Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor is unhappy with the NFL's alterations to the playoffs, which could cost his team home-field advantage.
On Friday, NFL owners voted to approve proposed changes after the Bengals' game against the Buffalo Bills on Monday, in which Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest, was cancelled.
Those changes would include a coin toss to decide who would host a Wild Card round clash between the Bengals and the Baltimore Ravens if Cincinnati lost to their AFC North rivals in their final regular season game this week.
Meanwhile, a neutral venue will be used for the AFC Championship Game if it is contested between two teams who have played different numbers of regular season games and the lower-seeded team could have been the number one seed by playing a full 17-game season.
Taylor, who preferred the Bengals to be judged simply by their winning percentage, believes the outcome is unfair as Cincy are dealt "only negatives" by the decision.
"What's in front of us is to win this weekend and reclaim the opportunity to have a home-field Wild Card game. That's the task that's at hand in front of the team," the Bengals coach told reporters on Friday.
"As far as I'm concerned, we just want the rules to be followed and when a game is cancelled that you just turn to winning percentage to clarify everything, so we don't have to just make up the rules.
"There's several instances this season where the club is fined or people in our building are fined and we are being told to follow the rules. It's black and white in the rulebook.
"Now, when we point out the rules, you are told we are going to change that. I don't want to hear about fair and equitable when that is the case.
"What this team will do is all we can control, going into a game this weekend and doing our best to win. We are going to channel our energy into that.
"Opportunities are lost for us that we had a chance to control; now we don't. It seems like there are positives for a lot of teams and just negatives for us.
"We have the opportunity to play for a coin flip that can only negatively impact us; we don't have the opportunity to play for a coin flip that positively impacts us.
"Let's just follow the rules; we accept that. We just have to turn our focus to getting ready for Baltimore and doing everything we can to control what we can control at that point."
Eagles lock up wide receiver Smith through 2028
The Philadelphia Eagles locked up wide receiver DeVonta Smith through the 2028 season on Monday.
Philadelphia exercised its fifth-year option on Smith for the 2025 season and agreed to terms on a three-year contract extension that runs through 2028.
Smith’s extension is reportedly worth $75million, including $51million in guaranteed money.
Philadelphia selected Smith with the 10th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft after he won the Heisman Trophy with Alabama in 2020.
Smith was the first wide receiver to win the Heisman since Desmond Howard in 1991 and first non-quarterback or running back to capture the honour since cornerback Charles Woodson in 1997.
Smith has caught 240 passes for 3,178 yards and 19 touchdowns in 50 regular-season games while adding 27 receptions for 405 yards and a TD catch in five postseason contests.
OJ Simpson: Cherished star whose fall from grace was seen live by millions on TV
From cherished American superstar to villain whose murder trial captivated a global audience, OJ Simpson’s fall from grace was startling.
Simpson, nicknamed ‘The Juice’, has died at the age of 76 after losing his battle with prostate cancer, leaving behind four children.
Before the low-speed car chase by police and ‘Trial of the Century’ that began the unravelling of his reputation, Simpson was a darling of American sport who had also carved out a successful acting career.
He was raised in a low income neighbourhood in San Francisco and joined a local gang but his athleticism offered a route out and he found his purpose in gridiron.
A prolific running back, he starred for USC and in 1968 won the Heisman Trophy awarded to the outstanding player in college football. Inevitably, he was first overall draught pick the following year.
Progress in his first couple of seasons at the Buffalo Bills was slow but his impact grew and he went on to become one of the most successful operators in his position, winning the NFL’s most valuable player in 1973 and being inducted into the hall of fame in 1985.
He became the game’s highest paid player and lucrative commercial deals also followed as companies looked to leverage his charisma and popularity, while his acting career included parts in blockbusters ‘Towering Inferno’ and ‘The Naked Gun’.
For all his film presence he was little known outside the United States but that changed for all the wrong reasons when he was arrested in 1994 for the murder of his former wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ronald Goldman.
Brown and Goldman had been found stabbed to death in LA and once police had filed charges, Simpson refused to turn himself in and was pursued in an extraordinary car chase that was at low speed because he had a gun pointed to his head.
The event was televised live to millions and projected his notoriety worldwide, with the broadcasting of his subsequent murder trial only intensifying interest in this fallen star.
He was acquitted the following year but a civil lawsuit found him liable for the deaths, resulting in an order to pay £26.7million pounds to the victims of the families. Only a fraction of that amount was actually paid.
Arrests followed for a variety of offences in the early 2000s and his lowest point eventually came in 2007 when he was charged with armed robbery and kidnapping.
He served nine of a 33-year jail sentence and upon his release he continued to live in Las Vegas, looking increasingly frail when in public but active on social media. Simpson always maintained his innocence of the murders.
OJ Simpson dies aged 76
OJ Simpson has died of cancer at the age of 76.
Simpson was a running back for the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers from 1969 to 1979, before being acquitted of murder in a trial in the mid-1990s.
News of Simpson’s death was announced by his children on his X account.
“On April 10th, our father, Orenthal James Simpson, succumbed to his battle with cancer,” read a statement.
“He was surrounded by his children and grandchildren. During this time of transition, his family asks that you please respect their wishes for privacy and grace. -The Simpson Family”
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