On Thursday night, the NFL announced that the suspended Buffalo Bills vs. Cincinnati Bengals Week 17 contest would not resume and that owners will meet Friday to consider a resolution to move the AFC Championship Game to a neutral site.
According to the NFL’s statement, there were several reasons behind the league’s decision to cancel Monday night’s game. For one, the outcome wouldn’t have affected a postseason berth for either team, and resuming the game later would force the NFL to postpone the playoffs for a full week, affecting the 14 teams that qualified.
The Competition Committee approved a resolution Thursday to move the AFC title game to a neutral location, but owners will meet Friday to discuss adopting the proposal. Essentially, a neutral-site AFC Championship Game will happen if the two competing teams enter with an unequal number of games, and both teams could have secured the No. 1 seed.
The resolution also cleans up the NFC North picture with the division-leading 11-4 Bengals scheduled to take on the 10-6 Baltimore Ravens in Week 18. If the Ravens defeat Cincinnati, and the two teams are to meet in the wild-card round, a coin toss will determine the game’s location.
“I recognize that there is no perfect solution,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said. “The proposal we are asking the ownership to consider, however, addresses the most significant potential equitable issues created by the difficult, but necessary, decision not to play the game under these extraordinary circumstances.”
The restructuring of the playoff bracket stems from the cancellation of Monday night’s prime-time matchup after Bills safety Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest following a collision in the game’s opening quarter. On Thursday, doctors at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center provided a promising update on Hamlin’s condition.
