Following the scary scene on Monday Night Football, the league indeed decided to cancel the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals matchup.
That means, the Bills and Bengals will now play one-less game than the rest of the NFL, and it will definitely impact the postseason.
There are still several scenarios that could play out over the weekend, but only a couple of them will end up impacting Buffalo.
The biggest question by Bills fans, now, is whether they have a legitimate shot at getting the number one seed. Unfortunately, it’s not looking that way. Here are the changes approved by the league, and then we’ll break it down a little further.
Here’s the full resolution NFL owners just approved, modifying this year’s playoffs in certain scenarios: pic.twitter.com/OQNeQIDfpi
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 6, 2023
The Buffalo Bills’ 2023 NFL Postseason will look a lot different this year.
The easiest way to sum this up, from the Bills’ perspective, looks like this.
If the Chiefs end up beating the Las Vegas Raiders (which they likely will) then Kansas City is the number one seed, no matter what. With that in mind, the Bills will lose the opportunity to host an AFC Championship Game.
At that point, the best the Bills could hope for is that they beat the New England Patriots on Sunday. Then, if Buffalo and Kansas City were to meet in the AFC Championship, the league would have that game played at a neutral site.
Now, let’s say the AFC Championship ends up being the Bengals and Bills. If that’s the case, knowing both teams played the same amount of games this season, then the home team will be the higher seed. That will be easier to determine based on normal tie-breakers.
The real intriguing part of this doesn’t involve the Bills, though. If Baltimore somehow beats Cincinnati on Sunday (which Bills fans are certainly hoping for) then they would again play one another in a Wildcard game the following weekend.
But, to determine whether the Bengals or Ravens host the game, that will come down to a mere coin flip.
It’s a pretty wild world we’re living in, with all of these caveats coming in to play now. But, the most important thing still remains: Damar Hamlin is trending in a positive direction.