Now What Happens?

[Dave Gray]

We seem to be on the opposite side of a lot of discussions today. Haha..


From what I'm reading, the NFL deemed it a no-contest.  That's what it means.  In boxing...they fight, someone breaks the rules and the fight has to be stopped, they call it a no-contest even though they fought and didn't finish.  From my understanding, it's literally what a no-contest mean -- they stop it and count it as if it never happened.

[Pappy13]

From what I'm reading, the NFL deemed it a no-contest.

That's not making it up as you go along? No one broke any rules. They didn't HAVE to stop the game. There's nothing in the rules about this situation. They are making it up as they go along.

[dolphins4life]

If the Chiefs win Saturday, they clinch the number one seed.

The Bills are 12-3.  The Bengals are 11-4.

According the playoff machine, if the Bills lose and the Bengals win, the Bengals get the Number 2 seed.

This gives Miami a glimmer of hope that the Bills will play hard against New England.

[DenverFinFan]

Honestly maybe they should have just continued the game, made the Bills forfeit or just cancel the next week entirely IDK.

I hate the 17 games an I hate the soon to be 18 games.

[EDGECRUSHER]

Honestly maybe they should have just continued the game, made the Bills forfeit or just cancel the next week entirely IDK.

I hate the 17 games an I hate the soon to be 18 games.

For PR reasons, they probably wouldn't make the Bills forfeit. Someone has to get the short straw and it's probably going to be them rather than several other teams moving things around.

[EDGECRUSHER]

They're voting on it today, but it looks like the seeding will be based off of win percentages and the only thing they are discussing are neutral sites and homefield. I think the Chiefs would be fine with the bye week and a neutral site in the Championship game if they face the Bills or Bengals. Or maybe just the Bills since the Bengals wouldn't be able to catch them if they win on Sunday. Details are scattered at this point.

I think the NFL would be wise to limit tickets to 50-50 for each team. Bills fans are as white trash and degenerate as they come, they will max out their Mother's credit card to buy a ticket and fly to a neutral site to watch the game. Don't want a stadium that is 95% Bills fans.

[DenverFinFan]

Well I guess that’s the best way they can handle it. There’s no way around it that certain teams got a little screwed but I suppose it is what is it.

I hope and it looks like Hamlin will recover, grateful for that but to be honest I hope Buffalo gets bounced out of the playoffs early.

On a different note I  was winning my fantasy league championship by about 70 points my opponent had Allen and one other guy from Buffalo so what now? I mean it’s minor in comparison but it’s not like that 125 I was set to win is nothing either.

[Spider-Dan]

I think the NFL would be wise to limit tickets to 50-50 for each team.

How would this work?

[Spider-Dan]

On a different note I  was winning my fantasy league championship by about 70 points my opponent had Allen and one other guy from Buffalo so what now? I mean it’s minor in comparison but it’s not like that 125 I was set to win is nothing either.

I don't play fantasy football, but aren't those leagues normally over before the final week of the season?

I would guess one of two outcomes:

1) erase week 17 from standings and use week 18 instead
2) retroactively end the league at week 16 and work backwards to determine who the champion would be

edit:  Actually, I think I have a better one... if week 18 is not normally used, then since BUF and CIN are both playing meaningful games against motivated opponents in week 18, if you have Bills or Bengals players on your FF squad, use their week 18 stats for week 17.

[EDGECRUSHER]

How would this work?

Probably by location. 40,000 tickets for people who live in whichever state this particular Kansas City is in (I hate that we have two). The other 40,000 for NY/NJ/PA people. Maybe season ticket holders get first cracks at it too. It won't be perfect but if it's going to be at a neutral site, they should try to make it without a significant fan advantage.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

I think it would be impossible for there to be a truly neutral site as the vast majority of non-aligned fans will be rooting for the Bills for the rest of the season.  Heck, I am a Patriots fan thru and thru, but part of me wants the Bills to be able to award the winning game ball to Damar Hamlin at the end of the game. 

[EDGECRUSHER]

I think it would be impossible for there to be a truly neutral site as the vast majority of non-aligned fans will be rooting for the Bills for the rest of the season.  Heck, I am a Patriots fan thru and thru, but part of me wants the Bills to be able to award the winning game ball to Damar Hamlin at the end of the game. 

Of course, but if they're going to go this route, they should at least try. They got what, 3 weeks to get this setup? With modern technology, should be done in a day.

[Spider-Dan]

It won't be perfect but if it's going to be at a neutral site, they should try to make it without a significant fan advantage.

The Super Bowl is at a "neutral site" and they don't do this for that.  Seems unnecessary to do it for the AFCCG.

[EDGECRUSHER]

The Super Bowl is at a "neutral site" and they don't do this for that.  Seems unnecessary to do it for the AFCCG.

The difference is the Super Bowl is always neutral while the Championship Game is always at a team's venue.

[Spider-Dan]

Right, but for that game which is always intended to be at a "neutral site," there is no significant effort made to maintain parity in the crowd.

So if the intention is for this year's AFCCG to be neutral, why would it need to be any "more neutral" than the annual Super Bowl?
In other words, if you think the existing standards the league uses every year for a "neutral site" game (that literally decides the league championship, no less) are not enough to provide crowd parity, why shouldn't they enforce such standards for the Super Bowl, too?

In short: if the existing "neutral site" rules are good enough for the Super Bowl, they should be good enough for the AFCCG, and vice versa.