Not Indy:
Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Colts and the primary option to host a conference championship in Indianapolis, already has an event scheduled for that same weekend: a national volleyball tournament hosted by Capitol Sports Center that is expected to bring about 30,000 people to the downtown Indianapolis area.
ETA: And also not Detroit:
Meanwhile, Ford Field in Detroit — a reasonable distance from Kansas City, Buffalo or Cincinnati — is also unavailable.
Well the Browns aren’t in the playoffs. But that site could be very very cold.
Yay Chiefs. No surprise.
I have trouble seeing him actually step away though.
I don’t. His reputation as a kid genius will remain intact, he’s still young, and, given his endorsements, he’ll make a ton of money as a commentator. The Rams sold out to win last year, and the next 3 or 4 years look bleak. Checking out now makes a ton of sense for him.
In other coaching news…
Payton’s a heckuva coach, but does he want to step into the dumpster fire that’s happening in Denver right now?
Bills won their game.
Which means that Miami’s win gives them the final wild-card spot in the AFC. I believe that the Dolphins will play at Buffalo next weekend.
I can’t fathom what the opening line is going to be for that. At least double digits for the Bills, I would assume.
With the Texans beating the Colts, and the Bears losing to the Vikings, Chicago will wind up with the first pick in the draft.
Viking defeat the Bears, which leaves Chicago (at 3-14) with the No. 1 overall pick in the draft. Bryce Young has been considered the likeliest first overall, but the Bears don’t necessarily need a quarterback at present. Can one of the NFL’s most incompetent franchises use this situation to its advantage by demanding and receiving a bounty for that pick? Only time will tell.
Agreed. Given the Dolphins offensive performance today, it might be two touchdowns.
The seven AFC playoff teams are now set. Buffalo will play Miami next week. The seeding for the rest is still up in the air. Cincy looks to be on its way to taking down Baltimore. If this holds, and the Chargers beat the woeful Broncos, Baltimore and Cincy will play again next week (in Cincy, thanks to the win today by the Bengals negating that coin flip scenario) and the Chargers will head to Jacksonville to face the Jaguars.
AFC field is set.
#5 Chargers at #4 Jaguars.
#6 Ravens at #3 Bengals.
#7 Dolphins at #2 Bills.
#1 Chiefs get a bye.
I think it means the Chiefs don’t benefit by the missing game by getting a bye.
As a sidenote, I like the idea of 8 teams in general. No one gets a bye just homefield advantage and easier teams with better seeding.
Ah, yes, I neglected to check the tiebreakers. The Ravens had six AFC losses this year while the Chargers can have no more than five. The field is indeed set.
No, KC gets the bye. But should the AFC championship game feature the Bills versus Chiefs, it will be played at a neutral field, rather than at Arrowhead.
Not if an 8th playoff team is added. That was my point to @solost. The Bills don’t benefit from an extra playoff team but then the Chiefs don’t benefit from the cancelled game.
Ravens finished 10-7. Chargers right now are 10-6. However, should the Chargers lose today’s game and also finish 10-7, they would win the tiebreaker over the Ravens by virtue of a better conference record (7-5 vs 6-6).
ETA: Just verified what you said! I misread your quote initially.
Oh, okay. Didn’t realize the point you were making. You are absolutely correct.