Following a Friday meeting, the NFL’s proposal to modify the AFC playoff bracket in certain circumstances — in the aftermath of the Bills-Bengals game being ruled a no-contest — passed and will be implemented this season, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com reports (on Twitter).
Although the Bengals voiced persistent opposition, the proposal received the necessary 24 votes. The prospect of a neutral-site AFC championship game is now in play, along with a chance the Bengals and Ravens — in the event Baltimore defeats Cincinnati on Sunday — decide home field for a wild-card game via coin flip. The measure received 25 “yes” votes, according to Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio (on Twitter).
To recap, the NFL’s cancelling of Week 17’s Bills-Bengals game led to a series of adjustments being discussed. While it does not appear expanding the playoffs to prevent a potentially unearned bye gained traction, the neutral-site reality is a go. Here are the scenarios in which the neutral-site modification will take effect:
- Buffalo, Kansas City both win or both tie this weekend: Bills vs. Chiefs AFC championship is at neutral site
- Buffalo, Kansas City both lose, Baltimore wins or ties: Bills vs. Chiefs AFC championship is at neutral site
- Buffalo, Kansas City both lose, Cincinnati wins: Bills/Bengals vs. Chiefs AFC championship is at neutral site
This came about because the Bills (12-3) controlled their own destiny for the AFC’s No. 1 seed — a spot the franchise has not secured since 1993 — going into their Bengals matchup. By virtue of the no-contest ruling, the Chiefs (13-3) now have that path. Buffalo defeated Kansas City at Arrowhead Stadium this season, and because of the terrifying scene brought on by the Damar Hamlin injury and hospitalization, the NFL took a half-measure approach to account for this historically unusual postponement-turned-cancellation.
The Chiefs can still earn the AFC’s bye with a win Saturday over the Raiders, but if they meet the Bills again in the playoffs, the game will not be in Missouri. The Chiefs losing in Week 18 and the Bills winning would send a potential AFC title matchup to Buffalo, however, as Kansas City would not gain an edge from Buffalo’s no-contest in that scenario.
The Bills and Chiefs have met in each of the past two postseasons. Both games occurred in Kansas City, with the Chiefs winning each matchup. If the Chiefs lose Saturday or if the neutral-site scenario comes into play, it will be the first time they have played away from Arrowhead Stadium in the AFC playoffs since Patrick Mahomes‘ starter tenure began in 2018.
Roger Goodell will determine the neutral site. Indianapolis surfaced as a candidate Thursday, but Ian Rapoport of NFL.com notes (on Twitter) prioritizing an outdoor venue became part of the discussion. As of Friday, the potential neutral site is not known. Ford Field is off limits, Rapoport adds, while NOLA.com’s Jeff Duncan confirms the NFL has not talked to Superdome officials (Twitter links).
On the AFC North front, the Bengals (11-4) have clinched the division title because their win percentage will eclipse the 10-6 Ravens’ regardless of what happens in the teams’ Sunday meeting. Had the Bills won Monday and the Ravens defeated the Bengals in Week 18, Baltimore would have won the AFC North. The NFL factored that outcome into this emergency proposal.
If the Ravens win this weekend and the two teams meet up in the wild-card round, then a coin toss with determine the home site. Goodell will supervise the toss. The Bengals are favored to beat the Lamar Jackson-less Ravens on Sunday, but if they lose, the first part of Friday’s changes would come into play.
Though Cincinnati could benefit from the neutral-site wrinkle, Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports reports Bengals ownership attempted to convince the league’s owners to vote down the NFL’s proposal. The competition committee approved the proposal Thursday, but one of its members — Bengals executive VP Katie Blackburn — dissented due to this change happening late in the season and not during the offseason. The NFL rulebook calls for win percentage to decide playoff seeding, in the event an uneven number of games are played. Then again, the league has not seen one of its seasons involve disparate game counts since 1935. In light of the Hamlin scene causing that streak to end, the competition committee to act.
“The proper process for making rule change [sic] is in the off-season,” Blackburn wrote, via ESPN.com’s Seth Wickersham. “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.”
Zac Taylor also voiced disappointment Friday the NFL is not going by win percentage. It is certainly understandable for the Bengals, who are known for voting against rule changes, to voice opposition; the change could hurt their chances of defending their AFC title. But Cincinnati is a seven-point favorite over a Tyler Huntley-quarterbacked Baltimore squad this week. Jackson was healthy when the Ravens defeated the Bengals. Taking care of business in Week 18 will remove the coin-flip component from these modifications.
The NFL expanded to seven-team playoff brackets per conference in 2020, after moving from five to six teams ahead of the 1990 season. But Friday marks the first in-season change to the playoff setup since 1982, when a players’ strike led to the league creating a 16-team field ahead of Super Bowl XVII. The AFC’s route to Super Bowl LVII will be quite confusing, should the favorites prevail.
Aaaaaand the Bengals get screwed.
Why don’t they have a scenario for Bengals win and the Bills/Chiefs lose? It is unlikely that either or both lose but it would give all three the same amount of wins.
