Report: Bengals vs. Bills trending toward being ruled a “no contest”

It was hard to imagine the league being able to resume the game.

Cincinnati Bengals fans, Buffalo Bills fans and the whole world got great news today when it was reported that Bills safety Damar Hamlin showed great improvement over the last 24 hours. This is great news that we were all hoping to hear.

While secondary to the concerns for Hamlin, his family and his team, there were still lots of discussions surrounding the outcome of Monday night’s postponed game. We saw speculation of the game being called off, being ruled a tie and several scenarios where the game was rescheduled, changing the course of the entire postseason. All of those were ideas or speculation, with no official ruling from the league.

On Thursday, Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com reported that a “no contest” has become the expected result.

If this is the result, the Bengals would lose any potential path to the #1 seed in the AFC. They would, however, win the AFC North and have a path to the #2 seed. A win over the Baltimore Ravens, paired with a Bills loss to the New England Patriots would raise Cincinnati to the second seed, meaning they would only go on the road in the postseason if facing a higher seed in the AFC Championship game.

All of these things take a back seat to human life and the concern for Hamlin, but the NFL will continue to play as Hamlin recovers and the implications from the evens of Monday have league-wide implications.

Our continued thoughts and prayers go out to Hamlin, his family and the Buffalo Bills community,