BUFFALO, NY — A potentially dangerous winter storm expected to hit the Buffalo region this weekend led the NFL on Saturday to postpone the Bills’ wild-card playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers from Sunday to Monday.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul and the NFL cited public safety concerns as the reason for the postponement, with up to 2 feet of snow expected to fall in the Buffalo region over a 24-hour period starting Saturday evening.
“The decision to move the game to Monday was made in consultation with New York Governor Kathy Hochul, in the best interest of public safety, and with the Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers as the region prepares for the storm.” , the NFL and Bills said in a joint statement.
Hochul said she began talking to the NFL on Thursday about the possibility of having to reschedule the game because of what she called a “dangerous storm.” Hochul, who is from just outside Buffalo, concluded her press conference by saying, “Go, Bills.”
“We want our Bills to win, but we don’t want 60,000 to 70,000 people traveling to the game in terrible conditions,” Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said at a news conference in suburban Buffalo.
Officials advised residents to stay off the roads starting at nightfall on Saturday, with the driving ban taking effect at 9 p.m. The match will now be played at Highmark Stadium on Monday at 4.30pm instead of Sunday at 1pm.
The weather forecast for the Buffalo area called for heavy snow and wind gusts up to 65 mph on Saturday, eventually accumulating 1 to 2 feet or more of snow. The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning until 7 a.m. on Monday, saying “travel will be very difficult to impossible at times,” with the combination of snow and very strong winds making for near-zero visibility.
Much of the storm was expected to be concentrated in a narrow band of lake-effect snow hovering over Buffalo’s southern suburbs, which includes the Bills’ home in Orchard Park.
Postponing the game will give sheriff’s deputies, who are usually assigned to Bills game-related duties, time to deal with storm-related emergencies, Poloncarz said. Officials were concerned that Steelers fans made the trip to Buffalo under treacherous conditions.
The Steelers themselves have postponed their travel plans and will now go to Buffalo on Sunday.
The Bills are familiar with weather-related schedule changes. In 2022, a lake-effect storm led to Buffalo’s home game against Cleveland being moved to Detroit in November. A month later, a massive snowstorm caused the Bills to postpone their trip home, forcing them to spend the night in Chicago on Christmas Eve.
While NFL playoff games have been rescheduled in the past for various scheduling reasons or to add games to determine the tiebreaker, this is only the third time weather has played a direct factor.
In January 2017, wintry weather in Kansas City led the NFL to delay the start of an AFC divisional playoff game between Pittsburgh and the Chiefs from 1:00 p.m. to 8:20 p.m.
In 1932, the league added a “playoff” game to break a tie in the standings between the Portsmouth Spartans and Chicago Bears. Extremely cold temperatures and heavy snow led to the game being played at Chicago Stadium, with the Bears winning 9–0 on an 80-yard field.
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Peltz reported from New York City. AP Sports Writer Will Graves in Pittsburgh contributed to this report.
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