Week 17 Bills-Bengals game canceled, AFC Championship game likely to be played at neutral site
With Damar Hamlin regaining consciousness, the league has finally given an update on the postponed Bills-Bengals game and said that the match will not resume and has been canceled.
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Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals (Image via Buffalo Bills)
God has answered the prayers of every single person who wished for Damar Hamlin to win his fight against death. The Buffalo Bills’ safety has finally opened his eyes, and he has been communicating via writing as reported by the UC Medical Center staff.
The 24-year-old who suffered a cardiac arrest on Monday during the first quarter of the Bills-Bengals game at the Paycor Stadium is now neurologically sound and can move his extremities without any difficulties.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell had previously announced that the suspended game between Buffalo and Cincinnati will not resume this week. Now, the league has further declared that the game will be canceled and will not be resumed.
The scraping of the Bills-Bengals game will have no effect on teams qualifying for postseason
After speaking with the Bills and Bengals organization and the NFL Players Association, Roger Goodell informed all the teams that the Week 17 Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals game has been scrapped. “This has been a very difficult week,” Goodell said. “We continue to focus on the recovery of Damar Hamlin and are encouraged by the improvements in his condition as well as the tremendous outpouring of support and care for Damar and his family from across the country. We are also incredibly appreciative of the amazing work of the medical personnel and commend each and every one of them.”
The cancelation of the game will have no impact on which teams qualify for the postseason. However, it may affect the AFC seeding and the league has come up with several rule changes to counter the inequities. The league will hold a special meeting where the team owners will vote on the proposal and the AFC Championship game might be played at a neutral site.
“As we considered the football schedule, our principles have been to limit disruption across the league and minimize competitive inequities,” Goodell said of canceling the game and the repercussions it has on the AFC. “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.”
For the past 72 hours, Damar Hamlin has been on the minds of everyone in the league and officials were not in the correct mindscape to take any decisions. Now with Hamlin’s health improving, the NFL has finally made a decision regarding the Bills-Bengals game and canceled the game. With this cancelation, this will be the first since 1935 that every team in the league hasn’t played the same number of regular-season games.
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Related: “Did we win?” Damar Hamlin’s first question after gaining consciousness has fans in tears
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Yash Karandekar
(1023 Articles Published)