After listening to the Bengals spend the week screaming that football doesn’t matter, including Katie abstaining from being involved in potential rule changes (which was her job)…the NFL took them at their word and screwed them. Honestly, Bengals need to look in the mirror as they got exactly what they asked for. As I said at the time…caring about the players health is not exclusive to the importance of the game. It was their job to care about both.
And yet, they’re still going to win this whole thing, barring having to play in a blizzard or fog
or mahomes
That’s a tsunami! Add it to the list…
Except they beat Mahomes the last three times.
Can you remind me how many times Mahomes has beat Joe?
I’m a Bears fan so I wouldn’t take my prediction too seriously. As far as the NFL is concerned I’m in a really dark place right now.
I’m seeing some deep discounts on Bears and Blackhawks merchandise so it’s not all bad…lol.
i dont even know dude but mahomes is really good and im not a fan
What does this even mean? How did the bengals get what they asked for? I think you can have compassion for what happened this week and also want a fair shake on the plans from here. None of this was anyone’s fault or doing. Honestly I think the Bengals get a raw deal here but I don’t have a better suggestion so it is what it is. Roll with it.
I can see both sides of this one (another instance where there just wasn’t a perfect solution). The thing that most surprises me is that it was an owners’ decision. I would have thought, all things considered, that the NFLPA would have had to be involved.
This. There was no perfect solution here, and that’s okay. Sometimes there just isn’t. It’s just a game. The important thing is Hamlin’s life was saved, and signs are positive in his recovery
Asterisky.
Typical outcome when people with money ‘fix’ a problem, make the solution complicated and uneven.
Neutral site = home team fans lose. Added expense and travel to attend.
Uneven record = advantage to top seeds and disadvantage to non division winners
As always ‘league’ still gets paid and nflpa pouts!
Sounds like you just don’t like any “people with money”
Sounds like you really believe people with money care about what you think or about you, in general
Don’t like you
Should have went by percentages. Only fair way to have done it
Cancel the pro bowl no one even cares about, push back the playoffs one week, play Bengals Bills next Sunday the 15th. EASY.
Then you’d have Bengals and Bill fans saying that whoever they play in the playoffs has a bye week that they don’t have
Not this Bills fan. Greatly prefer the game is made up. If this was a concern they could have played Bills Bengals this Monday and pushed the entire week 18 back to next week. No extra pre playoff bye and this Bills fan isn’t too worried about the Patriots getting an extra week to prepare for week 18. They didn’t want to go diwn that road. Fine. Would still prefer to get the game in, even if the rest of the playoff pool gets an extra bye.
Side question, these guys don’t lose a game check for the cancelation do they?
I would like your suggestion but you ignore the fact that these venues have other events scheduled with contracts and other monies in play.
NFL’s revenue > any other venue revenue
they just had thier bye week
Not really. They still played. No matter what happens, Bengals will always complain
I think if a 2nd round game between Bills-Bengals pops up..should’ve been moved to a Neutral site as well..
That’s unfair for the Bills
Its not unfair to the Bills because they have not earned the right to have a HFA over the Bengals. In fact if you look at how the betting odds were at that time, it was more likely than not, Bengals win that game based on where it was when it was suspended. Of course anything can happen. Bills could have won if down by 21. But Cincy was up by 4, at home and just had maybe a 22 yard play and a first down. Maybe 15 yards out of field goal range. So felt more likely than not game was about to be 10-3 or 14-3 Bengals. Which is not a guaranteed win of course. But FanDuel would have let you make more money if the Bills won than the Bengals won if you bet after that last play. So it was probable, not certain, that Cincy was about to earn the 2 seed if they could also beat Baltimore which is highly expected. So Cincy got an absolute screw job by the NFL. They deserve all this neutral site consideration too, especially if its them and the Bills because they were not given the opportunity to earn the advantage when they were on a great start to doing so and the NFL said we decide it stops and can never be continued. Which fits with how the NFL operates. Can they make a lot of money off the Bengals? Are the Bengals a staple moneymaker for the NFL? No. If it was the Cowboys or the Brady Belichick Pats or a strong Steelers or Packers team or a better Brady Bucs team they make sure those teams have no disadvantage. Bengals please. We will tip the scales against you and spin it some other way. Its such a joke too because its so likely they play again. Then Bengals scream from the rooftop how they got shafted. Absolutely under these dumb rules should be neutral site. But game should be played and then whoever wins hosts.
The Bills HAVE earned the right. They have only lost 3 games so far and the Bengals lost 4. The game was not played except for 9 minutes. You want to give the Bengals the victory? The Bills and Bengals will have played the exact same amount of games and the Bills have a 1 game lead. If the roles were reversed, I’m quite sure the Bengals would be complaining
Neutral field is not giving the Bengals the victory. If you give the Bengals the victory, then a Bills Bengals playoff game would be in Cincinnati. They are acknowledging that neither KC or Buffalo can be seen as higher than the other because they would not let the game be resumed. They just for some very strange reason chose not to do the same with Cincinnati. Buffalo, if you get in this spot because of actions we took, we will help you this way. Cincinnati, sorry, tough luck. We dont care how it impacted you. And it probably will be a situation unless Miami or Baltimore wins which is not the expectation. I expect Cincy to complain.
