You mis spent your youth and your quarters in the same arcades I did. Fun Factory at Oak Park Mall was one of my favorites

FWIW Bob Costas was just on CNN. He thinks most likely scenario is to leave BUF and CIN at 16 total games and seed AFC based on winning %.

If KC loses to Oakland, Cincy will force the issue. As they should.

As it stands, they have the best chance of getting rat-****ed by all this

I guarantee you KC wont lose to Oakland ;)

The best possible outcome this weekend is that KC wins and Buffalo loses, making the Bills/Bengals decision much less impactful since the 1 seed isn’t in play.

I doubt they wait until next Monday to make that decision, though.

I guarantee Cincy doesn't want to play the divisional round at Buffalo if they can help it. 2 vs. 3 seed will mean a lot to them.

Also the 2 seed gets to play the super crappy 7 seed. While the 3 seed will probably have to play the Ravens.

Doubt the Bills will be ready to play this weekend, they might need an entire offseason.

If I’m Hamlin and I wake up after dying twice only to find out my team forfeited the game, essentially…I’d be kind of pissed. My team has busted their ass all year to earn the bye and my health situation is the reason they didn’t get it?

I’d be honored at the gesture but my competitive side would be very disappointed in the result.

I wouldn't be upset at all if I was him. It's not his fault. Just a freak accident.

They could have played if they really wanted to but they chose not to.

Call me crazy, but if I woke up after dying twice, I don't think I would care one bit about football.

I went back several pages and did not see these 4 options posted -

I think that's a pretty slick solution, and it wouldn't surprise me if that's what they've ultimately settled on if this weekend's games still leave the situation in flux.

How many bereavement days do you get at work when a close family member dies? I get 1, 3 or 5 depending then have to go back to work dealing with sick/dying patients . Theses guys have seen plenty of close friends get seriously injured over the years without even stopping the game .

I am not saying it wasn’t traumatic for the players and some might be affected differently but I think most I think will be ok especially if his recovery is going well , if he wakes up I can’t see why they shouldn’t be able to play .

Most companies it depends on even which family member it is. Some family members you may only get the time to go to the funeral.

Every team that i have ever played on would use this injury as motivation to go out there and dedicate this season to the player and it would make us play even harder. I can't believe that the Buffalo players want to give up on the season because their teammate got hurt. They want the entire league to coddle them and give them time to heal and nobody even died. If you really wanted to make a statement then go out there and dominate every game from here on out and show your teammate that he inspired you to be your best.

Whatever they choose to do I wouldn’t think it would benefit the Bills. What stops teams from doing things similar going forward and where do you draw the line would be my question? Tua’s injury earlier this year was serious and when he left in the ambulance I didn’t think he was ever going to be the same again. Say something similar to that happens in the future does a team just get to say hey we can’t play and have it benefit them? Regardless this year’s winner will have an * now kinda like the nba championship won in the bubble.

I am not even sure they even stopped the game when it happened to Chris Pronger , he himself played again few days later .

I don't see how anything other than a Bills forfeit works. Cinci would have agreed to resume if not that night certainly the next day. If the top seeds win WC weekend, how can the divisional game between Cinci and Buffalo be played in Buffalo? And that allows Buffalo to forfeit to NE, too without an impact on the Bills if they so choose.

Everybody understand and respects what the Bills did. Some things ARE more important than football and the Bills should care less if they are the #1 seed or #3.

Crazy

The one option I haven’t seen is simply game over 7-3 Bungholes. Neither team wants to finish the game. Time to move on.

If moving the schedule back 1 week is too much of a logistical nightmare, probably the most equitable solution is to cancel the Bills/Bengals game and seed on winning percentage. Random generators, etc. are pure horse pucky.

At the expense of sounding callous, if Buffalo doesn't want to play this weekend, it's a forfeit -- end of discussion. If that drops them to the #3 seed, so be it. It still doesn't change anything as far as the division winners. The Chargers and Ravens still get the 5th and 6th seeds. If Miami and Pitt both win, use existing tie breakers to determine the #7 seed.

If the Bills forfeit, the Patriots are in. What happens to the Steelers and Dolphins is irrelevant.

No shit. Lmao.


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Whatever happened to “let’s go out there and play hard. For Damar. It’s what he would want us to do”. Different generation I guess.

I’m not saying this is best for them, but the best thing for me is to get back to work.

Sitting at home is going to make it far worse.

fond memories of getting completely obliterated at Mortal Kombat 3 by this one Vietnamese kid

I think #1 should be how it is. From what I understand the players and coaches (understandably) from both teams decided they couldn't go on playing the game. It was IMO probably the right decision but I think the game should just be called a wash and not count. But they did decide that focusing on a player was more important than seeding and all of that. Just act like the game didn't happen and let the rest of the season, the games they did play, decide how they'll move forward. It's not ideal (the ideal situation is that Hamlin didn't get hurt and they played what looked like was going to be a crazy game) but I think it's the best option.

I actually don’t mind the idea of waiting for week 18 to conclude before rescheduling. They could technically play on Wed / Thursday Pre playoffs - and literally reschedule the playoff games for Monday (instead of Sunday) as well.

