It’s time for the NFL to call Bills-Bengals game a tie
The NFL is still trying to figure out what to do about the last 3 1/2 quarters of Monday night’s game between the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals after the game was postponed. That’s understandable, as the league has never before encountered a scenario in which a player — Bills safety Damar Hamlin — suffered a cardiac arrest incident on the field, and is still in critical condition in the ICU of University of Cincinnati Medical Center.
While the league’s deliberateness on this issue is preferable to the other option — force the players to play the rest of the game and move on — we are now moving toward a logistical nightmare beyond Hamlin’s condition and recovery, and Hamlin’s condition and recovery are obviously the more important issues.
In a conference call with reporters on Wednesday, NFL executives spoke about the process.
NFL EVP Jeff Miller says there has been no decision on whether to resume the Bills-Bengals game at a later date. Will consult with the clubs involved. Decision in the coming days.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 4, 2023
Troy Vincent on options for resuming the Bengals-Bills game or adjusting seeding: "Everything is being considered."
They'll lean on the guiding principles from COVID, including "value of winning and winning percentage." Need to give Commissioner suggestions if game not resumed.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 4, 2023
The league is in a tough spot here — they can’t possibly be seen to be insensitive enough to start adjusting the Bills’ schedule when Hamlin is still in emergency care, but they do at some point have to stitch the rest of the schedule back together.
The best scenario in this case would be to rule that the Bills-Bengals game will not be completed, and both teams will be credited with a tie.
That would put the Bills at 12-3-1 on the season, with the Bengals moving to 11-4-1. Buffalo would remain the AFC’s second-seed behind the 13-3 Kansas City Chiefs, and the Bengals would remain the AFC’s third seed. The Jacksonville Jaguars are the AFC’s current fourth-seed at 8-8, so there’s no possible way this could muck up the top of the conference.
The Bills have already wrapped up the AFC East. Where it gets a bit more complicated is in the AFC North. The Baltimore Ravens, the AFC’s sixth-seed, have a 10-6 record, and they face the Bengals on Sunday. If the Ravens win to move to 11-6, and the Bengals lose to move to 11-5-1, the Bengals would have the division even though the Ravens swept them.
It’s not the ideal situation — you’d prefer for this to work itself out on the field. But in states of emergency, concessions have to be made so that business can be conducted in the most intelligent, efficient, and sensitive way possible.
Vincent, the NFL’s Executive Vice President of Football Operations, also said Wednesday that there may some thought to postponing Sunday’s game between the Bills and New England Patriots, depending on how everybody involved is doing emotionally.
NFL EVP Troy Vincent said that they will let the Bills, coach Sean McDermott guide them in terms of a potential decision about delaying Bills-Patriots. Said that it hasn't been discussed, again, focus on everyone's well-being.
— Alaina Getzenberg (@agetzenberg) January 4, 2023
That’s the right stance to take, and it makes a timely decision to call Bills-Bengals a tie even more crucial. It’s time for the NFL, an entity that has handled this about as well as could be expected, to now act decisively in order that it can return to play, while at the same time honoring Hamlin, and all those who have been affected by what happened to him. Any delay in deliberation that ends with this game being played out puts Hamlin’s obviously traumatized teammates in a position to have to play multiple games in a compressed space of time, and there are no circumstances under which that makes any sense at all.
