Bengals not happy after lost fight against NFL’s playoff scenario
The Cincinnati Bengals should not pleased with the NFL’s up to date playoff situations that had been launched late Thursday evening.
Whereas they’ve each motive to really feel this manner, the workforce finally misplaced its battle to the NFL on Friday.
After formally canceling the Week 18 Payments at Bengals recreation, the NFL wanted to map out what Week 18 would love for the Bengals, Buffalo Payments and Kansas Metropolis Chiefs. All three groups had rather a lot at stake heading into Monday’s recreation.
The Bengals are 11-4 and are at the moment a recreation and a half up over the Baltimore Ravens within the AFC North standings. By default, when the NFL declared the Bengals would solely play 16 video games this yr, the Bengals turned the AFC North champions, no matter what occurs in Sunday’s recreation.
The reason being general file is the primary figuring out consider division titles. If the Bengals win, they’ll be 12-4 and the Ravens could be 10-7. If the Ravens win and the Bengals lose, the Bengals could be 11-5 and the Ravens could be 11-6.
The NFL’s new situation has a giant position in what the playoffs might appear like for the Bengals and it’s not favorable to Cincinnati. Because it stands in the present day, within the NFL’s rule e book, if a recreation is canceled, win share determines playoff seeding. Nevertheless, league homeowners voted on the newly proposed situations Friday and the Bengals got here up quick
Right here’s the NFL’s aggressive coverage for cancelled video games.
“If a recreation is cancelled, a workforce’s standing in its division or in its convention (e.g., qualification as a Wild Card within the playoffs or place in playoff seeding) shall be decided on the idea of its ultimate file. When obligatory, playoff tiebreakers shall be calculated in accordance with per recreation common for all groups.”
If the Bengals beat the Ravens on Sunday, nothing modifications and Cincinnati will host the Wild Card spherical recreation at Paycor Stadium no matter opponent. Right here’s the layer that’s unfavorable to the Bengals.
The NFL’s new proposal states if the Bengals lose to the Ravens in Week 18 and if these two golf equipment are scheduled to play a Wild Card recreation towards each other, which is very possible, the location for that recreation could be decided by a coin toss. This implies the Bengals might be AFC North champions on paper and never get the advantage of internet hosting a playoff recreation, like each different division winner.
That is why the Bengals fought exhausting towards the league’s proposal.
“So far as I’m involved, we simply need the principles to be adopted,” Bengals head coach Zac Taylor mentioned. “When a recreation is canceled, you simply flip to profitable share to make clear every little thing so we don’t must make up guidelines. There’s a number of situations this season when a membership is fined or individuals in our constructing are fined and we’re being instructed, ‘Comply with the principles. It’s black and white. It’s within the rulebook.’ So now once we level out the principles and also you’re instructed, we’re going to alter that, I don’t wish to hear about truthful and equitable when that’s the case.”
The NFL referred to as a particular assembly with the homeowners on Friday morning after saying the proposals. For the proposals to undergo, the league wanted 24 votes. Twenty 5 homeowners voted in favor. The Bengals wanted 9 votes of their favor for the proposal to fail and to be redrafted and amended.
Bengals government vice chairman Katie Blackburn is on the league’s Competitors Committee and reportedly despatched a memo to the remainder of the league urging them to vote on Cincinnati’s behalf.
Taylor was happy to see his possession battle exhausting for his workforce.
“They’ve bought this workforce’s again,” he mentioned. “It’s necessary for the workforce to know that as a result of any individual’s bought to battle for you. It’s clearly not coming from the league. It’s good to have our possession and entrance workplace assist the gamers like they’ve. That’s necessary for us.”
The brand new playoff situation is definitely not truthful to the Bengals however all of this gained’t matter if the Bengals win on Sunday.
None of what has taken place this week has been truthful to anybody, although. If Cincinnati beat the Payments and the Ravens, sure, they’d have develop into the AFC’s No. 2 seed with a shot on the high seed, however there’s no strategy to know if that will have performed out.
There was all the time an opportunity Cincinnati must go on the street for the Divisional spherical. What nobody ever believed might occur is the Bengals, at 11-4, would ever lose homefield benefit within the Wild Card spherical and that’s now in query.
And as Taylor mentioned, the Bengals can keep away from all of this in the event that they merely simply win. That’s what they’re targeted on transferring ahead.
“It looks as if there are positives for lots of groups and simply negatives for us,” Taylor mentioned. “So, we’ve the chance to play for a coin flip that may solely negatively influence us. We don’t have the chance to play for a coin flip that positively influence us. Once more, let’s simply comply with the principles and we settle for that. We simply have to show our focus to preparing for Baltimore after which doing every little thing we are able to to manage what we are able to management at that time.”
This text initially appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: AFC playoff seeding: Cincinnati Bengals lose problem to NFL modifications
