With the NFL having officially canceled the Bengals-Bills game from Monday night, the league had to figure out how to fix “potential competitive inequities in certain playoff scenarios.”
That means the Bengals and Bills each will play 16 games. Every other team will play 17.
The Competition Committee met Thursday and approved the AFC Championship Game being played at a neutral site if the participating teams played an unequal number of games and both could have been the No. 1 seed and hosted the game.
Owners will vote on the resolution Friday in a special league meeting.
Here are the scenarios that would result in a neutral site for the AFC Championship Game:
Scenario 1: Buffalo and Kansas City both win or both tie this week. Then, a Buffalo vs. Kansas City championship game would be at a neutral site.
Scenario 2: Buffalo and Kansas City both lose and Baltimore wins or ties this week. Then, a Buffalo vs. Kansas City championship game would be at a neutral site.
Scenario 3: Buffalo and Kansas City both lose and Cincinnati wins this week. Then, a Buffalo or Cincinnati vs. Kansas City championship game would be at a neutral site.
“As we considered the ball schedule, our principles have been to limit disruption across the league and minimize competitive inequities,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. “I recognize that there is no perfect solution. 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.”