Other AFC Championship matchups would be played at the higher seed’s home stadium
By Chantz Martin
Mercedes-Benz Stadium, home of the Atlanta Falcons, has been chosen at the neutral site for a potential Bills-Chiefs matchup in the AFC Championship, the NFL announced.
The AFC Championship is scheduled for Jan. 29. Team owners approved a resolution earlier this month which opened the door for the conference championship to be played at a neutral location.
The league made the decision after the Week 17 game between the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals was canceled as a result of safety Damar Hamlin collapsing on the field and going into cardiac arrest.
The Bills announced on Wednesday that Hamlin was discharged from the hospital and will continue his recovery at home with his family and with the team.
“We are heartened by the continued improvement and progress of Damar Hamlin in his recovery, and Damar and his family remain top of mind for the entire NFL community,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement on Thursday.
“We are also grateful to Arthur Blank and the Atlanta Falcons for agreeing to host the AFC Championship Game in Atlanta should the Bills and Chiefs advance. We thank both of those clubs for their assistance in the planning process. We know, if necessary, Mercedes-Benz Stadium will provide a world class atmosphere for the competing teams, our fans and partners.”
Earlier this week, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes weighed in on the possibility of playing the conference championship game at a neutral site.
“Nothing was going to be fair for anybody, I don’t think. It’s a situation that we never have encountered before,” Mahomes shared on Monday. “But at the end of the day, I was so happy that Damar was doing better and that’s the most important stuff.
“And so him doing better and him being in a better spot, we were ready to do whatever scenario was going to happen. So if that was neutral site, if that was going there (to Buffalo), whatever it was, we were just ready to go out there and play. But we have to win that first game first, so let’s worry about whoever we play in that first round, or that first round for us.”
Only if Kansas City and Buffalo advance to the AFC Championship round will the neutral site be used. Both of those teams had a chance at the No. 1 seed if every AFC team played all 17 games, according to the NFL, which determined those teams had played an unequal number of regular-season games.
Due to the NFL’s contingency plans, Atlanta had previously been designated as a potential backup host location for the postseason games. Nearly equally far away from both Buffalo and Kansas City is the city of Atlanta.
The league also stated that more details regarding tickets for the game at the neural site would be made available later.
On Sunday, the Dolphins (9-8) will visit the Bills (13-3) in the wild-card round. The Chiefs (14-3) are the top seed in the AFC and are on bye this week.
