NFL to hold meeting to decide AFC playoff fate, ‘neutral sites’ on the table
The NFL is set to make another unprecedented decision regarding the future of games in the AFC.
It was reported earlier on Thursday that the league was set to declare the Buffalo Bills’ Week 17 matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals a “no contest.” That holds true.
The game will go down as never being played and both teams will finish the 2022 regular season with one less game played than the rest of the NFL.
Hours later, that motion was approved by the league. The next one up is set to come on Friday and it relates to an obvious question: What do they do about the playoffs?
The Bills, Bengals and Kansas City Chiefs all had plenty riding on the outcome of the game that… never was. Namely, the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
Essentially, the NFL owners and competition committee is meeting on Friday to discuss a plan of action that boils to a “we’ll see approach.”
Week 18 outcomes will come into effect potentially, so the Bills do still have plenty to play for against the New England Patriots on Sunday. The plan of action may very well end up being… let’s see who makes it to the AFC Championship.
And in certain scenarios, involved the Bills, Chiefs, and Bengals, that title game could end up being played at a neutrel sight due to the cancellation of Monday’s contest due to Damar Hamlin’s hosptiazation following his cardiac arrest.
ESPN’s Field Yates broke it down in a digestible format:
A summary of the proposal for the AFC Championship Game:
14-3 Chiefs vs. 13-3 Bills: neutral site
13-4 Chiefs vs. 12-4 Bills: neutral site
13-4 Chiefs vs. 12-4 Bengals: neutral siteWeek 18 has no bearing on a possible Bills-Bengals championship game: that would be in Buffalo.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) January 6, 2023
