NFL Schedule Options After Last Night

[Sgt Schultz]

I figured I would start a new thread for this discussion.  Maybe it's me, but the other MNF thread should be reserved for discussion surrounding Hamlin's condition, prognosis, and talk related to last night.

I'll post my own ideas on what could be done with the schedule a bit later. 

[mav1234]

Thanks for starting this.

Lots of considerations.  This impacts seeding directly and who wins the AFC North.  But playing the game Wednesday would mean that both teams have a very short turnaround to other important games on Sunday, potentially resulting in significant swings in W/L.

[cookinbrak]

Finish the game tonight. And there will still be questions and second guessing.

[kungfoodude]

2 minutes ago, cookinbrak said:

Finish the game tonight. And there will still be questions and second guessing.

I think that is the MOST logical and least impactful to the schedule option.

But it would have been announced by now.

[Randolph Panther]

I would assume Wednesday would be the last day they could do it, unless they pushed the last game back to next Monday.  I am going to guess its played tomorrow night.

[SmokinwithWilly]

Just use this. 

[BIGH2001]

The only two options are playing tomorrow or declaring a tie in my opinion. A tie obviously creates a competitive disadvantage for the bengals especially but that seems the more likely choice at this point. 

Edited January 3, 2023 by BIGH2001

[KillerKat]

I think the best way to do it is the 12th or 14th after everyone has played their final week and move everything else back a week, possibly getting rid of the extra week before the Super Bowl if they dont want to move that back. Either that or go to a point system where whoever has the best differential between points scored and points given up through the season gets awarded the win. That way it takes into account the whole team effort that has taken place through out the year.

[Sgt Schultz]

While I was walking the dog this morning, I was thinking about how the NFL can handle the whole schedule mess and last night’s Cincy-Buffalo game.  Hey, it beats thinking about work when I am walking her.  This assumes they don't wedge the game in tomorrow night, and the timeline is getting tight for doing that.

There are 13 games in the NFL playoffs, including the Super Bowl.  Honestly, the only game that is hard-wired in terms of date and location is the Super Bowl, itself.  Most of the playoff venues and times are just now starting to come into focus.  As a result, the schedule of who plays where and when are still unknown.  So, hold that thought, because we will start at the end and work forward.

There is no divine guidance that there must be two weeks between the CC’s and the Owl.  In fact, there have been years where there has only been one (generally due to labor issues that disrupted the season).  I realize the NFL would prefer two to hype the thing, but, as the Rolling Stones sang, you can’t always get what you want.  This is an extraordinary circumstance, both in the gravity of what happened, when it happened, and between two teams that are in the mix for the #1 spot in the conference.

I see a couple of reasonable options.  Again, we start with the assumption that the Owl is not moving.

If everybody is good with just moving forward without playing that game, it gets less complicated but is more controversial.  The obvious loser is Baltimore, because without a Bengals loss last night they can not win the division.  The potential solution to that is that since the Ravens won the first meeting, if they beat Cincy Sunday give them the AFCN slot and relegate the Bengals to the WC round.  I doubt Cincy would go for that.  This is really only part of the mess with this plan.

The other problem is that Buffalo, Cincy, and KC are all in the running for the AFC’s #1 slot.  The only way to correct that if they all finish with records that mean last night would matter is to play the AFCC at a neutral site if more than one of these teams is in it.  It is not ideal, but this is not an ideal situation.

This plan has the advantage of holding on to whatever logistics already exist, other than a neutral AFCC and that only happens if two of the three teams in contention wind up in the game.  If only one advances, they are the home team in their home stadium.  None of the three teams play in a dome, so if you decide to make it somewhere between the three cities, it can be outside without penalizing anybody.

Now for what would be more work but less controversy.  Move BOTH CC games to the Sunday before the Owl.  Once that is done, there are more options.

The NFC does not need to move anything else.  The NFCC should only be moved to make sure both conference winners face the same preparation time.  The NFC could hold their first and second rounds as currently scheduled, and then have a bye week before the NFCC.  Or they could do the same thing I am suggesting for the AFC, but that gives the #1 seed two weeks off which is less than desirable.

For the AFC, assuming the game does mean something, play the Cincy-Buffalo game on the weekend that would have been round one.  Then offset round one and two back a week.  They get no bye week before the AFCC, but that is the same for both teams involved.

And I see @KillerKat has a similar or the same idea as what is behind door #2, which would be my preference.  Door #1 is still messy in a few ways.

Edited January 3, 2023 by Sgt Schultz

[kungfoodude]

4 minutes ago, KillerKat said:

I think the best way to do it is the 12th or 14th after everyone has played their final week and move everything else back a week, possibly getting rid of the extra week before the Super Bowl if they dont want to move that back. Either that or go to a point system where whoever has the best differential between points scored and points given up through the season gets awarded the win. That way it takes into account the whole team effort that has taken place through out the year.

There is literally zero chance of this.

They will cancel the game before they let it completely screw up the remaining playoff and Super Bowl schedule.

[*FreeFua*]

2 minutes ago, kungfoodude said:

There is literally zero chance of this.

They will cancel the game before they let it completely screw up the remaining playoff and Super Bowl schedule.

Seriously. As if someone thought that was an option 

All the booking that has been done for certain dates. Especially playoffs and most importantly the Super Bowl…

Like you said, they’d cancel that game before ever doing anything like moving things back a week 

[kungfoodude]

1 minute ago, *FreeFua* said:

Seriously. As if someone thought that was an option 

All the booking that has been done for certain dates. Especially playoffs and most importantly the Super Bowl…

Like you said, they’d cancel that game before ever doing anything like moving things back a week 

Yeah, at the end of the day they are going to do something that is the least schedule disruptive and least impactful to the overall bottom line.

That's probably either playing the game tomorrow or canceling it.

There is no perfect solution.

[*FreeFua*]

Didn’t the Bills already go back to Buffalo last night?

Once you factor in days off between games and not having anymore bye weeks I’m not sure how you get this game in

I think their best bet is to just call it a tie or cancel game. I’d imagine both teams would be ok with that result versus playing a playoff game on extremely short rest 

Edited January 3, 2023 by *FreeFua*

[Mr. Scot]