What would you like to happen?

[CJD]

(01-03-2023, 12:06 PM)WeezyBengal Wrote: The more I think about it the more I think that this just doesn't happen. This would **** so many teams over. You think the Ravens owners wouldn't have something to say about this? It basically hands Cincy the division, a home playoff game, and millions of dollars in revenue. 

There is just no way that they can't NOT play this game. Too many things involved. The NFL needs to schedule it and if Buffalo doesn't want to play, they always have the option to forfeit. 

I'm not sure the NFL is willing to put the villain mask on that abrasively. Forcing a grieving team to pick between playing when they're not ready or a loss would be universally panned across the NFL and country. You saw the backlash that occurred when the announcer said they were going to give the teams 5 minutes to warm up and then the NFL back pedaling, swearing they definitely didn't give that order, scout's honor.

A tie primarily screws over the Bengals and Bills, as the Bills would lose the #1 seed and the Bengals would be locked into the #3 seed (Unless Buffalo loses to New England in week 18). It technically screws over the Ravens too, but they'd be cast as villains if they protested, especially since they were likely to lose against us anyway since Lamar still isn't practicing and Harbaugh said he doesn't know if he'll practice this week either. It seemed to me like they were setting up to just rest Lamar until the playoffs anyway, so any protest from them would definitely come off as bad faith and an attempt to turn a tragedy into a gain for them, which would not be received well.

Honestly, I think the most fair outcome would be to just award the win to the Bengals, as I said in my 2nd option (forfeit due to injury), but the optics on that aren't great either.

No one wins in this scenario but I think the least damaging outcome overall is either a tie or a Bengals win.