The Cincinnati Bengals got the short end of the stick when the NFL decided to rule their game against the Buffalo Bills a no-contest. The stoppage of the game was completely understandable: Damar Hamlin's life was on the line, and no one wanted to play after going through that trauma. However, because of that, the Bengals could potentially lose out on a home playoff game… despite being division champions. Because of that, team officials are campaigning to nullify this, per Jonathan Jones.
“Katie Blackburn, executive vice president of the Bengals, oversees the day-to-day operations of the team. She was recently appointed to the league's 10-member competition committee, and she voiced her concerns both on a call with committee members Thursday night and in an email to NFL membership later.”
The Bengals are now officially crowned as the AFC North champions, regardless of how their game against the Ravens goes. However… that doesn't guarantee them home-field in this scenario. If the Ravens win in Week 18, then a coin-flip decides where the Wild Card game between Cincy and Baltimore will be played. That admittedly doesn't seem fair to the Bengals, who are the division winners.
Still, these are unprecedented times for the NFL. Perhaps they could've rescheduled the Bills-Bengals game to resume at some point. That would require for so many parts of the operation to move, though. Calling it a no-contest was the easiest way to resolve this issue.
The easiest way for the Bengals to avoid this mess is to win against the Ravens. Still, Cincy would like some assurance that their home-field status would be fine regardless of the outcome.
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