NFL team owners voted Friday to disrupt the typical structure of the playoffs in hopes of resolving “competitive inequalities” stemming from a canceled Week 17 game.
That game — between the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals — was postponed and ultimately scrapped after Bills safety Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest during the first quarter. (Hamlin remains hospitalized in Cincinnati but his doctors say he’s shown “remarkable improvement.”)
While announcing that the Bills-Bengals game would not be rescheduled, NFL leaders on Thursday shared their plan to make up for the fact that top AFC teams had not played the same number of regular-season games. It involved neutral sites and even a coin flip.
“This has been a very difficult week,” said NFL commissioner Roger Goodell in the statement unveiling the proposal. He added that league officials remain focused on Hamlin’s recovery even as they plan for the playoffs.
During a special league meeting Friday, team owners voted to approve the proposal, opening the door to using a neutral site during the playoffs.
Here’s what is outlined in the approved resolution:
- If the Baltimore Ravens beat the Bengals this weekend and the two teams are matched up in the wild-card round, the location of that game will be determined by a coin toss.
- If the two teams that make it to the AFC championship played a different number of regular season games and each would have had a shot at the top seed if they played all 17 games, then the championship game will take place at a neutral site.
- The potential playoff changes apply to the 2022-23 NFL season only.
Although the resolution was approved without controversy, not everyone is happy with it, according to multiple news reports.
For example, during a press conference Friday, Bengals coach Zac Taylor expressed frustration that the league is not basing playoff decisions off of winning percentage like usual, tweeted Kelsey Conway, who covers the Bengals for the Cincinnati Enquirer.