Why Bengals-Bills Divisional Round Game is in Buffalo originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
It’s been a whirlwind experience for the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals, and now one team will end the other’s season.
The Bills visited the Bengals for a Monday Night Football matchup in Cincinnati with major playoff repercussions. The game came to an abrupt and terrifying halt when Bill’s safety Damar Hamelin collapsed in the field due to cardiac arrest. The NFL went from suspended to all canceled together.
Hamlin has since made strides in a remarkable recovery, while the Bills and Bengals each ended their regular seasons with victories. Both teams progressed past the wildcard round and set up another one highly anticipated showdown.
Sunday’s matchup will be held at Highmark Stadium, the Bills’ home stadium, but it took an unprecedented series of events to set it up. Because of this, the game will start in Orchard Park, NY instead of Cincinnati or even a neutral location.
Which seeds are the Bills and Bengals?
The Bills are No. 2 in the AFC while the Bengals are No. 3 in the conference.
With the cancellation of their head-to-head game, the Bills and Bengals ended the year with 16 games played instead of 17 like the league’s 30 other teams.
Could the Bills have been No. 1 with a win over the Bengals?
Had the Bills beat the Bengals and then a week 18 win against the New England Patriots, they would have earned the AFC No. 1 seed, the coveted first-round bye, and home field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. They defeated the Patriots in Week 18, but the canceled Week 17 game limited their season record to 13-3.
Buffalo had the tiebreak over the Kansas City Chiefs after beating them in Week 6, but the cancellation removed their chance of a 14th win. The Chiefs moved to the top of the conference with a Week 18 win over the Las Vegas Raiders to take their record to 14-3.
The story goes on
Could the Bengals have been No. 1 with a win over the Bills?
The Bengals could have risen as high as the top seed in the AFC if they had victories in Weeks 17 and 18. Instead, the cancellation of Week 17 limited their betting options.
The team entered Week 17 with an 11-4 record. With a win over the Bills and a Week 18 win over the Baltimore Ravens, the Bengals would have been No. 2 at worst. Add in a Chiefs loss to the Raiders and the Bengals would have been No. 1.
Without the Week 17 game, the Bills were one game up and one game to go. The Bengals should have beaten the Bills in Week 17 to earn the head-to-head tiebreaker. Cincinnati’s only chance to move up to 2nd place depended on the Bills losing to the Patriots, but Buffalo clinched a 35-23 win to end the regular season.
Along with a slight chance at the No. 2, the Bengals’ appeal was to avoid a potential coin toss. As part of the NFL’s updated rules for the AFC playoffs following the Week 17 cancellation, a Week 18 win by the Ravens in Cincinnati would have resulted in a coin toss to determine which AFC North team would receive the other in the wild card round would. The Bengals ensured the playoff matchup would take place at Paycor Stadium by beating the Ravens 27-16 in Week 18 before winning one rematch in the wild card round.
Has the NFL Considered a Neutral Venue for the Bills-Bengals Playoff Game?
The NFL reviewed the possibilities in the AFC playoffs, even implementing key scenarios like the aforementioned coin toss and a potential AFC title game on the neutral side. However, the league ultimately decided that a playoff game between the Bills and Bengals should be played at the higher-seeded team’s home ground.
“Yes, there have been (buffalo-Cincinnati neutral site considerations),” Rich McKay, chairman of the NFL’s competition committee, said Jan. 6 (h/t USA TODAY sports). “This was discussed at length on the conference call between the owners today.”
“The fact that Buffalo and Cincy were never played means they will have a different number of games compared to Kansas City,” said Michael North, the league’s vice president of broadcast scheduling. “But if it’s about Buffalo and Cincinnati potentially playing each other in the divisional round of the playoffs, they are to have played the same number of games – they both played 16 games. So there wasn’t really a conversation about a coin toss in terms of the host site. We will play that on the pitch this weekend.”
Where would a Bills-Chiefs AFC Championship Game be held?
Bills-Chiefs is the only remaining AFC championship game opportunity that would take place at a neutral venue.
If the Bills beat the Bengals and the Chiefs beat the Jacksonville Jaguars in the divisional round, that’s where the teams will go Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday, January 29 to decide which team will go to Super Bowl LVII.
Where would a Bengals-Chiefs AFC Championship Game be held?
If the Bengals and Chiefs advance, they will have a rematch of the AFC championship game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
Where would a Bills or Bengals vs. Jaguars AFC Championship Game take place?
If the Jaguars beat the Chiefs on Saturday, the winner of the Bills-Bengals game would host the AFC championship game.
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