Ravens-Bengals coin flip drama: Here's when and where the coin toss will happen and why it might not be needed
There could be a huge coin flip in Cincinnati on Sunday

When the NFL's owners voted to modify the AFC playoffs on Friday, not only did they approve a potential neutral-site AFC Championship game, but in another unprecedented act, the owners voted to hold a coin toss to determine the location of a potential Bengals vs. Ravens wild-card game.
Under the new playoff format that was approved, the coin toss will only happen if the following two things occur:
1. The Ravens beat the Bengals in Week 18 AND
2. The Bengals and Ravens end up playing each other in the wild-card round.
Although the NFL announced that a coin toss would take place if those two scenarios happen, the league didn't offer any details on the coin toss. However, those details are now out, thanks to CBS Sports NFL Insider Jonathan Jones, who got the lowdown Sunday morning on how the coin toss will work.
- 1. If the Ravens beat the Bengals, the coin toss will be held at Paycor Stadium following the game. The toss will occur almost immediately after the game since the NFL wants it to happen before the Chargers and Broncos kickoff at 4:25 p.m. ET (If the Ravens win on Sunday, they could move up to the fifth seed if the Chargers lose, so Los Angeles is also somewhat impacted here).
- 2. There will be five people in the room for the coin toss. There will be two representatives for each team plus one representative from the NFL. There will be one other witness and that will be NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who will be watching the entire thing virtually.
- 3. As the division champions, the Bengals will get to call "head or tails."
If the Bengals win on Sunday, then you can't forget everything you just read because there won't be a coin toss. In the case of a Cincinnati victory, the AFC North champion Bengals would get to host a wild-card game next weekend on matter what else happens in Week 18.
If the Ravens win and the Chargers lose to Denver, then the outcome of the coin toss won't matter since Cincinnati and Baltimore won't be facing each other in the playoffs. In that case, the fifth-seeded Ravens would travel to Jacksonville in the wild-card round while the Bengals would host the Chargers.
If the Ravens and Bengals meet at any point in the playoffs after the wild-card round, there won't be a coin toss to determine the location of the game. The Bengals would get to host it as the better seed.
The Bengals weren't happy that the NFL changed the rules to include a coin toss this year, but they can make that part of the rule change meaningless with a win over the Ravens.
















