The NFL has come together as a brotherhood to support Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin and his family after he went into cardiac arrest on Monday night in a game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
While the league and everyone involved, from commissioner Roger Goodell to the fans, are praying that Hamlin will come out of this healthy, the NFL will also need to figure out how it will move forward with the remaining regular-season schedule and the upcoming playoffs.
Of course, this isn’t the highest priority for the league right now, but it will need to be changed given the playoff implications that the Bills-Bengals game had before it was postponed.
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Damar Hamlin of the Buffalo Bills prior to a game against the Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium Sept. 25, 2022, in Miami Gardens, Fla.
(Megan Briggs/Getty Images)
One-time NFL MVP and current WFAN radio personality Boomer Esiason gave his theory on the matter, saying the NFL could move Week 18 back and have no games this upcoming weekend to make up for the postponement.
“As far as the NFL’s concerned, everybody is focused on Damar; that’s the most important thing, that’s what I’ve been told,” Esiason said on his “Boomer & Gio” show Tuesday.
“I do know that the weekend between the Super Bowl and the championship games, that is sitting there open, that’s a chance that everything will take that weekend into account, and maybe there will not be that week between the AFC Championship game … they may use that week as championship weekend.”
DAMAR HAMLIN SUFFERED CARDIAC ARREST DURING GAME, HEARTBEAT RESTORED ON FIELD, BILLS SAY
Esiason added that the only way Week 18 would be pushed back is if wild-card weekend for the NFL, which begins Jan. 14, would be moved as well.
Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin warms up before a game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field.
(Lon Horwedel/USA Today Sports)
“I would think the way that would work, if it did, would mean there would be no games this weekend,” Esiason explained. “And then maybe Cincinnati and Buffalo will restart next Monday. That’s possible because there’s no Monday night game.”
Of course, this is only a theory, but one that the NFL could be thinking about down the road.
“Everything’s on the table,” Esiason said.
In the end, Esiason said the league’s solution is “not going to please everybody.”
Boomer Esiason attends the 2022 Paramount Upfront at 666 Madison Ave. May 18, 2022, in New York City.
(Arturo Holmes/WireImage)
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Either way, the season will be finished. But the league, its teams and everyone else will remain focused on Hamlin.
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