The postponed NFL regular season game between the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals has been cancelled, the league announced on Thursday.

"As we considered the football schedule, our principles have been to limit disruption across the league and minimize competitive inequities," NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. "I recognize that there is no perfect solution. The proposal we are asking the ownership to consider, however, addresses the most significant potential equitable issues created by the difficult, but necessary, decision not to play the game under these extraordinary circumstances."

The competition on Monday was paused after the Bills' safety Damar Hamlin suddenly collapsed on the field. He suffered a cardiac arrest and was soon hospitalized at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. Hamlin had been in critical condition for several days until he showed "substantial improvement" in his recovery, according to doctors on Thursday.

Monday's game was supposed to affect the top three rankings in the American Football Conference (AFC). The Kansas City Chiefs currently lead the AFC with a 13-3 record, followed by the Bills (12-3) and Bengals (11-3). The Chiefs, Bills and Bengals will play the Las Vegas Raiders, New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens respectively in Week 18. With one fewer game to play, neither the Bills nor Bengals are likely to replace the Chiefs as the AFC leader and get a bye for the Wild Card game.

Though both the Bills and Bengals have booked their spots in the postseason, it will still be unfair if either of the two teams play the Chiefs in the playoffs because the team with a better regular season record can play at home. In order to fix this controversy, the AFC Championship Game will take place at a neutral site in the following scenarios:

Both the Bills and Chiefs win or tie and meet in the AFC Championship Game;

The Bengals lose or tie while both the Bills and Chiefs lose and meet in the AFC Championship Game;

Both the Bills and Chiefs lose while the Bengals win before either the Bills or the Bengals play the Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game.

There are also scenarios to be considered for the Bengals and Ravens (10-6). If the Ravens defeat the Bengals in Week 18, the Ravens still won't host any home game because the Bengals will still hold a higher winning percentage than them. However, if the Ravens win in Week 18 and meet the Bengals in the Wild Card game, they will toss a coin to decide the location of the competition. If the Bengals win in Week 18 or they don't play the Ravens in the Wild Card round, the sites of the games will be decided by the regular scheduling procedures.