The NFL has canceled the Bills-Bengals game that was previously postponed to Monday night. The league also has a vote scheduled for Friday, with two adjustments on the table for the AFC playoffs.
While the NFL’s cancellation decision doesn’t affect which teams make the playoffs, it may affect the seeding, which is why the league made several potential rule changes to smooth out the competitive disparities created by not playing the game.
According to the proposal that the owners will vote on, the AFC Championship could potentially become a neutral-site game if any of the following three scenarios are met:
- Scenario 1: If Buffalo and Kansas City both win or both tie in Week 18, a Buffalo-Kansas City championship game would be played at a neutral venue.
- Scenario 2: If the Bills and Chiefs both lose in Week 18 and Baltimore wins or draws level with the Bengals, then a championship game between Buffalo and Kansas City would be played at a neutral venue.
- Scenario 3: If Buffalo and Kansas City both lose and Cincinnati beats Baltimore, then a championship game between the Bills or Bengals vs. Chiefs would be played at a neutral venue.
The NFL is also giving the Ravens a chance to potentially host a wildcard game, though Baltimore mathematically can’t win the AFC North. Even if the Ravens beat the Bengals on Sunday, they would still be 11-6, which would still be a half game behind the Cincinnati, who would be 11-5 and one loss.
In this scenario, the Ravens would not win the division even though they defeated the Bengals AND had a better division record. To address this issue, the suggestion on the table is that the NFL will flip a coin to see who hosts a Ravens-Bengals wildcard game if:
1. The Ravens beat the Bengals on Sunday and…
2. If the two teams are to play against each other in the wild card round.
Both the AFC championship proposal and the Ravens proposal will be voted on Friday.
“When looking at the football plan, our principle was to limit disruption across the league and minimize competitive disparities,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said of why the league came to these two decisions. “I recognize that there is no perfect solution. However, the proposal we are soliciting from the owners addresses the key potential equitable issues raised by the difficult but necessary decision not to play the game in these extraordinary circumstances.”
The circumstances Goodell is referring to is the situation of Damar Hamlin. The Bills and Bengals played for nearly nine minutes Monday night before play was halted after the Bills safety went into cardiac arrest on the field. After being resuscitated, Hamlin was taken by ambulance to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where he has been in critical condition for three days.
The only thing on the NFL’s mind over the past 72 hours has been Hamlin’s health, which has improved remarkably over the past 24 hours. Two members of Hamlin’s medical team held a news conference Thursday and revealed that in addition to moving his arms and legs, he could communicate with friends and family in writing. (He even asked who won the Bills-Bengals game while communicating with a nurse Wednesday night.)
“It’s been a very difficult week,” Goodell said in a statement. “We remain focused on Damar Hamlin’s recovery and are encouraged by the improvements in his condition and the tremendous support and concern for Damar and his family from across the country.”
With Hamlin’s health improving, the NFL finally sat down to figure out what the next step should be with the Bills-Bengals game. With that out of the way, the next step for the league now comes on Friday, when the league will vote on the possible implementation of these two exceptional playoff measures.
The cancellation marks the first time since 1935 that every NFL team has not played the same number of games.