After the hospitalization of Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin during Monday Night Football NFL vice president of operations Troy Vincent stated that the league is considering all options in regards to the schedule. The options could include pushing the conference title games into the bye week before the Super Bowl. Vincent also said that there will be a time in the very near future that the league will attempt to shape the rest of the Bills’ schedule, including the postponed game against the Bengals as well as the Week 18 game against the New England Patriots.
Vincent stated that, “We have not had that discussion, It’s really important that we just keep the pulse of the coach and the players and don’t get in front of that. We’ll allow Sean [McDermott] and his team and his staff and his players — which are the most important thing here — to guide this if we have to make that decision collectively with the club.”
The two most likely outcomes seem to be either the game will not be played or recognized as a completed contest, leaving both franchises with a 16-game season and having their playoff seeding determined by win percentage; or the game will be scheduled in what amounts to a “Week 19,” in which the entire playoff schedule is pushed back one week as the Bills and Bengals finish out their season.
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