NFL Cancels Bills-Bengals Game After Hamlin’s Cardiac Arrest, to Consider Scenarios for AFC Playoffs

The Buffalo Bills gather while CPR is administered to Damar Hamlin at the game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio, on Jan. 2, 2023. (Sam Greene/USA Today Sports via Field Level Media)

The NFL announced Thursday it would not resume the game between the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals that was suspended late on Monday after Buffalo safety Damar Hamlin collapsed and went into cardiac arrest on the field.

Playing the game between the Bills and Bengals to completion would mean postponing the start of the playoffs by a week, which would affect all 14 teams that qualified for the postseason, the NFL announced.

The cancelation of the Bills-Bengals game has no effect on which clubs would qualify for the postseason but does create “potential competitive inequities in certain playoff scenarios,” it added.

Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement that a special NFL meeting is scheduled for Friday, in which clubs will consider a league proposal on seeding to reconcile these competitive inequities due to the cancelation of the game. The clubs will also consider the potential use of neutral sites.

“As we considered the football schedule, our principles have been to limit disruption across the league and minimize competitive inequities,” Goodell said.

“I recognize that there is no perfect solution. 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,” he said.

“We continue to focus on the recovery of Damar Hamlin 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,” he added.

Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest on the field after making a tackle Monday night. He was given CPR and transported to a nearby hospital via ambulance. The Bengals were leading 7-3 in the first quarter of the game before it had to be suspended.

The Bills-Bengals game had major playoff implications for the AFC playoffs. The Buffalo (12-3) and Cincinnati (11-4) teams were both in the hunt for the AFC’s No. 1 seed on Monday night. The Kansas City Chiefs (13-3) now hold that spot. Cincinnati had a chance to earn that top seed with two more wins and a loss by Kansas City.

The league resolution was recommended by Goodell and approved by the competition committee on Thursday.

The resolution proposes that the AFC Championship will be played at a neutral site if the participating teams played an unequal number of games and both could have been the No. 1 seed and hosted the game, had all the AFC clubs played a full 17-game regular season.

That would apply in three scenarios:

• If Buffalo and Kansas City both win or both tie this weekend, week 18, then a Buffalo vs. Kansas City AFC championship game would be at a neutral site.
• If Buffalo and Kansas City both lose in week 18, and the Baltimore Ravens (10-6) wins or ties with Cincinnati, a Buffalo vs. Kansas City AFC championship game would be at a neutral site.
• If Buffalo and Kansas City both lose and Cincinnati wins against Baltimore, then a Buffalo or Cincinnati vs. Kansas City AFC championship game would be at a neutral site.

Also, if Baltimore defeats Cincinnati in Week 18, the Ravens would have two wins over the Bengals, but will not be able to host a playoff game because Cincinnati will have a higher winning percentage for a 16-game schedule than Baltimore will for a 17-game schedule.

Therefore, if Baltimore defeats Cincinnati and if those two clubs are schedule to play a wild-card game against each other, the site for that game would be determined by a coin toss.

But if Cincinnati wins this weekend or if Baltimore and Cincinnati are not scheduled to play each other in the wild-card round, the game sites would be determined by the regular scheduling procedures.

The cancellation comes on the same day that Hamlin’s doctors said he was awake and was communicating with them through writing. The doctors said tests are ongoing to determine the cause of his cardiac arrest.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.