Mike Florio reveals that Bengals players were indeed asked by NFL to resume play 10 minutes after Damar Hamlin's cardiac arrest
The last week has seen Damar Hamlin gradually starting to recover from his cardiac arrest and the Bills v Bengals game canceled by the NFL. It is great news to hear that the stricken Bills player has been extubated and breathing on his own, and is reportedly in full control of his neurological functions. He still remains in a critical condition but looks to be improving.
Now, it can be revealed what actually happened in the game after Damar Hamlin went down and had to be administered CPR. As per Mike Florio, a member of the officiating crew asked them to get ready to play again in 10 minutes. Visuals of Stefon Diggs speaking to his teammates and Joe Burrow warming up while throwing the ball, seem to corroborate the narrative. This is in stark contrast to the repeated denials by Troy Vincent, the Vice President of Football Operations for the league.
But as it turns out, Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott was adamant that the game would not go ahead and rightly so given the gravity of the situation. He spoke to his Cincinnati Bengals counterpart Zac Taylor and they mutually decided to temporarily suspend the game initially before it was finally called off. The Bengals also realized the seriousness of the moment and were willing to postpone the Monday Night Football Game to Tuesday to give the Bills time to recover. However, the Bills left for Buffalo at the end of the night, canceling that option.
Were the Bengals hard done by the Bills and the NFL after Damar Hamlin's cardiac arrest?
The Bengals have been vocal about their displeasure with the new arrangements made in place for the AFC playoffs following on from the cancelation of the game following Damar Hamlin's cardiac arrest.
From NFL Now: The changes to the playoffs involving seeding and a potential neutral site AFC Title Game has passed. Not everyone is thrilled. https://t.co/oDKgLGO3oM
They were still in contention for the overall first seed in the AFC and were leading 7-3 when the game was suspended. With the cancelation, the highest they could now get to was the second seed and the first seed chance was theoretically foreclosed. However, that point has now been made moot because the Kansas City Chiefs won today, meaning they were out of reach for the Bengals.
Bengals now rightfully have a chip on their shoulders. They've shown compassion and supported Damar Hamlin and family. The league repays them by changing rules of playoff formatting. Not a great look.
However, if they have to play the Baltimore Ravens in the playoffs, they might not get the chance to host the game because by canceling the game, the Ravens lost a chance to challenge the Bengals for the AFC North. If the coin toss goes against them, Cincinnati might feel hard done by because they voluntarily offered to suspend the game with the expectation that the game would later go ahead.