NFL-Bills will try to ride emotional rollercoaster to top of AFC

The NFL enters the final weekend of the regular season with 19 teams in the playoff hunt but one player is in the spotlight as the Buffalo Bills host the New England Patriots in an emotion packed contest with safety Damar Hamlin in hospital recovering from cardiac arrest.

A lot will be on the line on Saturday and Sunday with teams bidding to secure their post-season spots, including the Bills, who have a chance to claim the top seed in the American Football Conference (AFC)and a first round bye.

But a complicated playoff puzzle has been made a little harder to piece together after the Bills and Cincinnati Bengals game last Monday was postponed when Hamlin collapsed making a tackle suffering a cardiac arrest.

Hamlin, who had to have his heartbeat restored on the field, spent most of the week on a ventilator in a Cincinnati hospital intensive care unit.

As the NFL enters the final weekend it is Hamlin, not Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers or Patrick Mahomes, who has become the sport's most talked about player, with fans around the world rallying behind the 24-year-old.

The emotional rollercoaster the Bills have been riding will carry over into Sunday with the NFL planning a show of support for Hamlin with pre-game announcements at every stadium, his number "3" stencilled onto the field and players wearing "Love for Damar 3" sweaters during warmups.

The Bills have resumed preparing for the Patriots but general manager Brandon Beane conceded it is going to be far from business as usual as his players try to focus on the challenge ahead.

"It's going to be a celebration of life an ongoing life," Beane told reporters looking ahead to Sunday's game. "This is not only going to be a celebration of Buffalo but the whole country and