Bills safety Damar Hamlin is awake, communicating, and had only one question when he became conscious: did his team win the game? The Buffalo Bills needed a win against the Cincinnati Bengals to ensure they secured the first seed in the AFC playoff picture. The Bengals needed to beat Buffalo to win the AFC North. Hamlin collapsing from a cardiac event prevented both clubs from accomplishing their goals.
Denny Kellington appreciation tweet.@AlbertBreer reported that it was the #Bills asst. athletic trainer's work administering CPR to Damar Hamlin that was "absolutely vital."
— Matt Parrino (@MattParrino) January 5, 2023
Hero. pic.twitter.com/7xomVJ6vob
An update we were all hoping for. ❤️💙
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) January 5, 2023
Hamlin collapsed in the first quarter when he made a tackle on Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins. Cincinnati was leading 7-3, but the injury caused the league to suspend the game indefinitely. Neither side was in the mood to finish the game, especially since CPR had to be administered to Hamlin. Bills’ assistant athletic trainer Denny Kellington is credited for saving Hamlin’s life. Ten minutes of CPR was rendered before an ambulance could come onto the field to take him to the hospital, where he was checked into the intensive care unit. He opened his eyes yesterday, still recovering but able to communicate via handwriting; he was intubated upon admission.
adding an 8th playoff team at this point is absolutely insane
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) January 5, 2023
everything that teams did after week 16, thinking they were eliminated entering week 17, either benching players or putting guys on IR?
now they have a shot & should have tried to win last week?
makes no sense https://t.co/pfnqnSn2y2
With the Bills' safety on the mend, the NFL now looks to remedy the playoff scenarios in the wake of the now-canceled game. There was talk of eight teams making the playoffs, which was not well-received. So, they released a memo describing the scenarios to address the inequities as the NFL enters the final week of the regular season. It will be voted on in a special meeting today (via NBC News):
A neutral AFC Championship Game site now is possible, per the NFL: pic.twitter.com/5gmd0drq7q
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 6, 2023
With one game left in the regular season, the NFL is still working out the details of how the now-canceled game will affect playoff seeding.
The NFL acknowledged that canceling the game "creates potential competitive inequities in certain playoff scenarios," and said NFL clubs will consider a resolution at a special league meeting Friday.
Part of it could involve the AFC Championship Game being played at a neutral site.
The Bills and Bengals have played 16 games, while all other NFL teams will have played 17.
The Bills had long ago clinched the AFC East and were in the driver’s seat for the No. 1 seed in the conference. Now at 12-3, Buffalo trails 13-3 Kansas City for the AFC’s top spot, which carries a first-round playoff bye.
Had the Bills won Monday night, they would have had as many wins as the Chiefs while holding a tiebreaker over Kansas City.
Did I read that right? One of the possibilities is to be decided by a coin toss.
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