The Bills-Banse Game Against The Bengals in the Boundary Game: The Coin Toss or the Coin toss?
The plan to use a coin flip to determine where the game would take place was approved by owners on Friday.
The league held a special virtual meeting on Friday to determine if there were any possible playoffs scenarios for the two teams that did not play a lot of regular season games.
Monday night’s game between the Bills and Bengals was canceled after Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field and was taken to the hospital. The Buffalo and Cincinnati teams have played 16 contests each, so they will be in the playoffs.
The proposal was approved by the competition committee, but not before it received the approval of the clubs. “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 Bills are 12-3 and hold the No. 2 seed before the final games of the season on Saturday and Sunday. The Bengals are No. 3 in the playoff picture at 11-4. The regular season winning percentage is used to seed teams.
A neutral site would be chosen if Buffalo and Kansas City both lose and Cincinnati wins.
Also, if the Baltimore Ravens (10-6) beat Cincinnati for a second time this season on Sunday, and if the A.F.C. North opponents are scheduled to play one another in the wild-card round, the game site would be determined by a coin toss.
The Story of Damar Hamlin: The Miracle of a Game Overshadowed by Football-Like Events in the AFL All-Star Conference
What followed was a harrowing 10 minutes as medical professionals attended to him on the field and administered CPR, while Bills players knelt in a circle around him. On the sidelines, players wept and hugged. Broadcasters, the shock also evident in their voices, attempted to narrate the scene as Hamlin was eventually placed in an ambulance and rushed to a hospital.
The game was suspended, after McDermott consulted with his team, the officials and Bengals Coach Zac Taylor. The league eventually announced that the game would not be completed.
“Yesterday’s news of Damar’s improving condition lifted not only my spirits but the spirits of the entire league,” N.F.L. Commissioner Roger Goodell told reporters on Friday. “And this morning’s news that he was FaceTiming with his team is just incredible.”
The decision not to restart the suspended game resulted in the approval of two adjustments to the A.F.C. playoffs. The top seed in the conference and home-field advantage was up for grabs.