NFL owners ‘meet Friday to discuss AFC championship game at NEUTRAL location’

NFL owners will meet Friday to discuss the league’s proposal to play the AFC championship game at a neutral venue as the playoff seeding was affected after the crucial game was confirmed to be between the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals will not resume.

The Week 17 game, which was set to affect the playoffs, was suspended Monday night after Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field and went into cardiac arrest.

The Bills and the NFL community received a positive update Thursday when doctors noted the 24-year-old is now awake and has made “significant improvements,” but the league will not resume MNF play.

NFL owners to meet to discuss AFC seeding as Bills-Bengals game does not resume

Damar Hamlin is awake and showing signs of recovery after suffering cardiac arrest and being resuscitated during Monday’s Bills-Bengals game in Cincinnati

The Bills-Bengals game had a major impact on the playoffs and the league has suggested playing the AFC Championship game on neutral ground to solve the seeding issue.

Buffalo (12-3) started Monday night and needed a win to hold the AFC No. 1 seed while the Kansas City Chiefs (13-3) currently hold that spot.

The challenge of working out the AFC playoffs without the significant game has now been escalated to the highest level in the sport.

NFL owners (Bills’ Terry Pegula, left, and Bengals’ Mike Brown, right) will meet over the plan

The Kansas City Chiefs (13-3) currently hold the AFC No. 1 seed ahead of Week 18

The NFL released a statement Thursday night outlining the proposal following the cancellation

The NFL released a statement Thursday night suggesting that if the participating teams in the AFC championship game have played an unequal number of games and both could have been No. 1 and hosted the game, it be played on neutral ground.

NFL owners will meet via video call on Friday to discuss the proposal.

The circumstances leading to an AFC Championship game on neutral ground all include Buffalo or Cincinnati qualifying as a road team for the game.

First, if Buffalo and Kansas City both win or both tie in Week 18, a Buffalo vs. Kansas City Championship game would be played at a neutral venue.

If Buffalo and Kansas City both lose and Baltimore wins or draws, the championship game between the Bills and Chiefs would also go on neutral ground.

Finally, if both teams lose but the Bengals win, then a game between Cincinnati or Buffalo and the Chiefs would have the same result.

Week 18 does not affect a potential AFC Championship game between the Bills and Bengals as that would still be played in Buffalo.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said those three scenarios were the league’s best response to the disruption in the race for the AFC’s top seed and everything else that played out.

“When looking at the football plan, our principle was to limit disruption across the league and minimize competitive disparities,” Goodell said.

“I realize that there is no perfect solution. However, the proposal we are soliciting from the owners addresses the key potential equity issues raised by the difficult but necessary decision not to play the game in these exceptional circumstances.’

It outlined the three scenarios that would result in an AFC Championship game on neutral ground

Another factor complicating matters is the outcome of the Bengals’ game against the Ravens on Sunday.

If Baltimore beats Cincinnati this weekend, it will have beaten its division opponent twice but won’t be able to host a playoff game because the 16-game Bengals will have a higher winning percentage than the 17-game Ravens.

If the Ravens are victorious on Sunday and the two teams are scheduled to face off in a wild card game, the league has suggested the terrain be determined by a coin toss.

The Bengals’ game against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday complicates matters further

If Baltimore beats Cincinnati this weekend, it will have defeated its division opponent twice

While the Bills-Bengals game will not resume, Buffalo’s Game of the Week 18 against the New England Patriots is scheduled to take place on Sunday.

When Bill’s head coach Sean McDermott pressed why his team must play this weekend, he insisted his team owed it to his teammate as he revealed Hamlin’s father Mario had told them it was what his son would want .

He said: “I absolutely believe that Damar would have wanted exactly what his father Mario said to us. We owe it to Damar and his family.”

Hamlin had been sedated after being revived in the field on Monday but began communicating with doctors in writing on Wednesday as his verbal communication continued to be hampered by his breathing tube.

The 24-year-old defenseman even asked doctors who won Monday’s game, which quarterback Josh Allen said he and his teammates “loved” to hear as he revealed what kind of person the security acts.

Bill’s head coach Sean MCDermott insisted his team owed it to Hamlin to play on Sunday

Damar Hamlin was pictured alongside his father Mario during his playing days in Pittsburgh

Hamlin landed a hit on Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins in the first quarter of the game and got up before immediately moving on to the game.

Bill’s assistant trainer Denny Kellington gave life-saving CPR to Hamlin on the field after he collapsed before security was rushed to hospital.

Speaking at the Bills’ first media availability since the incident, McDermott hailed the assistant coach as a “true hero.”

“To put it in context, Denny is one of our assistant coaches,” McDermott explained. “Just like our team, your team does mock drills for these kinds of things, but we’re not here for that. As the saying goes: practice pays off.

“For an assistant to find himself in that position and how he takes charge and rises, it’s just amazing,” he continued while paying tribute to the assistant. “The courage it took, you speak of a real leader and a real hero to save Damar’s life. I admire his strength.”