Opinion | ‘He’s got a big smile.’ Bills’ rematch against Bengals comes with perspective after Damar Hamlin collapse

ORCHARD PARK, N. Y. — What happened the last time the Buffalo Bills were on the field with the Cincinnati Bengals will never be forgotten. Shouldn’t be. Can’t be.

Damar Hamlin collapsed during the first quarter. His heart stopped beating. As emergency responders worked to save the life of the second-year Bills safety, the big, prime time showdown in Cincinnati pitting two of the top teams in the AFC became an afterthought. The NFL ultimately cancelled the game.

And here they are again, less than three weeks since the incident that shook the NFL to its core.

Bills vs. Bengals. The stakes will be even higher on Sunday at Highmark Stadium, with the winner advancing to the AFC Championship Game.

“They’re going to come in here with their best,” Dion Dawkins, the Buffalo left tackle, said on Friday. “We’re going to try to play our best. We’re going to keep swinging, blow after blow.”

For as much as the respect between the teams grew on that Monday night and in the aftermath, a bond shared as they came to grips with the possibility of a man losing his life on a football field, the AFC divisional playoff will be more of the same. Sentiments will be separated from the task at hand.

Still, this week’s version of a big game — the Bengals have won nine games in a row, the Bills are riding a seven-game winning streak — is not complete without the layer of perspective added from the last time these teams met.

There has been much buzz about Hamlin, who returned home nine days after he suffered cardiac arrest and continued to progress in his recovery. He visited the team’s headquarters on multiple occasions this week after watching the first-round playoff win against Miami on television.

Will Hamlin show up in person on Sunday?

“I don’t know the answer,” Bills coach Sean McDermott told reporters on Friday. “We’re just going at Damar’s cadence. It’s what he needs and how we can help him. And how our training staff can help serve him. Walk at his pace, so to speak.”

Imagine the jolt of energy on Sunday that Hamlin could provide fans if they got a glimpse of him in public for the first time since his collapse. Then again, as symbolic as a Hamlin appearance might be, his recovery can’t be jeopardized for show. According to a family spokesman this week, Hamlin still faces a “lengthy” recovery. Although it was previously reported that doctors believe he is neurologically intact, he still requires oxygen and gets winded quickly.

Hamlin’s teammates, though, have already received a jolt by his mere presence at headquarters.

“It’s just been great to see him back around the building,” Bills defensive end Greg Rousseau told USA TODAY Sports. “If you want to talk to him, chop it up with him, he’s got a big smile on his face. Just happy to have him back.”

Rousseau, a second-year pro, echoed what other players have said about dealing with the emotions that flowed from Hamlin’s situation. The initial days were tense due to uncertainty. As Hamlin’s condition improved, so did the spirits of teammates.

“It was hard, for sure,” Rousseau said. “But just knowing he was going to be OK, it was cool.”

Dawkins praised McDermott for connecting with players and setting the right tone. The Bills played their regular-season finale against New England six days after the Hamlin emergency, then last Sunday opened the playoffs with a victory against Miami.

The key to regaining focus?

“Just taking the pressure off of us, allowing us to go through our emotions naturally, not forcing what was next on us,” said Dawkins, one of the team’s captains. “Coach could have come in like, ‘Alright, fellas, you had two days. It’s time to go.’ He didn’t do that. He kind of let everybody flow in as fluid as they wanted to. Like nobody was rushed. For us not to be pushed and pulled in different directions, it was a good thing mentally.”

Handling the Hamlin situation was just the latest test to the Bills’ resolve. A month ago, they were part of a Buffalo community that was pounded by a blizzard that cost the lives of 47 people. In November, a snowstorm prompted the NFL to move the Bills game against the Cleveland Browns to Detroit.

Also, many Bills players were moved by a racist attack in May that left 10 people dead and three wounded in a mass shooting at a Buffalo supermarket.

“Since the spring, there’s been a lot of stuff,” Case Keenum, the veteran backup quarterback, told USA TODAY Sports. “It’s been like, ‘What’s next? What adversity do we have now?’”

Then there are the playoff setbacks of recent years that formulate another type of adversity. After a 17-year playoff drought, the Bills have been built into a legitimate Super Bowl contender under McDermott, in his sixth season at the helm, and GM Brandon Beane.

But last year, the Bills suffered a heartbreaking loss in the divisional playoffs at Kansas City. The Chiefs drove the length of the field in the final 13 seconds of the fourth quarter to force overtime — and then never allowed Buffalo to get the ball back by scoring a TD on the first possession of OT, which ultimately prompted an NFL rule change.

Two years ago, the Bills advanced to the AFC title game at Kansas City and lost.

On and off the field, the team’s resilience has been tested — and strengthened.

“It gives you a more sturdy foundation,” Bills quarterback Josh Allen told reporters this week. “The more struggle, the more adversity that you can see over the course of a year, just makes you that much stronger. We’ve been in some really weird situations this year that not a lot of teams have ever gone through. So, being able to have that under our belt, understand those emotions, those situations, and just trying to use it to our benefit.”

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