Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin’s health has rightfully been the sole focus of the NFL and its fans since Monday night.
Monday night’s game between the Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals was suspended after Hamlin collapsed to the turf during the first quarter and needed CPR before being rushed to a hospital in an ambulance.
Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin (3) warms up prior to a game against the Cincinnati Bengals Jan. 2, 2023, at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati.
(Ian Johnson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest and spent Monday night in an intensive care unit in critical condition.
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On Wednesday, the Bills provided an update, saying Hamlin remains in critical condition after showing “signs of improvement noted yesterday and overnight.”
As the focus remains on Hamlin and his health, the NFL has to deal with the issue of what to do with the suspended game between the Bills and the Bengals.
On Tuesday, the NFL announced the game “will not be resumed this week” and that no decision has been made about resuming the game.
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The game between the two AFC teams has major playoff implications with just one game separating the two teams in the playoff picture.
Damar Hamlin of the Buffalo Bills reacts after a missed Pittsburgh Steelers field goal during the second quarter at Highmark Stadium Oct. 9, 2022, in Orchard Park, N.Y.
(Timothy T Ludwig/Getty Images)
The No. 1 seed and home-field advantage are still very much in play in the AFC, and the game between Cincinnati and Buffalo impacts final AFC playoff seeding.
On Wednesday, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith floated the idea of the NFL pushing back the start of the playoffs to finish the game between the Bills and the Bengals.
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“I think they’ll find a way to play the game,” Smith said Wednesday on “First Take.”
“I think you go through the rest of the regular season. It is possible that you will push the playoffs back and eliminate that bye week for the Super Bowl.”
Stephen A. Smith during an interview on “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” September 22, 2022.
(Paula Lobo/NBC via Getty Images)
The NFL playoffs are scheduled to begin on Saturday, Jan. 14, one week after the final games of the regular season.
Smith suggested the NFL give every playoff team a bye week before starting the playoffs while Buffalo and Cincinnati complete their Week 17 game one week after the Week 18 slate is played.
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“So, in other words, that would be the only game that week, and the playoffs begin the following week,” Smith continued. “Nobody else is going to complain about having that additional week off. It gives you an opportunity to get healthy as a team, collectively as a league. You go out there, everybody had two weeks off, the playoffs begin.
Buffalo Bills players pray for teammate Damar Hamlin during the first half of a game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Monday, Jan. 2, 2023, in Cincinnati. The game was postponed after Buffalo Bills’ Damar Hamlin collapsed.
(AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)
“I think that is the scenario that ultimately may end up happening,” he added. “I don’t know, this is no inside information or anything like that, I’m just guessing. And I’m saying to you, for me, I find that to be the best-case scenario because you continue the regular season, you let it finish it out.
“And then everybody’s season is done except Buffalo and Cincinnati who have to revisit that game.”
Smith’s idea would include eliminating the bye week between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl.
