Before I go into this statement’s contents, let me clarify one thing. What happened on Monday Night was tragic, heartbreaking, and one of the hardest things to watch I’ve ever seen in sports. We at Fantom Sports are relieved and elated that Damar Hamlin is recovering well and all signs are pointing in the right direction, and we will continue to hope and pray for continued progress and recovery.

That being said, the Bengals got screwed over in the NFL’s handling of the remainder of the season. For those who are still unaware, the NFL decided to not resume the MNF game between the Bengals and the Bills, which ended with 5:58 left in the first quarter with the Bengals up 7-3 and driving. It doesn’t take a genius to see they were about to march right down and make it a 14-3 game with how well they were moving the ball. Obviously we can’t predict how the game could have ended, but it was trending in the direction of a Bengals victory.

Now here is the kicker. The Bengals were already declared the AFC North Champs, but now they may have to play an away game in the Wild Card Round? Make it make sense. Why are we bending the rules against the Bengals here? They finished as champions with a higher winning percentage, They should host the Wild Card.

“But Shane all they have to do is win and it will all be fine” Yes I am Aware. But since they are AFC North Champs are were essentially eliminated from contention for the number one seed, they probably would have rested their starters. Now they have to play and fight just for the right they should already have.

I’m not the only one who feels this way either. Here are some quotes from Bengals HC Zac Taylor’s Friday press conference:

Obviously, he shouldn’t be happy, that’s his team. But does it mean what he is saying is wrong? No. His team was in contention for the number one seed in the AFC, if they would have finished that MNF game with a W, and then if the Raiders beat the Chiefs in week 18, the Bengals would have been the 1 seed due to beating both the Bills and Chiefs. Now, they have to fight for the right to host a playoff game, after being named champion. And this is just the Wild Card Round. Because they were automatically eliminated from 1 seed contention, despite beating the Chiefs and probably the Bills, they won’t even be able to host the AFC Championship.

I do not see how any team benefitted less than the Bengals when it comes to the new playoff rules. I promise you that you can’t either. As Zac Taylor said, they are built for this adversity. We saw them overcome a lot of situations where everyone counted them out. This Bengals team is the hottest team coming into week 18, and they should be the team to look out for in the Playoffs, despite not being the number 1 seed.

For the whole update on the playoff scenarios and potential situations, click here.

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