(01-06-2023, 01:35 AM)rfaulk34 Wrote: I'm just not willing to claim that we would have won the Buffalo game. I believe we would have, based on how they were playing, but there's no real guarantee.

I can't base my opinion on something that "might" have happened, so i'm basing it on where we are right now, going forward.

The Bengals also lost their very good shot at moving up to #2 by depending on themselves. Now that shot dpends on the Patriots in Buffalo. It's not about if they would have won or lost the Buffalo game it's about the opportunity to depend on the Bengals themselves to move up the seeding over needing help.


One team had to get screwed in this situation and the Bengals ended upgetting bending over. It is what it is. Not a surprise really.

(01-06-2023, 12:19 AM)rfaulk34 Wrote: They did not. 

1. The Bengals win the AFCN, win or lose due to a better win % in less games. Baltimore has no say in that. The Bengals benefit from playing and losing one less game. 

2. Buffalo has won one more game than the Bengals, in the exact same number of games played. If's and but's do not count here. The Bengals were ahead but did not win that game. It didn't happen. The fact of the matter is, they could have just as easily lost the game. 

What are you saying if the Bengals were one game better in the same number of games and the Bills were leading in a game that was cancelled. Let me tell you--you're saying "tough cookies" because we have the better record in the same number of games played. 

3. A coin flip only comes into play if Baltimore wins this Sunday and the results of this weeks games cause the Bengals and Ravens to be matched up in the WC round. A coin flip is fair because the Bengals benefitted from potentially losing one more game vs Bills. 

To wrap it up....the Bengals were not screwed in any way shape or form and if you think they were, you're not being genuine or honest. 

Agree with most of this. 

However, I do haveca beef. And maybe it is me missing something. I saw provisions gor nuetral site/coun flip for Bengals/Ravens, or AFC titie game involving KC/Bills/Bengals if week 18 results make the Bills v Bengals game relevant to the seeding. That's all fine. 

I did not see any of that fir a pitential Bengals/Bills matchup, which is absurd. 

(01-06-2023, 03:44 AM)Isaac Curtis: The Real #85 Wrote: Agree with most of this. 

However, I do haveca beef. And maybe it is me missing something. I saw provisions gor nuetral site/coun flip for Bengals/Ravens, or AFC titie game involving KC/Bills/Bengals if week 18 results make the Bills v Bengals game relevant to the seeding. That's all fine. 

I did not see any of that fir a pitential Bengals/Bills matchup, which is absurd. 

Agree with you here for the most part. If a Bengals/Bills game is played in Buffalo playoffs... I'd love to hear the NFL confirm the logic behind that. We're making the AFCCG neutral... but not a rematch between the very two teams involved, when the initial game would have decided who gets the #2? I mean.... jesus. That's a shockingly bad decision if true.

For those saying we're getting hosed by the decision regarding the Ravens though... I disagree with you. At no time have we locked up the division. We hadn't won it. I'm not sure I agree with a coin flip being the best route, but I do agree that if we lose to them on Sunday, we've won the same number of games but they've swept us and have the better divisional record. There was nothing to confirm we'd have gone on to win the Buffalo game, no matter how good we looked for nine minutes.

It's frustrating if they don't make the Bills rematch a neutral site game or something, but that's the only element of this I'd be particularly unhappy with. The rest of it is... not ideal, but it never was going to be. Maybe this lights a fire under our team if they feel we've been hard done by. It weirdly might be what we need.

(01-06-2023, 06:20 AM)TheCincinnatiKid Wrote: Agree with you here for the most part. If a Bengals/Bills game is played in Buffalo playoffs... I'd love to hear the NFL confirm the logic behind that. We're making the AFCCG neutral... but not a rematch between the very two teams involved, when the initial game would have decided who gets the #2? I mean.... jesus. That's a shockingly bad decision if true.

For those saying we're getting hosed by the decision regarding the Ravens though... I disagree with you. At no time have we locked up the division. We hadn't won it. I'm not sure I agree with a coin flip being the best route, but I do agree that if we lose to them on Sunday, we've won the same number of games but they've swept us and have the better divisional record. There was nothing to confirm we'd have gone on to win the Buffalo game, no matter how good we looked for nine minutes.

It's frustrating if they don't make the Bills rematch a neutral site game or something, but that's the only element of this I'd be particularly unhappy with. The rest of it is... not ideal, but it never was going to be. Maybe this lights a fire under our team if they feel we've been hard done by. It weirdly might be what we need.

Not just that, but in a game between the Chiefs and Bengals, when the Chiefs are the #2 seed and the Bengals the #3 seed (Chiefs lose, Bengals and Bills win), then there is no coin flip. That game is in Arrowhead. Same 1/2 game difference. Different rules. One benefitting Ravens. One benefitting Chiefs.

(01-06-2023, 09:38 AM)Nepa Wrote: Not just that, but in a game between the Chiefs and Bengals, when the Chiefs are the #2 seed and the Bengals the #3 seed (Chiefs lose, Bengals and Bills win), then there is no coin flip. That game is in Arrowhead. Same 1/2 game difference. Different rules. One benefitting Ravens. One benefitting Chiefs.

