The teams meet three weeks after their regular-season game was canceled after Bills safety Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest
— Joe Mixon and the Cincinnati Bengals feel disrespected. Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills have plenty to motivate them – starting with safety Damar Hamlin’s remarkable recovery – in a season of overcoming adversity.
Two teams that bonded three weeks ago in Cincinnati in deciding their since-canceled game could not proceed after Hamlin went into cardiac arrest and needed to be resuscitated on the field have much to prove in an AFC divisional-round playoff showdown in Buffalo on Sunday.
For the Bills, the mere sight of Hamlin making regular visits to their facility this week was uplifting. What’s more, the Bills believe they’re battle-tested and capable of surmounting any remaining obstacles to achieve their preseason Super Bowl aspirations.
“I think it gives you a more sturdy foundation. The more struggle, the more adversity that you can see over the course of the year, it just makes you stronger,” Allen said. “We’ve been in some really weird situations this year that not a lot of teams maybe have ever gone through. Being able to have that under our belts, understand those emotions in those situations, and just try to use it to our advantage.”
The Bills have weathered two winter storms that disrupted their schedule, mourned the death of tight end Dawson Knox’s younger brother Luke in August, and rallied to their community’s aid in the aftermath of a racist shooting that left 10 Black people dead at a Buffalo supermarket in May.
Hamlin’s collapse and recovery is but the latest – and most personal.
In Cincinnati, Mixon might speak for all the Bengals in expressing his unhappiness over his team getting the short end of the stick from the NFL.
