01-03-2023, 02:06 PM
I want to preface by saying that this post is intended entirely for the purpose of discussing this topic, and is in no way meant to insinuate that this is more important than Hamlin's health.
With that said, there's no clean answer to this and the NFL is simply going to have to choose the least painful path.
1) The Bills and the Bengals each have games scheduled for Sunday at 1:00 PM. It's the last week of the season. The outcomes from Saturday's and Sunday's games affect playoff qualification and seeding. Even if yesterday's game was rescheduled for tomorrow, you're giving these teams three days of rest before they're right back to playing another game. Not feasible.
2) If you give both teams a tie, the Bengals win the AFC North by default. Baltimore will take issue.
3) If you give both teams a tie, the Bengals cannot finish any better than the #3 seed. They will take issue.
4) If you give both teams a tie, Kansas City gets the #1 seed. Buffalo will take issue.
5) If you simply take the score as it was (7-3) and declare the Bengals the winner, they take the #2 seed and Buffalo falls to #3. Buffalo takes issue.
Simply put, they can't conceivably reschedule this game and allow the Bengals and Bills enough rest time before their next scheduled games, not without completing shifting the post-season calendar. Maybe the NFL does that. I dunno.
And whether the game is declared for the Bengals, a tie, or a non-contest, someone's walking away upset.
With that said, there's no clean answer to this and the NFL is simply going to have to choose the least painful path.
1) The Bills and the Bengals each have games scheduled for Sunday at 1:00 PM. It's the last week of the season. The outcomes from Saturday's and Sunday's games affect playoff qualification and seeding. Even if yesterday's game was rescheduled for tomorrow, you're giving these teams three days of rest before they're right back to playing another game. Not feasible.
2) If you give both teams a tie, the Bengals win the AFC North by default. Baltimore will take issue.
3) If you give both teams a tie, the Bengals cannot finish any better than the #3 seed. They will take issue.
4) If you give both teams a tie, Kansas City gets the #1 seed. Buffalo will take issue.
5) If you simply take the score as it was (7-3) and declare the Bengals the winner, they take the #2 seed and Buffalo falls to #3. Buffalo takes issue.
Simply put, they can't conceivably reschedule this game and allow the Bengals and Bills enough rest time before their next scheduled games, not without completing shifting the post-season calendar. Maybe the NFL does that. I dunno.
And whether the game is declared for the Bengals, a tie, or a non-contest, someone's walking away upset.
Everything in this post is my fault.
