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NFL Playoffs - Now What?
self | jimjohn

Posted on 01/03/2023 9:33:41 AM PST by jimjohn

[Note: for those who could care less about the NFL or football in general in this forum, you can skip this thread]

Oh, to be in the board room of the National Football League right now. All thought are on the player Damar Hamlin. Our thoughts and prayers go out, and this Bills fan has been receiving support from around the country from friends and family. But with that said, it’s going to be asked: What to do with the rest of the NFL season?

[Full disclosure: Bills fan for 43 years]

The complications are manifested by the importance of the game itself when it comes to playoff positioning. A Buffalo win meant a win the following week guaranteed home-field advantage. A Cincinnati win would clinch the AFC North Division with the possibility of home field advantage as well. With Monday’s game postponement, not only is all of that in chaos, but it can also effect 11 of the 16 AFC teams now in playoff position.

Question: Assuming at least one team (The Buffalo Bills) may not be up to (or unable to be) playing this weekend against the New England Patriots (God forbid where their heads may be on Sunday), how to determine playoff positions?

It is impossible to avoid slighting a football team, but here is one possible scenario:

1. Declare the Bills-Bengals game a tie. It will not be rescheduled.

The 4 AFC division winners have clinched playoff spots. The only division winner in question is Bengals or Ravens in the AFC north, who play next Sunday. This game should go on as scheduled. We’ll get back to this game in #2.

2. Give the Buffalo Bills a bye this Sunday. Instead of Cleveland going to Pittsburgh, send the New England Patriots (scheduled on the road to Buffalo) to Pittsburgh. Winner makes the playoffs. Loser is out. If there is a tie, the Dolphins make the playoffs with a win. A Dolphins loss means loser of the Bengal-Ravens game gets in as a wild card. We’ll go ahead a give Cleveland a win for the record books, but their season is over.

3. Now, about the division winner seeding: A Chiefs win gives Kansas City top seed, with Buffalo guaranteed a #2 seed, Bengals-Ravens winner get #3 seed. A KC loss gives Bengals top seed with a win over the Ravens, but a KC loss and a Bengal loss gives Buffalo the #1 seed.

In short, by adjusting the last week of the NFL schedule, we give the Buffalo Bills time to regroup without having to send the season into an extra week in mid-January (that's not fair to anyone).

I know some will say it’s even ghoulish to think about it right now, but next Sunday - the final week of the regular season is right around the corner, and they gotta come up with something fast.

Just my $0.02


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Sports; Travel
KEYWORDS: bills; breadandcircuses; buffalo; damarhamlin; football; hamlin; nfl; whocares
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To: God luvs America

At the time of the injuries, no one really knew how bad the injury was and in most cases the games continued.


61 posted on 01/03/2023 10:47:13 AM PST by srmanuel ( )
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To: 1Old Pro
4) Bills forfeit the game.

Agreed.
62 posted on 01/03/2023 10:47:39 AM PST by mmichaels1970
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To: mmichaels1970

Is there a minimum time for this to be considered a NFL game?

Kind of like 6 innings in baseball.


63 posted on 01/03/2023 10:48:28 AM PST by woodbutcher1963
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To: srmanuel

Except last night they needed to resuscitate the “injured” player with CPR and other life saving measures. That never happens in the NFL.

Stop trying to compare this to previous “injuries”- there is no comparison.


64 posted on 01/03/2023 10:49:43 AM PST by God luvs America (63.5 million pay no income tax and vote for DemoKrats...)
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To: woodbutcher1963

Nothing like that in the NFL or college football


65 posted on 01/03/2023 10:50:31 AM PST by God luvs America (63.5 million pay no income tax and vote for DemoKrats...)
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To: jimjohn

Prior to 9-11 the Superbowl wasn’t always 2 weeks after the conference games. Some times, including that season, it was just 1, no media week gap. Then of course they postposed that entire week and had to move the SB, which involved paying a whole lot of people who were hitting the hotels in New Orleans the week “after” the SB to change their plans. The NFL has tons of money so no big deal, other than the logistics. Ever since then we’ve had that media week, I suspect largely so that they can “bump” a week if something major happens without having to go through all those phone calls. So I’m betting the playoffs will be pushed a week, and this game will be redone in that gap. They’ll probably move the probowl from that gap sunday to the thursday before the SB.


66 posted on 01/03/2023 10:51:46 AM PST by discostu (like a dog being shown a card trick)
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To: jimjohn

https://freerepublic.com/focus/chat/4120544/posts?page=194#194

I suggested a 2-3 pause and safety hearings. But DugwayDuke said “absurd” with no rationale, so “the vax narrative” has spoken.


