NFL Official Explains League Changing Playoff Rules After Canceled Game

The decision confused those who thought the league already had clear guidelines in place.

The NFL owners passed a resolution to change the AFC playoff rules on Friday after the league officially declared the Bills-Bengals Week 17 game a no contest in the wake of the medical emergency suffered by Buffalo safety Damar Hamlin. Though the league did its best to accommodate rather unique and sensitive circumstances, some have found themselves confounded by the decision to bypass already agreed upon rules for a new system.

For instance, the Bengals expressed disappointment that the NFL didn’t follow the rulebook for canceled games, which states that playoff seeding will be determined by win percentage in the standings. Instead, the resolution included a note that if the Ravens beat the Bengals this weekend and then those two teams are set to play in the playoffs, the location of the postseason game will be determined by a coin flip. That means even though Cincinnati will have a better win percentage and be declared division champs, the Ravens will still have an opportunity to host a playoff game.

After 25 owners voted in favor of changing the rules mid-season, Falcons CEO and Competition Committee chairperson Rich McKay addressed the lingering controversy about the decision, explaining that the rules as written don’t always apply to every nuanced circumstance. As a result, the league opted to take action.

“I would say it’s not necessarily that [the rules] weren’t followed, it was that you had a circumstance, it wasn’t necessarily captured—we don’t capture everything in every rule and every policy manual and sometimes when you face situations you have to try to make adjustments, and this was one of those adjustments,” McKay said on a conference call with reporters, per ProFootballTalk. “Not a lot different than in COVID when we were trying to get—to make sure we got to [256 games] and we had to do a lot of schedule manipulation, and some teams that were affected were not obviously happy with it. 

“But that was done in the best interest of all 32, and that really was the focus of this, is what’s in the best interests of all 32? And that’s why this was voted on, and then voted on prior to this week’s game, so that all teams would know.”

In addition to possible coin-flip chaos in the AFC North, potential AFC championship matchups involving the Bills, Chiefs and Bengals will be affected depending on the result of Week 18. Should certain scenarios play out (as seen in the NFL Research graphic below), the conference championship game may be played at a neutral site.

Confused by all the different permutations of a potential neutral site AFC Title game? Our friends at ⁦@NFLResearch⁩ made a nice chart pic.twitter.com/pXHTfvkUoh

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 6, 2023

The NFL will return to action on Saturday for the first time since Hamlin’s medical emergency on Monday night. The Bills safety, who went into cardiac arrest during the game, continues to receive care at University of Cincinnati Medical Center. 

The team provided a positive update on Friday that Hamlin had his breathing tube removed and was able to FaceTime with his teammates. He is awake and “neurologically intact,” which means he is able to perform larger motor movements and follow commands.