The NFL announced on Tuesday afternoon that the Cincinnati Bengals-Buffalo Bills games will not resume this week following the incident involving Bills safety Damar Hamlin.
Hamlin collapsed during the first quarter of Monday’s game after suffering cardiac arrest and has been hospitalized in a Cincinnati intensive care unit ever since. That scene resulted in the game being postponed with less than six minutes to play in the first quarter with the Bengals leading 7-3.
The league also said that no decision has been made regarding the game continuing at a later date.
There have also been no immediate changes made to the rest of the Week 18 schedule.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell sent a memo to NFL teams, advising them that mental health and support staff will be available to all players and staff who need it.
The football aspect to all of this is a very distant secondary storyline behind the health and well-being of Hamlin, but Monday’s game was a massive game in the AFC standings and playoff picture. Not only was it going to play a significant role in the top spot in the AFC (and the conference’s only bye week), where the Bills, Bengals and Kansas City Chiefs were all still in play for it, but it also was impactful for the Bengals’ chances of winning the AFC North.
It was by far the biggest and most anticipated game on the Week 17 schedule.
The league could, in theory, push all of the games back another week as there is a bye week built in between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl.
All of those decisions will remain of secondary concern as everybody awaits word on Hamlin’s health.
