Did Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals pay any attention to how the NFL went about its neutral-site decisions? It sure seems that way.
“Better send those refunds,” Burrow told Tracy Wolfson on the CBS broadcast Sunday immediately after the Bengals eliminated the Buffalo Bills from the AFC playoffs with a 27-10 victory in the divisional round.
Burrow’s mic-drop moment proved the Bengals took exception, and perhaps even gained motivation, to how the league handled both the initial decision and ensuing AFC Championship Game fallout.
For reference, the NFL told the Chiefs and Bills to start selling tickets for a potential neutral-site game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium before the matchup was even set. The Chiefs did advance past the Jacksonville Jaguars on Saturday, but the Bills weren’t able to do the same, and thus Mercedes-Benz Stadium will not host the game.
The AFC Championship Game will be played at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City next Sunday.
But many will argue that wasn’t the only time the league overlooked the Bengals. It was that way from the jump, some will say.
After the Damar Hamlin injury caused the Bengals-Bills Week 17 game to be canceled, the NFL initially announced that should the Bills and Chiefs meet in the AFC Championship Game, the contest would be held at a neutral site. But should the Bengals be involved in that game, it would be played at the higher seed. Cincinnati, at the time, was the No. 3 seed in AFC and also potentially could have claimed the league’s No. 1 seed over the final two weeks. That, apparently, was not taken into consideration.
It seems none of that is lost on Burrow and company.
