The NFL has reached a decision on the AFC playoffs.
Sort of.
The league officially called off the remainder of the Bills-Bengals game, which was expected following the frightening Damar Hamlin situation. The league said they made the decision to cancel that game because not playing the game “will have no effect on which clubs qualify for the postseason.” Further, it would require the postponement of the playoffs by a week.
In other words, there won’t be an expanded postseason, as had been kicked around, and there won’t be a delay to the postseason schedule.
Had Monday’s game been completed, the winner would have had a shot at the No. 1 seed in the AFC (the Bills still do, while the Bengals do not). As a result, the league said it will play the AFC Championship at a neutral site if the participating teams played “an unequal amount of games and both could have been the No. 1 seed and hosted the game had all AFC clubs played a full 17-game regular season.”
In short, if Buffalo and Kansas City both win, both tie, or both lose, there would be the potential for a neutral site AFC championship game.
-If the Bills and Chiefs both win or both tie, a Bills-Chiefs championship game would be at a neutral site.
-If the Bills and Chiefs both lose and the Ravens win or tie, a Bill-Chiefs championship game would be at a neutral site.
-If the Bills and Chiefs both lose and the Bengals win, a Bills-Chiefs or Bengals-Chiefs championship game would be at a neutral site.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell recommended the plan, which was approved Thursday by the Competition Committee, per the statement. Owners now will vote on the proposal in a special league meeting Friday.
The release also notes that if the Ravens beat the Bengals in Week 18, it will be twice this season that they have beaten Cincinnati. That would technically give them the tiebreaker advantage, however the Ravens couldn’t host a playoff game because the Bengals’ 16-game win percentage would still be higher than the Ravens’ 17-game win percentage.
In the event the Bengals lose to the Ravens and they ended up slotted to play each other in the Wild Card round, the site would be determined by a coin toss. If the Bengals win or they don’t run into the Ravens in the the wild card round, normal hosting standards would apply.
The Bills are scheduled to play the Patriots, who need to win in order to make the playoffs, on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET, the same time as the Ravens-Bengals game.
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