When will the NFL Week 17 Bills vs Bengals game resume? Date and time
The Monday Night Football game was suspended after Damar Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest on the field. The NFL has confirmed it will not be played this week.
The Week 17 Monday Night Football game between the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals was supposed to be one of the best of the week. Instead, it ended early with an extremely concerning and scary injury. Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field in the first quarter, suffering a cardiac arrest. The game was suspended and the NFL later confirmed the remainder would not be played this week.
Live updates on Hamlin’s health status
The incident occurred just after Hamlin tackled Bengals receiver Tee Higgins. He got up after the tackle and then collapsed a moment later. Medical staff rushed to the field and administered CPR before he was finally taken in an ambulance to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.
Hamlin’s vitals were restored on the field before he was taken to the hospital. He was sedated and in a critical condition.
The referees initially planned to stop the game for just five minutes, but after discussing with both Bengals coach Zac Taylor and Bills coach Sean McDermott, they decided to postpone it indefinitely.
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When will the Bills vs Bengals game resume?
Initially Jeff Miller, NFL executive vice president of communications, public affairs & policy, told the media that nothing had been decided regarding whether or not the game will be played and if it is what time that might be.
“There’s nothing in consideration right now. Our concern is for the player and his well-being. At the appropriate time, I’m sure that we’ll have a conversation around the next steps regarding the game.”
When the game stopped, the Bengals had the lead 7-3 with 5:58 remaining in the first quarter.
The NFL have now confirmed that the game will not completed this week, due to Hamlin still being in a critical condition. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said his organization was in touch with Hamlin’s medical team, as well as the Bills and Bengals and the decision had been made not to play the remainder of the game this week.
See also:
NFL Rulebook on suspended matches
The NFL rulebook states that “all regular-season and postseason games should be played to their conclusion”, but there are exceptions in emergency situations such as these. Here is the excerpt from Rule 17, Section 1, Article 4:
“The NFL affirms the position that in most circumstances all regular-season and postseason games should be played to their conclusion. If, in the opinion of appropriate League authorities, it is impossible to begin or continue a game due to an emergency, or a game is deemed to be imminently threatened by any such emergency (e.g., severely inclement weather, lightning, flooding, power failure), the following procedures (Articles 5 through 11) will serve as guidelines for the Commissioner and/or his duly appointed representatives. The Commissioner has the authority to review the circumstances of each emergency and to adjust the following procedures in whatever manner he deems appropriate. If, in the Commissioner’s opinion, it is reasonable to project that the resumption of an interrupted game would not change its ultimate result or adversely affect any other inter-team competitive issue, he is empowered to terminate the game.”
In Article 11, the policy on game resumption states that if and when a game resumes, it would pick up at the point in which it was interrupted. So if the Bengals vs Bills game does in fact resume, it would resume exactly where it left off, with the Bengals on offense in the middle of the first quarter.
What happens to fantasy football points if an NFL game is postponed or canceled?
If an NFL game is postponed or canceled, the players on those teams will be treated as injured players and no points will be given to them unless the game is played on the same day. If the game is played the next day or beyond, the players in that game will not get any fantasy points. Otherwise, both rosters will be labeled as “Out” and will be reactivated the next week. As this was the final week of fantasy football for the 2022-23 season, the final score will remain as is.
So, if you had any Bengals or Bills player on your fantasy team this week, the points will remain as they are now.