The NFL's solutions after Bills-Bengals cancellation are imperfect, but they have to be

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When it came to how to solve the outcome and fallout of canceling Monday’s Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals game — the right move after Damar Hamlin’s collapse — the NFL was never going to get it right.

And that’s perfectly OK.

Because there’s no easy way to handle what continues to be an unprecedented situation, one in which — as we’ve written all week — the top priority and beyond is Hamlin’s health, and thank goodness we’ve gotten encouraging updates about him.

The proposals for how the Bills-Bengals no-contest will affect the AFC playoffs are quirky as heck: The AFC title game could be played at a neutral site. The Bengals could be playing on the road against the Ravens in the postseason despite winning the AFC North if a coin toss doesn’t go their way. Bengals running back Joe Mixon was NOT happy about that one.

We’ll see if NFL owners reject this and the chaos that may result from the vote. But, honestly, there’s no absolute, 100% foolproof way to handle this. And that should remind us that Hamlin’s health is the focus.

Football is and will continue to be just a game. As unfair as this all is, that’s how it has to be.

Quick hits: Our latest NBA mock draft … Josh Allen’s classy message to Tee Higgins … and more.

— Here’s Bryan Kalbrosky’s latest NBA Mock Draft, and there are some intriguing prospects beyond Victor Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson.

— Josh Allen ended his press conference Thursday with a classy message for Tee Higgins.

— Charles Barkley dropped a curse on air by accident on Thursday night.