If the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals meet again this season, it’ll be in the playoffs. The NFL, as expected, has decided to simply cancel the Bills vs. Bengals game that had been suspended when Buffalo safety Damar Hamlin collapsed and went into cardiac arrest. But significant questions remain about what’s next for the Bills, Bengals, and the rest of the NFL playoff field.
UPDATED (Jan. 5, 2023, 9:45 p.m. ET)
The NFL announced late Thursday that Bills-Bengals had indeed been canceled. The league also revealed potential changes to the NFL playoffs designed to mitigate competitive disadvantages stemming from that decision. Details on the proposed changes, upon which league ownership will vote Friday, are available here.
NFL Cancels Buffalo Bills vs. Cincinnati Bengals
The league is still deciding on what changes to the postseason are needed to achieve maximum competitive fairness following the extraordinary events of the last week.
By declaring Bills-Bengals a no contest — which the Associated Press first reported — the league guaranteed Cincinnati a home playoff game. The Bengals are AFC North champions, as the Ravens cannot catch them in the standings even with a win against Cincinnati in Week 18. The Bengals will be the AFC’s No. 2 or 3 seed. The Ravens will be the No. 5 or 6.
The league’s decision to cancel also means the Kansas City Chiefs can clinch the conference’s No. 1 seed with a win Saturday against the Las Vegas Raiders.
Both the Bengals and Bills had a chance to claim home-field advantage had they won their final two games. Cincinnati also needed Kansas City to lose Saturday for the 1 seed, but the Bills had controlled its own destiny.
Wins in Weeks 17 and 18 would have been enough for Buffalo to have home field. Now, the Bills will need to beat the Patriots and have the Chiefs lose to the Raiders for the 1 seed.
It’s a clear competitive disadvantage for a Bills team that has already been through so much this year. Two major snowstorms caused significant disruption to Buffalo’s season.
But that was a minor inconvenience compared to Monday night’s near-tragedy-turned-miracle. Quick-acting medics saved Hamlin’s life. He’s since made an incredible recovery, and upon waking up, was even able to ask doctors who won Monday’s game.
In the end, no one did.
NFL Schedule Speculation
While the regular-season NFL schedule is locked in, that doesn’t mean the postseason schedule won’t change. The NFL has spent much of the last few days trying to figure out a way to restore the competitive fairness that was lost by its decision to cancel.
The AP reported Thursday that the league is still working through potential changes to playoff seedings and schedule, changes that must be approved by the NFLPA.
If the reporting from ESPN and ProFootballTalk is accurate, the league is really thinking outside of the box. Everything from adding an eighth team to the field to hosting the conference championship game on a neutral field (if the game involves two of the Bengals, Bills, and Chiefs) has been discussed.