The NFL announced Jan. 5 that the suspended game between the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals will not be resumed, meaning the Ravens have been eliminated from contention for the AFC North title.
The Bills-Bengals game on Jan. 2 was halted in the first quarter after Bills safety Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest on the field. Trainers administered CPR and Hamlin was rushed to the hospital, where he remained in critical condition as of Jan. 5, though doctors have said his condition has improved noticeably.
With that game now canceled, the Bengals (11-4) have secured the AFC North crown for the second straight season, while the Ravens (10-6) will be left to play for postseason seeding when they visit Cincinnati this weekend. They have already secured a playoff spot.
But in a twist given the unusual circumstances, the league announced that there is still a chance the Ravens could host Cincinnati in a playoff game.
The Ravens beat the Bengals in Week 5, 19-17, and if the Bengals had lost to Buffalo and then lost to the Ravens this coming weekend, the Ravens would have won the division. Instead, the Bengals can finish no worse than 11-5, while the Ravens can finish no better than 11-6.
Recognizing this situation in which two contenders will not play the same number of games, the league’s Competition Committee has approved a proposal in which, if the Ravens win at Cincinnati this weekend, and the Ravens as the No. 6 seed are scheduled to play the No. 3 seed Bengals, the venue for that game would be determined by a coin flip.
The coin flip only would come into play with a Ravens win; it’s also possible the Ravens and Bengals could match up in a playoff game after a Bengals win, but in that scenario, the Bengals would have the division crown outright.
The league has also proposed that if two teams in the AFC championship game did not play an equal number of games, and both teams could have been the No. 1 seed had the full schedule been played, then the AFC title game will be played at a neutral site.
The proposals must be approved by the league’s owners, who will vote on them at a special meeting on Jan. 6.
“As we considered the football schedule, our principles have been to limit disruption across the league and minimize competitive inequities,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. “I recognize that there is no perfect solution. The proposal that 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.”
The Ravens are expected to be without starting quarterback Lamar Jackson for the fifth straight game when they visit the Bengals. Jackson has not played or practiced since suffering a sprained knee against Denver on Dec. 4.
In his absence, the Ravens have gone 2-2 but have scuffled offensively with backup Tyler Huntley. The Ravens have totaled three touchdowns in those four games and have averaged 11.8 points over the past five games, including the Denver game Jackson left after the first quarter.
The Ravens enter play this weekend as the No. 6 seed in the AFC, but would improve to the No. 5 seed if they win at Cincinnati and the Los Angeles Chargers lose to the Denver Broncos.
If the Ravens and Chargers both win, however, then the Ravens will be the No. 6 seed, and the Bengals could still be the No. 3 seed, meaning Goodell might have to get ready for an unprecedented coin flip.
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