While it was billed as one of the most important games of the NFL season, there is a chance that the Bills vs. Bengals game wouldn’t have actually mattered.
Monday night’s game between the Buffalo Bills (12-3) and the Cincinnati Bengals (11-4) was postponed indefinitely and then canceled following the injury suffered by Bills safety Damar Hamlin, which led to the most frightening scene on an NFL field in recent memory.
Hamlin’s condition is thankfully said to be improving, but it was ultimately decided that what was billed as one of the most important games of the season won’t happen — at least not in the regular season.
With just one week remaining in the regular season and the playoffs looming, there was plenty on the line during Monday night’s matchup. Both teams were still in play for the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs, and the Bengals could have clinched the AFC North over the Baltimore Ravens (10-6).
Naturally, the competitive element of the fans and teams wanted to see this game resume before the playoff field was solidified.
Even with all of the focus directed toward the well-being of the 24-year-old McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania native, that’s a decision that the NFL was always going to have to make at some point in the days after the horrifying situation.
But believe it or not, there is a Week 18 scenario which would effectively render the conclusion of the Bills vs. Bengals game obsolete anyway.
If the Kansas City Chiefs (13-3), who currently occupy the No. 1 seed, lose to the Las Vegas Raiders, the Bills, who currently occupy the No. 2 seed, beat the New England Patriots, and the Bengals, who currently occupy the No. 3 seed, tie with the Ravens, the Bills vs. Bengals game would not have had any seeding implications.
Such results would make the Bills 13-3, the Chiefs 13-4, the Bengals 11-4-1, and the Ravens 10-6-1. The Bills would be locked into the No. 1 seed, the Chiefs would be locked into the No. 2 seed, the Bengals would be locked into the No. 3 seed as AFC North champions, and the Ravens would be locked into a wild card spot.
The Bengals wouldn’t have been able to move up by beating the Bills, and a Bills loss wouldn’t have dropped them below the Chiefs, with Buffalo having beaten Kansas City head-to-head earlier in the season. A Bengals loss also wouldn’t have cost them their second consecutive AFC North title.
Of those four teams, the only one not locked into their seed would have been the Ravens, but their seed would have ultimately depended on the game between the Los Angeles Chargers (10-6) and the Denver Broncos.
A Chargers win or tie would give Los Angeles the No. 5 seed, while a loss would hand it to Baltimore. This is still the case, and regardless, that outcome has nothing to do with Buffalo or Cincinnati.
Alas, it is highly unlikely that all of these results, especially the tie, will occur. Under any other scenario, the result of the Bills vs. Bengals game would have altered the seeding in some way, which is exactly why the NFL is set to implement never-before-seen measures as it comes to homefield advantage and playoff seeding in the AFC following its cancellation.
Take a look at one example. Even if the Chiefs clinch the No. 1 seed at 14-3 with a win over the Raiders and a Bills loss to the Patriots, there still would have been something on the line in the Bills vs. Bengals game.
If the Bengals lose to the Ravens, they would have needed to beat the Bills to win the AFC North, and in doing so, they would have taken over the No. 2 spot. A tie would have also clinched the division, though they would have remained at No. 3.
And if the Bengals beat (or tie with) the Ravens to solidify the AFC North, the battle between the Bengals and Bills would still have been for the No. 2 seed.
It’s a lot to consider, and it was never truly an option for the NFL to wait for the results of the Week 18 games to make the final call on the Bills vs. Bengals game. Will we see the two teams meet in the playoffs?