The Cincinnati Bengals' Week 17 matchup against the Buffalo Bills was postponed after Damar Hamlin collapsed and was taken to the hospital in an ambulance. As hard as it is to focus on football after what happened to Hamlin, Week 18 is a go, per Roger Goodell.
The Bengals close out their season on the schedule against the Baltimore Ravens and their game has been scheduled for 1:00 EST on Sunday. Previously, it had been ruled that the Bengals and Ravens would play in the early window if the division title was not on the line. If the division was on the line, the game would be bumped back to 4:25 EST.
This, of course, could change considering the circumstances.
We will be playing the Ravens on Sunday at 1pm on CBS pic.twitter.com/BeJWOghvn3
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) January 4, 2023
Bengals/Ravens game kicks off at 1 PM EST
Even though the Ravens won the head-to-head matchup against Cincinnati in Week 5, the Bengals surpassed them in the standings despite a tougher schedule. The Ravens lost winnable games to both the Jaguars and Browns and their offense has been struggling in the second half of the season.
Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said he hasn't been made aware if this weekend's game will be for the AFC North title yet.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh: “We’d be excited to compete for the division title but that is beyond us.”
— Jamison Hensley (@jamisonhensley) January 4, 2023
The Ravens are 1.5 games back of the Bengals. Harbaugh said the league hasn’t told the league whether the team is still in contention for AFC North title.
This situation is tricky and I would not want to be the one making the dicisions here. Someone is going to get the short end of the stick due to a terrible situation and it feels silly to even be worrying about all of this with what Hamlin and his family is going through.
Continue to keep Hamlin and his loved ones in your thoughts and prayers.