Bengals’ Zac Taylor fumes over coin toss for homefield in potential Cincinnati-Baltimore Wildcard

Bengals coach Zac Taylor is displeased with the NFL’s proposed coin toss to determine homefield advantage for a potential Wildcard Round playoff matchup between Cincinnati and AFC North rival, Baltimore.

‘It’s black and white, it’s in the rulebook,’ Taylor told reporters Friday as NFL owners met to discuss proposed tweaks to this year’s playoff format.

Since Taylor made his statement, NFL owners have voted to approve the proposals from commissioner Roger Goodell’s office.

The issue stems from the NFL’s decision to call off the remainder of Monday’s Bills-Bengals game, which was postponed after Buffalo safety Damar Hamlin suffered an on-field cardiac arrest and required resuscitation. Hamlin remains in critical care at a Cincinnati hospital, where he recently had his breathing tube remove and even had a FaceTime call with teammates on Friday.

Bengals coach Zac Taylor is displeased with the NFL’s proposed coin toss to determine homefield advantage for a potential Wildcard Round playoff matchup between Cincinnati and AFC North rival, Baltimore

Damar Hamlin is awake and showing signs of improvement after suffering a cardiac arrest and being resuscitated during Monday’s Bills-Bengals game in Cincinnati

The MNF matchup carried significant playoff implications for both the 12-3 Bills and 11-4 Bengals, the latter of whom host the 10-6 Ravens on Sunday.

Should Cincinnati win, they would hold homefield advantage in a potential first-round matchup with Baltimore. However, if the Ravens beat the Bengals for a second time this season, the league has proposed flipping a coin to determine homefield advantage in a potential Wildcard Round meeting, even though the Bengals would still have the higher winning percentage of the two teams.

The league’s resolution turns Sunday’s Bengals-Ravens game into a pivotal matchup that could determine homefield advantage in the Wildcard Round, not to mention the AFC North winner.

‘This game means even more now,’ read a tweet from the Bengals’ Twitter account. ‘Gotta bring the energy on Sunday.’

Under normal circumstances, homefield advantage is determined by winning percentage.

‘So we not following the rules no more,’ tweeted Bengals running Joe Mixon.

The league also passed a resolution to move a potential Bills-Kansas City Chiefs AFC Championship to a neutral field should both teams advance that far.