Yep, a good point made here too.

To my mind, any game involving the current top 3 seeds, should just be neutral. Screws somebody out of the #1 seed, but we had no idea who that would be anyway.

1: Bengals will be the only division winner in the NFL without a guaranteed home game
2: a #3 seeded Bengals puts us in Buffalo for the 2nd round despite the direct seeding impact of the canceled game...why isn't this game decided on a coin toss or placed on a neutral field. No team will ever do the right thing ever again. They could have forced a Bills forfeit and didn't
3: Bengals receive the 2023 1st place schedule despite not being guaranteed any of the benefits. If Baltimore wins a coin toss then they should get the 1st place schedule that goes along with it.
4: The Brown family and Cincinnati community miss out on the MILLIONS of dollars of economic impact playoff games have. This is compounded by losing revenue from Monday's canceled game

(01-06-2023, 09:50 AM)pally Wrote: 1: Bengals will be the only division winner in the NFL without a guaranteed home game
2: a #3 seeded Bengals puts us in Buffalo for the 2nd round despite the direct seeding impact of the canceled game...why isn't this game decided on a coin toss or placed on a neutral field.  No team will ever do the right thing ever again. They could have forced a Bills forfeit and didn't
3: Bengals receive the 2023 1st place schedule despite not being guaranteed any of the benefits.  If Baltimore wins a coin toss then they should get the 1st place schedule that goes along with it.  
4:  The Brown family and Cincinnati community miss out on the MILLIONS of dollars of economic impact playoff games have.  This is compounded by losing revenue from Monday's canceled game

Good points.

And add un #2. A #3 seeded Bengals team puts us in Arrowhead if the Chiefs are the #2 seed, even though there is the same 1/2 game difference that occurs in a potential Ravens game, where a coin-flip determines home field.

(01-06-2023, 09:53 AM)Nepa Wrote: Good points.

And add un #2. A #3 seeded Bengals team puts us in Arrowhead if the Chiefs are the #2 seed, even though there is the same 1/2 game difference that occurs in a potential Ravens game, where a coin-flip determines home field.

exactly....if they use the same reasoning  that  since the Ravens won the season matchup they are being compensated.   Well, the Bengals won the season matchup with the Chiefs, but not the same consideration?

(01-06-2023, 09:50 AM)pally Wrote: ...  No team will ever do the right thing ever again.

I think this is something pretty important that is being overlooked.
The current scenario sets a bad precedent that will dis-incentivize teams to "do the right thing" should something like Hamlin's situation ever happen again.

(01-06-2023, 01:35 AM)rfaulk34 Wrote: I'm just not willing to claim that we would have won the Buffalo game. I believe we would have, based on how they were playing, but there's no real guarantee.

I can't base my opinion on something that "might" have happened, so i'm basing it on where we are right now, going forward.

Exactly. Those remarking that we would have for sure won the game on Monday night exactly like those who claim the game is over when we're behind in the first quarter in the GD thread. A football game lasts 60 minutes, and momentum swings both ways. Do I think we would have won, yes. Is it for sure we would have won, not even remotely. 

Idk how you can read that proposal and not think we’re getting screwed. Buffalo and Baltimore both get the benefit of the doubt but we do not.

(01-06-2023, 11:55 AM)Garrus Wrote: Idk how you can read that proposal and not think we’re getting screwed. Buffalo and Baltimore both get the benefit of the doubt but we do not.

Easy. I put myself in the shoes of a Baltimore or Buffalo fan--or if that's too distasteful for you--put their situation on the Bengals, then i realize that any shafting is minimal, or not at all. 

Baltimore had no shot to win the division because they played and lost 1 more game. 
Buffalo was fortunate to have that game cancelled--in a very loose definition of "fortunate" involving only the play onfield--and, in the same number of games as the Bengals, have won one more game. 

We will never know if not playing that Buffalo game to its conclusion, was of more benefit to the bengals due to a loss of the actual game or even worse, a loss of a major player, i.e., Burrow. 

Anything in the world could have happened in that game. I choose not to simply ignore the bad things that could have happened and only point out the good things that could have happened.

(01-06-2023, 03:19 AM)Synric Wrote: The Bengals also lost their very good shot at moving up to #2 by depending on themselves. Now that shot dpends on the Patriots in Buffalo. It's not about if they would have won or lost the Buffalo game it's about the opportunity to depend on the Bengals themselves to move up the seeding over needing help.