If bills/bengals get the number 1 seed - they still get a bye. Just make sure you schedule them for the next Sunday game to give them the most time off

If Bills / Bengals are playing for 2/3 seed, just reschedule both playoff games for Monday / Tuesday. They are the home team, their fans are mostly affected.

Least disrupter. And with a chance of knowing if DH is recovering.

Am I the only one who thinks this is all ridiculous? They should have finished the game then and there.

Agreed,

This is a cluster **** and entertaining any ideas outside of forfeit is bullshit.

Either that or within 2 days. Ok with playing Tuesday / Wed due to the trauma of watching that happen. Dude was basically dead and revived.

Changing the playoffs or the way seeding is done or going outside of what was already written in the guidelines that take an event like this into account is just mitigating PR and making sure he didn’t die while they were playing the game.

They should have finished the game tonight. Period.

Business doesn't stop because somebody is in the hospital. I get that it was traumatic to witness but this isn't something that's never happened before. Life happens everyday. Death happens everyday. I know that sounds callous but that's just life.

If my parents, wife, or kids passed today I'd get three days bereavement. Then I'd have to use whatever pto I have left as unscheduled time off. Also, my bereavement is taken from my pto as well.

At this point the NFL needs to declare the game a forfeit and move on.

Carl Cheffers: guest referee

Might as well add "retirement game".

Going by win percentage to determine the seeding and just saying game didn’t happen really screws the Bengals and the Ravens. The Bengals lose chance at 1 seed but also are stuck at the 3 seed which all but guarantees a third game with the Ravens. And the Ravens could finish with the same number of wins as the Bengals, beat them twice, and still not win the division.

As I said in the other thread I understand stopping the game Monday night but after finding out that he was alive and stable they should of continued the game on Tuesday. The only other reasonable option as other have said is to use percentages and cancel the game completely. What I think will happen is they're playing week 18, then if the game is made meaningless by the results of week 18, they cancel. If it will still have an impact on standings then they'll finish it. I think the NFL is hoping the Chiefs lose so the Bills will keep the #1 seed without finishing the game.

There is only one option at this point: DNP

The Bengals would need to lose as well for this scenario to happen. Otherwise, if they beat the Ravens, the Bengals themselves are going to badly want to finish that game to get the bye.

There is very little chance the game doesn't have significant meaning for someone which makes the NFL's decision yesterday all the more bizarre.

It was mentioned on NFLN this morning by Rapaport that a real possibility is the Cincy/Bills game is ruled no contest and it goes to win %.

I don't see any other real options at this point IMO. They teams refused to finish the game, call it no contest and move on.

Only problems with that:
1/ If the Chiefs lose and the Bengals beat the Ravens, a Bengals win against the Bills would get them HFA
2/ If the Chiefs lose and the Bengals lose to the Ravens, a Bengals loss against the Bills would give the Ravens the AFC North title

This is the only option IMO.

Cincy agreed not to play. They can own the “DNP” too and move on.

The league is hoping the Ravens, Raiders and Bills win this week. That eliminates the need for the game to be continued and the schedule to be changed.

Blackops is going to send multiple loads into orbit.

I'm confused. You get 3 days bereavement, right?

The Bills probably got home at something like, what, 2am maybe on Tuesday morning? They get the rest of Tuesday off.

But then they're supposed to jump back on a plane Wednesday morning to play a game Wednesday night.

They should all cope with it in their own ways in 1 day and then be ready to travel and play the game?

You get 3 days of bereavement.

Every team has been shaky at times this year. Do you even watch football bruh? But I’m sure you’ll feel the same when Cheffers or Blakeman is the ref for the game and the questionable calls start happening?

The game would still be important, because the Ravens would win the division if the Bills beat the Bengals.

Rabble has far surpassed BO's rigged schtick.

Hamlin isnt dead

Bereavement is also for immediate family members not co workers.

Ravens badly want the game played in this scenario because they could still win the division with a Bengals loss to the Bills.

In making the decision they did (or really the lack of a decision), the NFL is potentially ****ing over a lot of teams.

I know the game would still have some impact, but the Bills were #1 seed before week 17 and that would be the easiest way for the NFL to give the tragedy-stricken Bills the #1 seed without turning summersaults and the league has never had a problem telling teams like the Ravens "tough shit" and deal with it.

I can't see how the league can wait for the outcomes of the weekend games before making a decision on Bills/Bengals.

There is no scenario they give the Bills the #1 seed if KC has a higher win %.

Goddman this whole thing has gotten so overblown is ridiculous.

The Ravens get royally screwed in this scenario potentially. Win both games against Bengals and finish with same amount of wins but still lose the division? Awful.

Honest question, who says you get 3 days of bereavement?

Yeah, canceling the game altogether guarantees us at least the #2 seed and still gives us a chance to take the #1 seed. Baltimore gets screwed out of the division while the Bengals lose any chance of moving up to the 1 or 2 seed, and likely would have to play Buffalo on the road in the divisional round.

Something like this has never happened before from what I understand so there’s no protocol.

Of course this happened in the most important game of the season in terms of playoff seeding

Somebody is going to get the short end of the stick on this, I think it should only affect the 2 teams involved but not sure how you do that.

