According to ProFootballTalk, although no decision has been made yet, the NFL is leaning toward not restarting the Bills-Bengals game, which was suspended after Dumar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest during Monday’s game in Cincinnati.
The Bills’ safety has shown “signs of improvement” since Tuesday, the team said Wednesday afternoon.
If the game is ruled No Contest, the playoff seeding will be determined from the results of Week 18. The Chiefs (13-3) will clinch the No. 1 seed with a win over the Raiders on Saturday. As for the Bills (12-3), a win over the Patriots on Sunday and a loss to the Chiefs on Saturday could still be the top seed.
According to the website, the Bengals (11-4) beat the Ravens 10-6 and could still clinch the second seed if the Bills lose in the winning tiebreaker. That would open up the possibility of a Bills-Bengals game in the divisional round.
Without the Bills-Bengals game, the Ravens will lose their chance to win the AFC North. Had the Bengals lost to the Bills, the winner of Sunday’s Ravens-Bengals game would have won his AFC North.
This isn’t the first time the idea that winning percentage determines NFL playoff standings. It fell apart in the pandemic year of 2020, when the league prepared for the possibility of multiple regular season game cancellations. In the end, no one was there.
It’s a decision the NFL is likely to make, but it’s not the only one. The NFL probably rescheduled the Bills-Bengals game a week after his Week 18 contest and delayed the playoffs by a week, allowing him a week between the championship game and the Super Bowl. can be turned off.
