Here are the multiple scenarios the league is considering to make up the Bills-Bengals game.
All would be complicated, and some seem easier than others.
The Bills were scheduled to hold team meetings and a walkthrough practice without any media availability on Wednesday. They are expected to resume practice on Thursday. The Patriots returned to practice Wednesday but pushed back their media availability to Thursday.
“It’s really important that we just keep the pulse of the coach and the players, and don’t get in front of that,” an emotional Vincent said. “And we’ll allow (Bills coach) Sean (McDermott) and his team and his staff and the players, which are the most important thing here, to guide us if we have to make that decision collectively with the club and what’s best for Sean and his team and the players.”
NFL executive Jeff Miller said a decision on whether to resume the Bills-Bengals game at a later date will be made in the coming days. The outcome of the game impacts the AFC playoff structure because the Bills entered Monday night as the No. 1 seed.
The Bengals (11-4) have a one-game lead over Baltimore in the AFC North and also are in the mix for the top seed. The Kansas City Chiefs (13-3) surpassed the Bills for the No. 1 seed, pending the result of Buffalo’s game against Cincinnati.
The playoffs are scheduled to begin Jan. 14. Pushing the start back one week to complete the Bills-Bengals game is among the options. That would eliminate the bye week between the conference championship games on Jan. 29 and the Super Bowl on Feb. 12.
Other scenarios include playing the Bills-Bengals game and the NFC wild-card games on the same weekend and pushing the start of the AFC playoffs back one week. That also would eliminate the bye week before the Super Bowl.
The Pro Bowl Games featuring various skills competitions in Las Vegas are scheduled for the week before the Super Bowl, with a flag football game between the AFC-NFC teams on Feb. 5. That week could be pushed to after the Super Bowl or be canceled.
Not resuming the Bills-Bengals game would be the simplest option from a scheduling standpoint because it wouldn’t require any other changes. The No. 1 seed and other playoff positions would then be determined by winning percentage. In that case, the Chiefs would have the inside track on securing a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
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