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They can just change it to cancelled or forfeited at any point later. "Postponed" lets them dodge questions while hoping Damar's condition improves. If Damar regains consciousness and does not have brain damage, the league can then announce whatever they want to do and it will be accepted, because the good outcome would outweigh the inconvenience to football. I don't even want to contemplate other alternatives to that.

I just think the level of disruption that entails is not a precedent the league will want to set. This would require more than a commissioner decision, it would require serious buy-in from ownership. It's true that Damar Hamlin is a major national story right now. But really... most of the people across the country (non-Bills fans) will soon take the approach that however the playoffs are resolved, will not affect his recovery or prognosis. So why should their team (whomever it is) be negatively impacted by this? They (non-Bills fans) can both support him and pray for him and also want to get on with the NFL playoffs regardless of what happens to the Buffalo Bills. It would have been inhumane to require the Bills and Bengals to complete the game after witnessing his collapse on the field. It does not follow that other players and teams across the league want their plans disrupted for multiple weeks in order to accommodate the Bills or the Bengals. I just don't see the league bending over backwards to accommodate this game. I believe they just haven't announced any resolution because they don't need to and it would look terribly insensitive. Probably from their standpoint the ideal situation is this: - Damar regains consciousness before they have to announce any resolution - They can cancel the game rather than require a Bills forfeit without any difference in the standings. But if they HAVE to I think they go for a Bills forfeit before they reschedule the entire playoff schedule. In any case I think that they will delay announcing as long as they can, in the hopes that Damar's condition improves. Which is also the right thing to do.

Here are my thoughts on this topic, such as they are. If the Bills do not play this Sunday, then they need to forfeit both games. I don't see the logic in forfeiting to the Patriots but not the Bengals. In that scenario, the Chiefs control their own destiny and the Bengals are #2 unless they win and the Chiefs lose; the Bills end up #3. However, I assume that the Bills will play on Sunday. In any case where the Bills and Cinci are vying for the same spot, I think the resolution has to favor the Bengals. I wish that wasn't true, but it is what it is. Also, the Ravens are not going to win their division if the Bills/Bengals game can't be played. There's no logic I can see in which the Bengals can get tagged with a loss for Wk17. So the more I looked at this the less I could see a difference between "cancelling the game" and "Bills forfeit" in terms of practical results. So, it breaks down like this in that case: - If KC wins OR ties their game, they are the #1 seed. In that case, Cinci is #2 if they win their game, otherwise they are #3 and Bills are #2. - If all 3 teams lose their game or if KC loses and the Bills and Bengals BOTH tie... KC is #1, Cinci #2, Buf #3. - If KC loses their game and the Bills win and the Bengals lose or tie, Buffalo is #1, KC is #2, and Cinci #3. - If KC loses their game and the Bills lose or tie and the Bengals win, Cinci is #1, KC is #2, and Buf #3. - If KC loses their game and the Bills win and the Bengals win, Cinci is #1, Buf #2, KC #3. Based on the above, assuming the Bills are playing this Sunday, a Bills forfeit for Wk17 is the most logical outcome - unless the NFL is REALLY prepared to mess with the playoff schedule a LOT to play this game. It is not reasonable to try to play Wk 18 Sunday, Wk 17 Thursday, and Playoff wk 1 on Monday... it is a bigger disadvantage than any team gets by the difference in 1-3 seeds.

Yes... in 1971. https://time.com/6244346/chuck-hughes-died-nfl-game-damar-hamlin/

Yes, that was a comparable situation that came to mind. I am glad I did not see that one live.

I would give all of the ESPN announcers a pass. They did what they could. They did not have a choice about staying on the air.

He is totally blameless.

Kevin Everett's injury was also potentially life threatening but it does feel like this is worse in a way. Having said that the Everett situation was truly sickening as he was facing quadriplegia potentially and honestly the life expectancy for total paralysis is not great.

Not all workplaces are created equal.

The NFL should have been able to call it before this.

If it was started fast enough there is still hope. I know someone who got 45 minutes of CPR and lived although with some disability. Not as much disability as was initially predicted.

They should make the call to suspend the game for tonight, and decide the next steps tomorrow.

They don't really "heal" in most cases without being trimmed. Of course it will get less inflamed with rest.

Tom Brady. Also Chris Collinsworth.

People blaming Tua have it wrong on this one. He may not have realized he was concussed. Since it wasn't as crazy as the last one where he totally locked up, the symptoms may not have been apparent to him. I think the real problem is that prior concussion wasn't given a lot of rest time and he may just be susceptible.

2 acknowledged and one "back injury".

Since Dawson Knox started to slide at the 1, was that a TD? Guess they already moved on.

Apparently one effect is that our special teams players are slow, and also unable to tackle.

That was a bad decision by Josh.

Yes. TJ is the spy because he is fast enough. Poyer should have chased the guy, might not have gotten there but it would have looked better.

We didn't stop the pass on that drive either so really they just need to mix it up.

Agree should be a +1 reaction. I hate "liking" negative comments that I agree with.

They can get Chad Kelly cheaper. SF is going to hang onto Trey Lance.

They could've started Nathan Peterman.

Well here's our snow game...