67 posted on 01/03/2023 10:53:48 AM PST by ReaganGeneration2
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To: woodbutcher1963
Is there a minimum time for this to be considered a NFL game?

I don’t think anything less 60 minutes is considered a full game. Therefore, I’d call it a forfeit which results in a score of CIN: 2, BUFF: 0.

Sucks and I hate the Bengals. But they were winning and if you aren’t rescheduling, you shouldn’t declare a tie when one team had out scored another. Especially since both teams had an opportunity with the ball. A forfeit is the cleanest way to go. And if football isn’t the important thing now, like the teams are saying, they shouldn’t have an issue with it.
68 posted on 01/03/2023 10:55:14 AM PST by mmichaels1970
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To: jimjohn
The NFL would welcome any opportunity to delay the start of the playoffs.

It's no big secret that the NFL has been working for years to extend the season and the playoffs so that the Super Bowl is played on the Sunday before President's Day every year. Right now they're only off by one week.

69 posted on 01/03/2023 10:55:19 AM PST by Alberta's Child ("It's midnight in Manhattan. This is no time to get cute; it's a mad dog's promenade.")
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To: discostu

The other reason the NFL went to the two week gap was to give the players time to recover from any injuries they had during the playoffs. This way the two teams in the SB would potentially at their best to compete in the game.

It also gives everyone time to fill up their SB squares.


70 posted on 01/03/2023 10:58:21 AM PST by woodbutcher1963
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

That’s what I said too.


71 posted on 01/03/2023 11:00:18 AM PST by Tommy Revolts
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To: woodbutcher1963

That was their statement. But I never bought it. Largely because we got all the way to 2002 with sometimes and sometimes not. And historical the games with the gap were generally sloppier. It wasn’t until they had to postpone the Superbowl that the gap became permanent. But nobody is going to say in their public statement “delaying the SB was a pain in the butt, so we’ll make the gap permanent in case we ever have to postpone a week again”. Player safety health makes a much better public statement.


72 posted on 01/03/2023 11:03:51 AM PST by discostu (like a dog being shown a card trick)
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To: God luvs America

I guarantee if he was in convulsions, that would shake anyone up who witnessed it. There’s no way you could mentally go back to playing after that.


73 posted on 01/03/2023 11:07:15 AM PST by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: jimjohn

How many millions of dollars was on the line for this game? What then?


74 posted on 01/03/2023 11:09:23 AM PST by Tommy Revolts
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To: God luvs America

You think a broken neck is more or less severe than a heart attack, here is a description of Drew Bledsoe’s injury.

Bledsoe was rushed to the hospital where it was discovered that Lewis’ hit had sheared a blood vessel in his chest, causing a hemothorax that had him bleeding a pint of blood an hour. It was a near-fatal injury and Steinberg revealed the effect such incidents have on agents and people within the player’s close circle.

As I mentioned UF basketball player Keyontae Johnson suffered a cardiac arrest on the basketball court during a game versus FSU, the game continued.

Here is a video of the incident.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hN7hZc26ZVw

As I said it’s somewhat rare, but this type of thing has happened before and usually the game continues.

To say there is no comparison is simply inaccurate and uninformed.


75 posted on 01/03/2023 11:11:50 AM PST by srmanuel
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To: dfwgator

As I posted- I was at the game Dennis Byrd broke his neck and was paralyzed. This was 1992, no social media and no internet. You could tell from the reaction of his teammates, which was similar to what you saw last night, something really, really bad had happened. It later came out that several of the Jets players could not go back into the game because they were so shaken up.


76 posted on 01/03/2023 11:14:52 AM PST by God luvs America (63.5 million pay no income tax and vote for DemoKrats...)
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To: srmanuel

I remember there was a game against Mississippi State, their defensive lineman suffered a broken leg, and died a few days later at Shands from a blood clot.


77 posted on 01/03/2023 11:16:31 AM PST by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: srmanuel

You’re embarrassing yourself. They had to defib Hamlin on the field last night. I was at the game Dennis Byrd broke his neck and was paralyzed. It did not compare to what happened last night.


78 posted on 01/03/2023 11:16:55 AM PST by God luvs America (63.5 million pay no income tax and vote for DemoKrats...)
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To: God luvs America

I remember Utley, and his “thumbs up”. Lions were really good that year, and made the NFC Championship Game for the only time in their history.


79 posted on 01/03/2023 11:18:17 AM PST by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: dfwgator

Here is an article about that injury.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1991-10-04-9110040251-story.html

Ask yourself if the injury from last night happens during the Super Bowl, would game get called off or would they continue to play ??

You know 100% for sure the game would continue.


80 posted on 01/03/2023 11:19:50 AM PST by srmanuel
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