Despite protest from the Bengals, NFL owners voted affirmatively on changes to the AFC playoffs procedures.
The Bengals-Bills game was postponed on Monday after Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field in cardiac arrest following a tackle of wideout Tee Higgins. On Thursday, the NFL announced the game would not be resumed. The game carried heavy stakes in the AFC playoff race, with both teams plus the Chiefs in contention for the top seed in the conference. There are also implications with the Bengals and Ravens and the AFC North.
If the Ravens beat the Bengals on Sunday in the regular-season finale in Cincinnati, they would force a likely rematch in the wild-card round with a coin flip determining which team is at home.
The Bengals are not happy about this potential scenario, because the previous standard for who would win the division and host the game was winning percentage. The Bengals are 11-4 while the Ravens are 10-6. Therefore, the Bengals have already clinched having a higher winning percentage regardless of Sunday’s result.
Despite a protest from the Bengals, the NFL will move ahead with changes to the AFC playoffs format. Getty ImagesKatie Blackburn, an executive vice president for the Bengals who is on the NFL’s competition committee, argued against the shift.
“The proper process for making rule change (sic) is in the off-season,” Blackburn wrote in a memo that was obtained by ESPN’s Seth Wickersham. “It is not appropriate to put teams in a position to vote for something that may introduce bias, favor one team over another or impact their own situation when the vote takes place immediately before the playoffs.”
Bengals coach Zac Taylor also voiced his frustrations to reporters.
“It’s black and white, it’s in the rule book,” Taylor said about the shift away from handling seeding by best winning percentage.
Joe Mixon celebrates against the Ravens on Oct. 9. 2022. Icon Sportswire via Getty ImagesDespite those issues, 25 of 32 owners passed the changes on Friday with three-to-four voting no and the rest abstaining, according to Pro Football Talk. Twenty-four votes were needed to pass the revised format championed by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
The revisions could set up a neutral site for the AFC title game in these three scenarios:
1) A Bills-Chiefs AFC title game would be at a neutral site if both teams win or tie on Sunday.
2) If the Bills and Chiefs both lose but the Ravens win or tie, Bills-Chiefs would be at a neutral site.
3) If the Bills and Chiefs both lose, and the Bengals win, the Chiefs would face the Bills or Bengals at a neutral site.
Damar Hamlin tackles Tee Higgins before collapsing during the Bills-Bengals game, which ended up being canceled. Getty ImagesThese scenarios would be altogether avoided if other matchups take place in the AFC Championship.
