On Thursday, the NFL officially canceled the game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Buffalo Bills that was postponed on Monday night after Buffalo safety Damar Hamlin experienced a cardiac arrest on the field and have to be given CPR.

Hamlin is reportedly showing improvement, but he's still hospitalized in Cincinnati.

Dr. Timothy Pritts of UC Health, on Damar Hamlin: "He's made substantial improvement. It appears his neurological condition and function is intact. We are very proud to report that. … This marks a really good turning point in his ongoing care."

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 5, 2023

Also on Thursday, the NFL decided how to proceed with various NFL scenarios.

As a result of the canceled game, the Bengals are AFC North champions. But they could still end up playing on the road in the first round of the playoffs.

If Cincinnati loses to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 18 and the two teams play again in the first round of the playoffs, home field advantage will be determined by a coin flip. If the Bengals beat the Ravens this weekend or play another team in the first round, the game will be in Cincinnati.

From ESPN:

• If Buffalo and Kansas City both win or tie, a Bills-Chiefs championship game will be at a neutral site.

• If Buffalo and Kansas City both lose and Baltimore wins or ties, a Bills-Chiefs championship game will be at a neutral site.

• If Buffalo and Kansas City both lose and Cincinnati wins, a Bills or Bengals vs. Chiefs championship game will be at a neutral site.

The potential neutral sites have not yet been determined. The seeds will hold up throughout the playoffs.

If Buffalo and Kansas City both win this weekend, the Chiefs will get the bye. If Buffalo wins and Kansas City loses, the Bills will be the No. 1 seed and get the bye, and no neutral sites would come into play.

Confused by all the different permutations of a potential neutral site AFC Title game? Our friends at ⁦@NFLResearch⁩ made a nice chart pic.twitter.com/pXHTfvkUoh

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 6, 2023

According to ESPN's Ben Baby, Bengals executive vice president Katie Blackburn, who is on the competition committee, wasn't for this scenario. In fact, she urged others on the competition committee to vote against the proposal.

From ESPN:

Bengals executive vice president Katie Blackburn is on the competition committee, which approved the scenarios Thursday. In a memo obtained by ESPN's Seth Wickersham, Blackburn urged the committee members to vote against the scenarios. Her reasoning stemmed from the timing of a rule change away from the standard of winning percentages used in this scenario.

"The proper process for making rule change (sic) is in the off-season," Blackburn wrote. "It is not appropriate to put teams in a position to vote for something that may introduce bias, favor one team over another or impact their own situation when the vote takes place immediately before the playoffs."

In a situation like this, not everyone is going to be happy. There are some legitimate gripes for the Bengals. But ultimately, Hamlin's health is still the biggest concern here.

When it comes to the playoffs, everyone is trying to do the best they can to be as fair as possible. There are no perfect solutions. And as a result, the only thing the Bengals need to worry about right now is beating the Ravens on Sunday.

These scenarios are mostly out of their control — they just gotta go play wherever they're told to play and focus on winning.

Featured image via Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK