NFL insider reveals options league is considering for Bengals-Bills resumption

The Monday Night Football game between the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals was postponed due to a traumatic injury. Here is how it might resume.

The principal focus for the Buffalo Bills and the entire NFL community on Monday night and Tuesday morning has been on Damar Hamlin’s health and well-being. According to the team, the second-year safety suffered cardiac arrest and was transported to Cincinnati’s only level 1 trauma center where he was in critical condition as of last night.

Here is a comprehensive look at the situation to get you up to speed.

The game, which was put on pause in the first quarter when the injury occurred, did not resume and was officially postponed after discussions involving the league, officials, and the teams. After a lengthy period of time where Hamlin was on the ground receiving CPR, it was unreasonable to expect players would be able to turn it back on and go, not knowing Hamlin’s outcome.

The game was slated to be a meaningful one, with the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage on the table in the AFC still. The outcome of the game is, for playoff seeding purposes, extremely important. As of now, it is anticipated to be played, but the when and how are unknown for certain. Here’s the latest we’ve heard as of Tuesday morning.

When will Bills vs Bengals resume after Damar Hamlin situation?

According to Vic Carucci, and H/T to Melissa Holmes of WGRZ in Buffalo, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell will make the call on when the game will be resumed. If it is this week, it needs to be within two days.

There is, however, another option, where a 19th week could be added to the schedule to finish up the game, according to Carucci. At that point, the game could be meaningless toward playoff seeding depending on the outcomes of other games, because the all-important Chiefs-Raiders game (currently scheduled for Saturday) will have ostensibly been completed by then.

For now, those are the only two possibilities known to be considered, however, the situation is unlike any other and the league is certainly expected to explore whatever avenues are needed to resume the game with sensitivity in mind.

Most of the Bills flew back to New York Monday night, making resuming the game this week slightly more complicated. Some players stayed in Ohio. Both teams are scheduled to play on Sunday as well.