Scott Boehm/AP
The NFL laid out options they will use in the playoffs following the cancelation of the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals game after Bills’ safety Damar Hamlin collapsed.
On Monday, Hamlin went into cardiac arrest after he made a tackle on Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins. Hamlin received CPR on the field and was rushed to a local Cincinnati hospital, where he was intubated and listed in critical condition. The game was postponed Monday night with no timetable to be resumed. On Thursday evening, in an unprecedented move, the NFL announced that the postponed game would not be made up and would result in a canceled game.
In a statement Thursday, NFL commissioner Rodger Goodell said:
This has been a very difficult week. We continue to focus on the recovery of Damar Halin and are encouraged by the improvements in his condition as well as the tremendous outpouring of support and care for Damar and his family from across the country. We are also incredibly appreciative of the amazing work the medical personnel and commend each and every one of them.
Goodell also announced how the league would work around the game’s cancelation throughout the playoffs.
This means the Bengals and Bills would only play in 16 games this season, whereas the other 30 NFL teams will complete 17 games. Both teams were competing for the top seed in the NFL’s American Football Conference (AFC), in which the top seed would receive a bye in the first round of the playoffs and home-field advantage leading up to the Super Bowl.
ESPN‘s Ben Baby, a staff writer, explained how the NFL would navigate scenarios if the two of the three teams between the Bengals, Bills, and Kansas City Chiefs, made the AFC Championship game:
If Buffalo and Kansas City both win or tie, the Bills-Chiefs championship game will be at a neutral site.
If Buffalo and Kansas City both lose and Baltimore wins or ties, a Bills-Chiefs championship game will be at a neutral site.
If Buffalo and Kansas City both lose and Cincinnati wins, a Bills or Bengals vs. Chiefs championship game will be at a neutral site.
The potential neutral sites have not yet been determined. The seeds will hold up throughout the playoffs.
If Buffalo and Kansas City both win this weekend, the Chiefs will get the bye. If Buffalo wins and Kansas City loses, the Bills will be the No. 1 seed and get the bye, and no neutral sites would come into play.
If the Baltimore Ravens win and are matched against Cincinnati in the AFC wild-card game, the site will be determined by a coin flip. If Cincinnati wins or if the two teams are not matched against each other after a potential Ravens win, regular scheduling procedures will go into effect.
The NFL’s competition committee approved the scenarios on Thursday, but Bengals executive vice president Katie Blackburn, who sits on the committee, pressed other members not to approve the change.
In a memo obtained by ESPN, Blackburn said:
The proper process for making rule change is in the off-season. It is not appropriate to put teams in a position to vote for something that may introduce bias, favor one team over another or impact their own situation when the vote takes place immediately before the playoffs.
In Goodell’s statement, he admitted, “there is no perfect solution.”
On Friday morning, Hamlin’s breathing tube was removed and he spoke to his Bills’ teammates, as confirmed by his agent Ira Turner.
The post How NFL Playoffs Will Work Without a Bills-Bengals Result first appeared on Mediaite.
