It appears the Buffalo Bills-Cincinnati Bengals game won’t be completed, meaning the NFL is going to have to figure out how to fairly determine playoff seeding.
And with two playoff-bound teams potentially getting a no-contest, that means the league is going to have to get a little creative.
The Monday Night Football game between the two AFC powers was suspended in the first quarter after Buffalo safety Damar Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest on the field. Fortunately, he was awake Thursday, holding hands with family members and communicating by writing.
In the event Bills-Bengals is called a no-contest, an idea gaining “real traction” is seeding by win percentage, then playing the AFC Championship at a neutral site, according to SI's Albert Breer. That would only be in the event the two teams playing in the conference title game had their seeding impacted by a Bills-Bengals no contest.
The potential issue with that is that had Monday’s game been completed, the winner would have entered Week 18 with a shot at the top seed. Since the Bengals are two games back from the AFC-leading Chiefs, the winning percentage method would eliminate their chance at the top seed. Buffalo, since it holds the tiebreaker over Kansas City, still has a shot at the top spot.
But another idea, as ProFootballTalk reported, is adding an additional team to the playoff field from both conferences, expanding it from seven teams to eight, with the first-round bye going away. PFT’s Mike Florio indicated that the NFLPA would need to agree to the expansion approach.
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Adding another team to the field would un-eliminate the Saints, Commanders and Jets. The Saints are set to play the eliminated Panthers this weekend, while the 7-9 Jets will face a current bubble team in the 8-8 Dolphins. The Commanders will play the Cowboys, who have clinched a playoff spot but aren't planning to rest starters.
The first game of Week 18 is set for Saturday. One would think the NFL will have a plan in place by then.
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