Fantasy football is far from the most important thing in life and the past few days have been a sobering reminder of that fact. In the end, it is a game, like football. But the game of football is played by human beings like Bills safety Damar Hamlin, who suffered a cardiac arrest after making a tackle during Monday's game against the Bengals and remains in critical condition in the intensive care unit at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.
We know that many users of the NFL Fantasy app have been awaiting information about the status of the suspended Bills-Bengals game and how it may affect your fantasy leagues and championships. Some answers can be found below, given the information available. But the health and recovery of Damar Hamlin is considerably more important, and our focus, thoughts and prayers are with the young man from McKees Rock, Pennsylvania and his family, friends and teammates.
As you take in the information below, speak with your league mates and commissioners and try not to lose sight of what truly matters. Hug your friends. Call your family. Be a good neighbor. Love each other.
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The NFL League Office has not yet made a decision on whether to resume or cancel the Week 17 Bills-Bengals game, but it has confirmed that the game will not be resumed this week. There is also no plan to adjust the Week 18 schedule as of now.
For those leagues that were scheduled to end on Monday night at the end of Week 17, here's what you can expect:
- Points that were accumulated during the shortened Bills-Bengals game will remain in place pending a final decision by the NFL on whether to continue the game.
- Matchups will be completed and winners announced.
- If the NFL League Office decides to resume the game at a later date, points from that game will be counted. Scores and matchups will be adjusted retroactively after the game is completed.
- If the NFL decides to cancel the game entirely and nullify the partially completed game, the partial scores will be set to zero.
In all cases, the final statistics used to calculate fantasy scores will match the official NFL gamebook. League commissioners can use their admin tools to make adjustments if they choose.
For leagues that had scheduled matchups in Week 18, there are additional implications:
- Matchups for Week 18 will be set using the partial scores from the Bills-Bengals game, but, as above, these scores are subject to retroactive adjustment once the game is finalized either by cancellation or completion at a later date.
- Teams should set their rosters with the assumption that Week 18 will be played as scheduled.
- Waivers will be processed according to the timing set in your league settings beginning Wednesday, January 4 at 2:00 p.m. EST.
- In the event that scores from the Bills-Bengals game need to be adjusted after the completion of Week 18, the system will recalculate the results of Week 17 and determine new Week 18 matchups. It will automatically re-run Week 18 as well.
League commissioners can use their admin tools to make adjustments in this scenario as well.
We recognize that these are not perfect solutions and we appreciate your understanding due to the tragic and unprecedented circumstances that require them.
Additionally, if you would like to contribute to supporting Damar Hamlin and the causes he cares about, visit the GoFundMe page for his foundation (The Chasing M’s).
