NFL announces how playoffs will be determined. Here’s how it affects the Chiefs
Update: The NFL owners approved NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s proposed resolution regarding potential game location changes on Friday afternoon, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
The Kansas City Chiefs can earn the AFC’s No. 1 seed with a win Saturday against the Las Vegas Raiders — a fact solidified following an NFL announcement Thursday night that the Week 17 Buffalo Bills-Cincinnati Bengals game has been canceled and will not be resumed.
However, KC potentially could have a streak of hosting four straight AFC Championship games snapped following an NFL owners’ meeting Friday, where a resolution recommended by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and approved by the Competition Committee will suggest playing the AFC title game at a neutral site if specific criteria are met in a potential matchup between KC and Buffalo or Cincinnati.
The league statement comes after Monday night’s Buffalo-Cincinnati game was suspended in the first quarter after Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field and went into cardiac arrest. Bills medical personnel performed CPR on Hamlin before transferring him to a Cincinnati hospital via ambulance. Both teams decided not to continue playing Monday after the traumatic incident. Hamlin remained in critical condition as of Thursday but had woken up and begun communicating with those around him.
In making the judgment not to resume the Buffalo-Cincinnati game, Goodell said the league’s top priorities were to “limit disruption across the league and minimize competitive inequities.”
“I recognize that there is no perfect solution,” Goodell said. “The proposal we are asking the ownership to consider, however, addresses the most significant potential equitable issues created by the difficult, but necessary, decision not to play the game under these extraordinary circumstances.”
The NFL’s proclamation ensures the Chiefs once again control their destiny for the AFC’s top seed, which comes with an opening-round playoff bye.
Before Monday night’s game, KC (13-3) needed Buffalo (12-3) to lose or tie once — either at Cincinnati or home against New England in Week 18 — to move ahead of the Bills for the AFC’s top spot.
New math changes that now. The Chiefs, with a win over the Raiders on Saturday, would move to 14-3 with a win percentage (.824) that the Bills would not be able to achieve even with a win Sunday over the Patriots.
One note: If the Chiefs tied the Raiders, their win percentage at 13-3-1 (.794) would fall behind Buffalo if it finished 13-3 (.813).
The NFL said it would propose to owners the AFC Championship game move to a to-be-determined location if one of the following three criteria take place in Week 18:
• Buffalo and KC both win or both tie; a Buffalo vs. KC championship game would be at a neutral site.
• Buffalo and KC both lose and Baltimore wins or ties; a Buffalo vs. KC championship game would be at a neutral site.
• Buffalo and KC both lose and Cincinnati wins; a Buffalo or Cincinnati vs. KC championship game would be at a neutral site.
In essence, the NFL would be looking to move the AFC Championship game to a neutral site if KC’s record finishes a half-game in front of the AFC’s No. 2 seed, with Buffalo or Cincinnati not getting the chance to match that mark with one fewer game played. Both the Bills and Bengals previously held the playoff tiebreaker over the Chiefs, thanks to head-to-head victories over KC in the regular season.
The league also will propose at Friday’s meeting that if Baltimore defeats Cincinnati in Week 18, a coin toss will determine home field if those two teams meet in the playoffs. This is because if they win Sunday, the Ravens would remain a half-game behind the Bengals in the AFC North standings and unable to match Cincinnati’s record because of Monday’s canceled game — even after potentially defeating the Bengals twice in head-to-head matchups this season.
Some key factors, the NFL said, were at play in arriving at the final decision. The league attempted not to affect other clubs qualifying for the postseason and also wanted to avoid postponing the playoffs’ start, which would impact 14 teams. The NFL also believed deciding before Week 18 was vital, because it enabled all clubs to know their playoff possibilities before they took the field this weekend.
“This has been a very difficult week,” Goodell said in a release. “We continue to focus on the recovery of Damar Hamlin and are encouraged by the improvements in his condition as well as the tremendous outpouring of support and care for Damar and his family from across the country.”
This story was originally published January 5, 2023 at 9:31 PM with the headline "NFL announces how playoffs will be determined. Here’s how it affects the Chiefs."
