What was surprising about Portland was that a moderator at what was then TWOP forums, inadvertently spoilered the final location a day or two beforehand. That person at least asked about what to do with the photographic evidence and things were barely kept under wraps until filming was completed.
As to today with the other information and the updated Detroit Free Press article, one can pretty much figure out what happened.
A team not finishing the final leg......That is extremely rare and off hand, I can only think of two seasons where that ever happened.
I think my soul will like the outcome, though. We'll have to see how production edits this outcome.
As to airing, there's always the chances new series bombing in the fall. But with the live plus 7 and live plus30 metrics CBS likes to use nowdays, I think those chances are remote.