The Steelers are now back at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, facing down a long regular season that looks a lot more promising given how things have gone leading up to it. Finishing just above .500 last year, they anticipate being able to compete with any team in the league this season with second-year QB Kenny Pickett leading the way.
They’ve done a great deal to address what they identified as their shortcomings during the offseason, which included addressing the offensive and defensive lines as well as the secondary and the inside linebacker room, which is nearly entirely different from last year. The results have been positive so far.
Even well into the regular season and beyond, there are going to be plenty of questions that need answered. When will the core rookies get to play, or even start? Is the depth sufficient where they upgraded? Can they stand toe-to-toe with the Bengals and the other top teams in the league? We’ll try to frame the conversation in relevant ways as long as you stick with us throughout the season, as we have for many years.
Question: When and where will the Steelers and Bills actually play?
With the forecast for Sunday afternoon’s game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Buffalo Bills getting worse and worse by the hour, the question continues to mount: will the game be moved? And if so, how? Will they change the venue? Will they change the date?
Reporters traveling for the game are being alerted to “life-threatening travel risks” on the road to upstate New York. The State governor even urged visiting Steelers fans not to make the trip for their own safety—and for their own peace of mind for not having to watch their team get pummeled.
While the NFL historically seeks every last resort before making any drastic measures, they have moved games before, sometimes at the last moment, either to another day or to another venue. Still one day out, there is the possibility that they must reverse course and relocate Sunday’s afternoon game scheduled to take place in the heart of potential “whiteout” conditions before, during, and after the game.
It’s not about playing in the snow, of course. It’s a matter of human safety, not so much for the players, but for everybody in attendance, and everybody who has to work for the game. You are putting potentially tens of thousands of motorists on the road in wretched conditions, due to which under normal circumstances that should probably be sheltering in place.
While the NFL has let it be known much earlier in the day that there are no plans in place to move the game to an alternate location or date, plans can change. And a more extreme weather forecast would be enough to do the trick. Late in the day, the tone changed a bit, emphasizing that the focus is on safety.
To the best of my knowledge in limited research, this would mark the first time the NFL has ever moved a postseason game, though they have done so numerous times in the regular season, including multiple times in recent years due to COVID-19 issues. Including a Steelers game played on a Wednesday at 3:40 PM.
