NFL owners reach decision on proposed playoff changes

January 6, 2023

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NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell speaks with the media. Photo Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

NFL owners on Friday voted to approve the one-time changes that will be implemented during the 2022 playoffs.

The NFL announced on Thursday that the Buffalo Bills-Cincinnati Bengals game that was postponed due to Damar Hamlin’s injury will not be resumed. That led to a proposal from commissioner Roger Goodell that called for the AFC Championship Game to be played on a neutral site under certain circumstances. The proposal also stated that if the Baltimore Ravens beat the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 18, home field for the wild-card game between the two teams will be determined by a coin flip.

NFL rules state that in the event of a canceled game, standings and seeding will be determined by winning percentage. The proposal that passed on Friday overrides that rule for this year’s playoffs. According to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, the proposal needed 24 “yes” votes and received 25. Either three or four owners voted “no” and the rest abstained.

One team that almost certainly voted against the proposal was the Cincinnati Bengals. Under the one-time changes, the Bengals are not guaranteed home field in the wild-card round even though they will win the AFC North with a better win percentage than the Ravens. Cincinnati needs to beat Baltimore on Sunday in order to avoid going to a coin flip to determine home field.

The neutral site scenarios also only apply to the AFC Championship. The chart below shows every possible scenario from Week 18 that could result in a potential AFC Championship Game on a neutral site:

Confused by all the different permutations of a potential neutral site AFC Title game? Our friends at ⁦@NFLResearch⁩ made a nice chart pic.twitter.com/pXHTfvkUoh

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 6, 2023

The Bengals are likely unhappy about that, too. There is a scenario where they could potentially have to travel to Buffalo to face the Bills in the Divisional Round. Since the two teams did not have a chance to play their Week 17 game, an argument can be made that a potential Divisional Round matchup between them should be played on a neutral site, as well.