The NFL announced Wednesday that discussions are ongoing about whether to resume the Week 17 Buffalo-Cincinnati game, which was postponed after Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest during the first quarter.
If the league declares the Monday night game a no-contest - or says it's canceled and will not resume - the announcement would clinch the AFC North title for the Bengals.
The Bengals are 11-4, and the Ravens are 10-6. So even if Baltimore wins at Cincinnati in Week 18, the Ravens would finish 11-6, 1/2 game behind the 11-5 Bengals in the AFC North standings.
The NFL has said the Bills-Bengals game won't be resumed this week. The league also announced that Baltimore and Cincinnati will play Sunday at 1 p.m.
The NFL had announced earlier this week that if the Bengals defeated the Bills, Cincinnati and Baltimore would play at 1 p.m. Sunday on CBS. If the Bills had won Monday night, Cincinnati and Baltimore would have met at 4:25 p.m. on CBS.
NFL Executive VP of Football Operations Troy Vincent told reporters Wednesday that the league hasn't ruled out a postponement of the Buffalo-Cincinnati game. The Enquirer's Kelsey Conway reported Wednesday that many factors are involved, and it's complicated. ESPN's Adam Schefter spoke during "NFL Live" about options the league is considering.
If the game is canceled, the Bengals also would not have a path to the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage. Cincinnati still could clinch the No. 2 seed with a win against the Ravens plus a Bills loss to the New England Patriots in Week 18. Again, that's if the game is canceled.
BaltimoreRavens.com's Clifton Brown wrote Wednesday night that if the AFC North title is not on the line Sunday, it could impact how much the Ravens play their starters against the Bengals.
More from Brown's article:
"We would be excited to be playing for the division crown," Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said. "That's something that we're hopeful for, but that's really beyond us. Our job is to go win the football game, and really to do that, we need to control the process, which is play the best football that we can. We think we're capable of playing great football, and we've been playing great football in a lot of ways in a lot of times, so we really want to try to put it all together."
"I'm not sure how that will end up going, but we're just going to go out and hopefully we get a chance," Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey said. "I know life isn't too fair, so whatever happens is fine. I know if I was the Bengals, I'd be like, 'This isn't fair if they cancel it,' or whatever. Whichever way it goes, I think we do have a game to play, and so with all the things going on, it's kind of a juggle of locking into this week, while also still having thoughts and prayers for Damar."
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