How will the AFC Championship game be decided? Know what are the possible options after the Bill-Bengals game cancellation
Here's how the AFC Championship contenders and game venues will be decided after the league announced that the Week 17 Bills-Bengals game has been canceled.
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AFC Championship (Image via YouTube)
The Week 17 Bills-Bengals game has officially been canceled as announced by the NFL. The entire league was in shock after the gruesome injury of Buffalo safety Damar Hamlin, who suffered a cardiac arrest in the middle of the game. Initially, the game was postponed to a further date that was yet to be decided, but now the league has scrapped the matchup altogether.
The 24-year-old had an unfortunate collision with Cincinnati’s wideout Tee Higgins and fell to the ground unconscious. After the medics gave him CPR on the field, he was rushed to the UC Medical Center for further treatment.
As reported by the doctors, Damar has regained consciousness and is neurologically sound. He has feelings in all his extremities and can communicate via writing. He has also been able to hold the hands of the people sitting next to him.
There are two ways the AFC Championship game can be decided:
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The cancelation of the Bills-Bengals game will have zero effect on which club qualifies for the postseason, but it does affect the seeding in the conference. The league has planned a proposal that will be voted upon by team owners on Friday regarding the changes in the AFC playoff scenario.
The league decided to cancel the game based on a few key factors: 1. The outcome of the Week 17 Bills-Bengals game will have no effect on which clubs qualify for the postseason. 2. If the game were to be rescheduled, then playoffs would’ve to be postponed by one week, thereby affecting all 14 teams.
The cancellation of this game has created inequity in certain playoff scenarios. The league will have a Special League Meeting with all clubs and come to a solution based on two elements.
1. The AFC Championship will be played at a neutral venue if both the teams playing the game have appeared in an unequal number of games and both could’ve been the No.1 seed and hosted the game had all the teams played all 17 games. Those circumstances involve Buffalo or Cincinnati qualifying for the game as a road team and are listed below:
Scenario 1 – Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs both win or tie against the Patriots and the Raiders respectively- a Bills-Chiefs AFC Championship will be held at a neutral site.
Scenario 2 – Baltimore Ravens defeats Cincinnati or ties and both Buffalo and Kansas City lose – a Bills-Chiefs AFC Championship will be held at a neutral site.
Scenario 3 – The Bengals win against the Ravens and both the Bills and Chiefs lose their respective matchups – a Buffalo or Cincinnati vs Kansas City championship game will be played at a neutral site.
2. If the Baltimore Ravens defeat the Cincinnati Bengals, a divisional opponent, they would do so twice but still won’t have the chance to host a playoff game because the Bengals have a higher winning percentage for a 16-game season than Baltimore will for a 17-game season.
If the Ravens defeat the Bengals in Week 18 and go on to face them once again in the Wild Card game, then the venue will be decided by a coin toss. And if Cincinnati wins and the two clubs don’t face each other in Wild Card, then the game site will be determined by regular scheduling procedures.
“As we considered the football schedule, our principles have been to limit disruption across the league and minimize competitive inequities,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said, acknowledging the difficult situation they are currently facing. “I recognize that there is no perfect solution. 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.”
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Related: Week 17 Bills-Bengals game canceled, AFC Championship game likely to be played at neutral site
Yash Karandekar
(1023 Articles Published)