What you’re missing is that KC has played 1 more game than Buffalo. Buffalo and Cincinnati have played the exact same amount of games. They are being judged equally. KC and Buffalo aren’t because of the amount of games. Buffalo has a full game lead over the Bengals but KC only has a half game lead. That’s why if Baltimore would have beaten the Bengals yesterday, there would be a coin toss. The Bengals would be in the same situation as the Chiefs. Half game lead. It’s really quite simple. It’s based on facts and not assumptions
I wonder what the pre-season odds were for Detroit hosting a conference championship game.
Just have a double header at Lambeau. NFC and AFC, no matter which 4 teams get that far.
For the record, I don’t see GB doing so, and even if they did its not like home playoff games have provided much advantage lately.
2 games on the same day on grass in Frozen Wisconsin? That field would be dangerous to play on. The NFLPA would never agree to that
I’m sorry I didn’t consider all that when offering an already never-gonna-happen random idea.
However, can it be any worse than some of the surfaces players have complained about THIS year? Or a year or two back when a player literally picked up a pair of scissors that were laying on the Vegas (IIRC) field during a game?
The biggest joke of this situation will be Bengals stuck in the three spot if all 4 teams have 4 losses. They will have to play at KC and then play Buffalo at a neutral site. Makes no sense. If Chiefs lose tomorrow and Bengals win on Sunday, the Bengals are officially getting hosed… Bills and Chiefs tie and they play at a neutral site…
Try again.
If all 3 teams have 4 losses, the only way the Bengals play the Chiefs is in the AFC Championship, which, as mentioned in the article, would then be held at a neutral site
Bengals gifted AFC North. Fans of Bills, Chiefs or Bengals could lose chance of seeing AFC Championship in their own stadium. Neutral field is a joke. League really doesn’t care about the fans, only $$.
No wonder Goodell is booed everywhere he turns up.
Bullshit. NFL WANTS KC cuz Mahomes is their face of the NFL. Just not right.
At least Cinci or Buffalo wouldn’t have to play in KC. This whole thing will be a moot point if two of them don’t make it to this round.
If KC wins this week, it’s a moot point
I think it goes without saying that the game officials will be instructed to do whatever if takes to prevent the neutral site scenarios.
If the cowboys don’t have a home game that week it will be at Jerry’s world. Commission Jerry Jones won’t have it any other way
While I can see this happening, it would create another “wtf are you doing nfl”? scenario after they essentially agreed not to play it in a dome, for I assume weather-related reasons.
I can also see them picking Toronto or another city that’ll end up having a major snowstorm that causes postponement or last minute change of venue.
This useless idea can’t possibly compete with the NFL’s dumb plan, but since we’ve established that the result of Bengals/Bills game wouldn’t change playoff participants let’s go a step further and wipe the results of the Chiefs/Broncos game, the Steelers/Ravens and the Rams/Chargers.
This would leave the following records:
Chiefs 12-3
Ravens 10-5
Chargers 9-6
Bengals 11-4
Bills 12-3
Now all of the above would have their playoff seeding determined by 16 games instead of 17. Since all teams are losing the result of the same week, it’s fair, right?
2 of them were division games, and 1 involved teams from opposing conferences, while the Bills/Bengals was an out of division, but IN conference..so the league would argue that’s not fair for other tiebreaker possibilities. Plus, the other 3 teams all won, opening another argument.
Did these 2 face each other in preseason..? Then we could really get some good arguments going!
Indianapolis won’t get to host a neutral-site AFC Championship game. A report out of Indy says all hotel rooms are booked for that weekend as there’s a volleyball tournament with nearly 30,000 people expected to attend. Lucas Oil Stadium is one of the volleyball venues.
The city has already declined having the game there due to volleyball event.
Actually wouldn’t everything have been so much better had they called this an actual tie instead of just canceling it?
You do the math and report back to me.
Bengals get shafted. They are the division winners.
I have no problem with that as long as you believe that if Buffalo and Cincinnati both win Sunday and then face each other in the playoffs that that game should be played in Buffalo
Of course, the Bills have a better record.
The NFL needs to do something that does not benefit them financially making them look like lowlife scum of the Earth taking this cardiac arrest and turning it into a nice business opportunity. Finishing the game would not help them financially. No chance they do that. If they do this stupid neutral site thing, they should not allow any tickets to be sold. True no HFA for anyone. And no lining the pockets of NFL owners. Dont say we can think of nothing else at this time which was probably a statement prepared by a PR Firm and then come out wringing your hands like Scrooge McDuck hurting every team but KC and the NFLs new golden child Patrick Mahomes. Hurt everybody but themselves. NFL needs to take a hit or they look horrible. They are off to a horrible start. And continue to have a wretched reputation.
If an injury like this happened in the Super Bowl, would it be canceled?
Nope