There are no real winners in this scenario.
Buff could lose the 1 seed
Chiefs gain the 1 and are resented for it.
someone loses out on a playoff spot

I just hope the winner of the SB does not have an asterisk behind their name.

When it happened to Christian Eriksen in the Euros they finished the game the following day , nobody was in an uproar about it.

It makes you wonder how much people would care if this happened during a Colts-Texans game.

Bills take the forfeit and L is by far the easiest best solution. Ravens lose hope of a Bengals loss is really the only other gripe left.

No nothing like this has ever happened but the options are pretty simple.

1. Call the game no contest and go by win %
2. Give Buffalo the L and move on.

#2 is my preference, their player getting hurt led tot his whole mess, unfortunate but is what it is.

This isn't that difficult really no reason to make it more complicated than it needs to be but the NFL gonna NFL.

The game check for a player on a wildcard team is a lot less for most players than a regular season game check.

#8 team in conference might prefer offseason to being underpaid to get ass kicked.

I have no idea why anyone cares how Bills or Cincy fans are going to feel about KC getting the #1 if it happens. Or any other teams fans. **** them they already hate us and it has no bearing on the games.

Seems like both teams mutually agreed to stop the game. It wasn't like the Bengals stayed out there.

So either reschedule it now and play or its a no contest and go with win %

Uhm, cool. Sample size of 1? Football a bit more of a contact and violent sport than soccer?

I'm sure there weren't many soccer players who said, "You know - I run around all the time and I too could have a heart attack. I might need to re-think this." Whereas a football player might think, "Damn, obviously this is a super random situation where this guy is having a heart attack, but I'm constantly putting my body through trauma, potentially messing myself up in the future, etc playing this violent sport."

Let them play the game the following weekend if that's what's decided.

Oh, and That kinda seems like a different situation than the one here, no?

I'm guessing "no contest" is the end result. It's the only thing that really makes sense to me?

The NFL doesn't want bad press but with this decision I don't think it can avoid it at this point. Give them the ties, as the ambulance was driving away, they said, "Let's call it." That decision comes with consequences. I'm sorry it had to happen to you, but there are negatives and positives to continuing play, just as there are negatives and positives for you saying I can't go on due to what just happened. Even though the cause was different, the precedence of cancelling a game was set through COVID, we'll try to reschedule it, but if we can't then the organization with lose that game.

There's a lot of precedent in the sporting world for the players finishing the game, or the game being made up soon after. The Bills deciding they get the rest of the regular season off would be unprecedented.

I would bet there are more head traumas in soccer yearly that football, but rich or erly and Chris pronger had heart attacks during the game and I don’t think they were cancelled.

One thing interesting is that he was in all likelihood stable in the ambulance with his vitals. That’s the only thing that makes sense for them to wait to leave. They should have communicated that with the teams and continued the game.

Both teams declined to contest the game, and if they decline to play a make-up game it should probably be a forfeit for both. But the rulebook doesn't seem to allow for a double forfeit, only for on team forfeiting to the other 2-0.

Did boyst ever join and explain things to us “trash” Chiefs fans? I haven’t made it that far in this thread yet.

They finished the game the same day after a long break. About 90 minutes.

https://apnews.com/article/Eriksen-d...36f47dedf20888

Players on both teams voted.

Denmark lost game 1-0, but still got out of group and won 2 games in knockout round to get to semifinals.

Bill's SHOULD lose the 1 seed... They REFUSED TO ****ING PLAY

More speculation that the Bills won't be ready to play.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">From <a href="https://twitter.com/Toucherandrich?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Toucherandrich</a>: <a href="https://twitter.com/_AndrewCallahan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@_AndrewCallahan</a> believes players will ultimately decide if NFL Week 18 is played<a href="https://t.co/ddoLvvx4hV">https://t.co/ddoLvvx4hV</a></p>&mdash; 98.5 The Sports Hub (@985TheSportsHub) <a href="https://twitter.com/985TheSportsHub/status/1610638034369650688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 4, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

https://985thesportshub.com/listicle...-18-is-played/

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The Buffalo Bills will hold meetings and a walk-through practice today. Team announces there won&#39;t be any media availability today. Bills are scheduled to next host the Patriots on Sunday.</p>&mdash; Jonathan Jones (@jjones9) <a href="https://twitter.com/jjones9/status/1610650148878667776?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 4, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Should move Bills/Pats and Bengals/Ravens games to Saturday and then have Bills/Bengals rematch scheduled for Wednesday if it mattered. That’s a normal short week time table just like if a team played on Sunday and the on Thursday.

Then yes, if Bills or Bengals don’t get #1 seed they play their playoff game on Monday, which would actually give them one more prep day than a normal Sun to Thursday game.

BoooHooo..... ****ing cops get killed or someone in the military

"HE KNEW WHAT THE RISKS WERE"

Player has a heart issue

"STOP THE COUNT"

Same ****ing energy

im so confused. Why are we talking about bereavement when no one died. There are example after example of serious medical issues in the NFL. never heard of bereavement for a co worker having a medical problem. they should've played. today at the latest.