if the two scenarios below were met:
1. The Ravens beat the Bengals on Sunday, and…
2. The two teams must face each other in the round of jokers.
With both proposals now approved, that means the Bengals might not host a wildcard game even if they won the AFC North. Unsurprisingly, the Bengals were the only team to vehemently oppose both proposals. Bengals executive vice president Katie Blackburn even sent a memo trying to get teams to vote against the proposals, CBS Sports NFL insider Jonathan Jones reported Friday.
According to multiple reports, 25 owners voted yes – 24 votes were needed.
Due to the unprecedented nature of the situation, Goodell knew that not all teams would be happy with the solution ultimately offered by the NFL.
“When we looked at the football schedule, our principles have been to limit disruption to the league and minimize competitive inequalities,” Goodell said when explaining why the league came up with these two proposals. “I recognize that there is no perfect solution. The proposal we are asking the property to consider, however, addresses the most significant potential fair issues created by the difficult, but necessary, decision not to play. playing in these extraordinary circumstances.”
The circumstances to which Goodell refers are the situation involving Damar Hamlin. The Bills and Bengals played for nearly nine minutes Monday night before the game was called off after Bills safety went into cardiac arrest on the field. After receiving CPR, Hamlin was Taken by ambulance to University of Cincinnati Medical Centerwhere he has been listed in critical condition for three days.
Although things looked dire when he was rushed to hospital on Monday, Hamlin has improved remarkably over the past 24 hours, with the Bills announcing on Friday that he is no longer on a breathing tube and that he even FaceTimes with some of his Bills teammates.
“It’s been a very tough week,” Goodell said in a statement. “We continue to be focused on Damar Hamlin’s recovery and are encouraged by the improvements in his condition as well as the tremendous outpouring of support and care for Damar and his family across the country.”
With Hamlin’s health improving, the NFL finally sat down to figure out how to fix the AFC playoffs and the above proposals are the two solutions it came up with.
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