One team had to get screwed in this situation and the Bengals ended upgetting bending over. It is what it is. Not a surprise really.

at this point all I can hope for now is that this really pissed them off and they are going to be extra EXTRA motivated to beat the sh$t out of everyone now.
We were on our way to put a pounding on Buff on Monday (and everyone knew that right before that awful play) and now we get a consolation prize of AFC N Champs? NFL and Goodell can go to hell 

(01-06-2023, 09:50 AM)pally Wrote: 1: Bengals will be the only division winner in the NFL without a guaranteed home game
2: a #3 seeded Bengals puts us in Buffalo for the 2nd round despite the direct seeding impact of the canceled game...why isn't this game decided on a coin toss or placed on a neutral field. No team will ever do the right thing ever again. They could have forced a Bills forfeit and didn't
3: Bengals receive the 2023 1st place schedule despite not being guaranteed any of the benefits. If Baltimore wins a coin toss then they should get the 1st place schedule that goes along with it.
4: The Brown family and Cincinnati community miss out on the MILLIONS of dollars of economic impact playoff games have. This is compounded by losing revenue from Monday's canceled game

This pretty much sums it up.

I almost always agree with rfaulk, but I guess not on this. The Bengals definitely got the least favorable outcomes of all these scenarios.

(01-06-2023, 11:47 AM)Sled21 Wrote: Exactly. Those remarking that we would have for sure won the game on Monday night exactly like those who claim the game is over when we're behind in the first quarter in the GD thread. A football game lasts 60 minutes, and momentum swings both ways. Do I think we would have won, yes. Is it for sure we would have won, not even remotely. 

Not what I said. I said, "The only way you can look at the current proposal and think the Bengals didn't get hosed is basing it off the assumption that we lose/lost both games." 

IDK if the Bengal's would have beaten the Bills nor do I know if we will beat the Ravens. But looking at the proposal at face value the only way you can make a case they didn't get hosed is if they did/will lose both games. No scenario if factored in with a "what if" the Bengals won

(01-06-2023, 01:21 PM)bfine32 Wrote: Not what I said. I said, "The only way you can look at the current proposal and think the Bengals didn't get hosed is basing it off the assumption that we lose/lost both games." 

IDK if the Bengal's would have beaten the Bills nor do I know if we will beat the Ravens. But looking at the proposal at face value the only way you can make a case they didn't get hosed is if they did/will lose both games. No scenario if factored in with a "what if" the Bengals won

That is my only gripe when it comes to Buff vs Cin in the future.

(01-06-2023, 12:56 AM)SouthernFan Wrote: Everyone is entitled to their opinion and as the saying goes everyone has one. I’m used to the Bengals getting the short end from the league. It appears that it is now Ok to ignore the rules simply because of inconvenience. The game should have been rescheduled as required by the rules and any other scheduling adjustments as necessary.

I feel exactly the same. The football world as well as the majority of the media in general were acting as if it were a foregone conclusion that Hamlin was a dead man walking (or laying in a bed on a ventilator) and if we didn't pray hard enough for him it was somehow our fault. Don't get me wrong, I feel for the kid and all, but playing football has inherent risks and death is always one possibility .. Well, he's quite alive now even if his future health may be in question.  Reschedule the game and adjust schedules as needed. The sport world seems to have decided to have one big collective moment of guilt over this with the only solution to be changing rules to ease some peoples' guilty consciousness's or desire to outdo each other with their own brands of piety and feeling the most sorry.
None of this makes a damned bit of sense in my mind. The NFL could easily moved the entire schedule up a week and let the chips fall where they may, but dollars and cents are being substituted with phony piety. Another day in magical thinking in my book..  The only people who should have had a say in this should have been the Bengals and Bills organizations.. Screw the rest of the league and their own money problems. 

(01-06-2023, 12:29 PM)rfaulk34 Wrote: Easy. I put myself in the shoes of a Baltimore or Buffalo fan--or if that's too distasteful for you--put their situation on the Bengals, then i realize that any shafting is minimal, or not at all. 

Baltimore had no shot to win the division because they played and lost 1 more game. 
Buffalo was fortunate to have that game cancelled--in a very loose definition of "fortunate" involving only the play onfield--and, in the same number of games as the Bengals, have won one more game. 

We will never know if not playing that Buffalo game to its conclusion, was of more benefit to the bengals due to a loss of the actual game or even worse, a loss of a major player, i.e., Burrow. 

Anything in the world could have happened in that game. I choose not to simply ignore the bad things that could have happened and only point out the good things that could have happened.

Not quite ANYTHING unless you're into magical thinking that somehow the spirit of Hamlin could have seeped out of his body to reincarnate into Jesus H Christ, superstar safety to save the day for Buffalo..  I'm not quite into that type of thinking.. 

My overall take on this is that the NFL has made it far more complicated than it needed to be. There were already rules in place to address this...which goes to Katie's point that there is no reason to make changes on the fly during the season. 

(01-06-2023, 11:47 AM)Sled21 Wrote: Exactly. Those remarking that we would have for sure won the game on Monday night exactly like those who claim the game is over when we're behind in the first quarter in the GD thread. A football game lasts 60 minutes, and momentum swings both ways. Do I think we would have won, yes. Is it for sure we would have won, not even remotely. 

Sure... the Bills came into the game with a depleted secondary, then lost 2 starters in the first 8 minutes after having zero answers for our offense.  The only question about. this game is by how much we would have won by....