The NFL released its official plan for a neutral-site AFC championship game in the event that the Bills and Chiefs are slated to play against each other in the title game.
Per a release from the NFL, Atlanta would host the game on Jan. 29 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta would host a potential AFC Championship Game between the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, January 29, at 6:30 p.m. ET,” the release began. “NFL clubs approved a resolution last week to mitigate the competitive inequities created by the cancellation of the Week 17 Buffalo-Cincinnati game, which included playing the AFC Championship game at a neutral site if the participating teams played an unequal number of games and both could have been the number one seed and hosted the game had all AFC clubs played a full 17-game regular season.
“Therefore, if Buffalo and Kansas City advance to the AFC title game, it would be played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. As part of standard NFL contingency planning, Atlanta was designated a possible backup host site for postseason games prior to the start of the 2022 season and is almost equidistant from both potential participating teams’ cities. All other potential AFC Championship Game matchups would take place at the home stadium of the higher seed.”
The league owners voted on the resolution in the wake of the canceled Jan. 2 game when Bills defensive back Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest in the first half of the contest. Hamlin has since undergone treatment and has been released from the hospital. He is back in Buffalo continuing his next stage of rehabilitation.
