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The NFL continues to debate and deliberate on the unfinished Week 17 Bills-Bengals game.
Nothing is official yet. Here’s what we currently know.
Bills-Bengals will most likely not be played. The players don’t want that. And there’s no good way to fit it into the schedule.
The best bad solution in this regard would be to play the NFC wildcard round and Bills-Bengals next weekend, with the AFC wildcard round being played next weekend. This would obliterate the week between the conference championships and the Super Bowl. There is no appetite for this approach.
The question then becomes the seeding of the AFC playoffs without the Bills-Bengals. Win percentage becomes the most obvious method. However, there are concerns over fairness as the winner of the Bills-Bengals match would have been able to become one of the AFC’s top seeds.
One option would be to add an eighth team to the playoff field in the AFC. This would eliminate the bye for the No. 1 seed.
In order to ensure competitive balance, there would have to be eight teams in the NFC as well.
The NFL Players Association would have to approve a temporary expansion of the playoff field.
Discussions about the possibility of making the AFC Championship a neutral-site game also continue. The problem with this approach is that if a team other than the Bills, Chiefs or Bengals qualifies for the game, for example, a neutral side does not have to be used.
Whatever the outcome, a decision must be made soon — especially when the playoff field is set to grow unexpectedly in both conferences. It changes the dynamic for teams battling for playoff spot.