While there’s been plenty of speculation about the Pittsburgh Steelers-Buffalo Bills game getting moved again to Tuesday, the NFL appears confident the game will take place Monday at 4:30 PM/EST.
Per WIVB’s Josh Reed, an NFL spokesperson told him “everything is moved forward as planned for Monday.” That signals the game will not be rescheduled once more.
UPDATE (3:10 PM): Erie County executive Mark Poloncarz confirmed the game will be held as scheduled tomorrow.
“The game will be held,” he said during a Sunday afternoon press conference. “We’re gonna have our crews out there cleaning the roads. The Bills will have their crews out there cleaning the lots. It is going to impact the snow that’s in the stadium, but it’s also gonna impact the snow that is in the secondary lots. Especially the ones that are grass-based. I don’t know if they’re gonna be able to get the snow off those lots. I doubt it.
“And therefore, that’s gonna reduce the number of parking spots available for the football game. So we’re asking people to seriously think about carpooling to the game. If it’s you and your buddy that drove and you’re meeting your friends there, put all four of them or five of them in one vehicle because there’s gonna be less spots available to park for the football game.”
And Governor Hochul confirms the game will not be pushed back again.
“No, the game will not be pushed back again,” Hochul said. “I’ve spoken to the Commissioner of the NFL several times today. I’ve spoken to the owner of the Buffalo Bills, again, about their preparations. There are volunteers who have walked to the stadium who are helping clean it out. We appreciate that. I would think by daylight hours tomorrow it’ll be safe for people to drive there and bring their shovels. And again, we have up until the fans start coming into the stadium later in the afternoon. If it was a morning game, it’d be a little tougher. But a 4:30 game will give us that time.”
Hochul indicated while it’ll still be cold, there won’t be the high winds or heavy snow creating whiteout conditions the city is experiencing today. She anticipated the Steelers would safely be able to make it into town.
A severe winter storm pushed the Wild Card game back from Sunday at 1 PM/EST to tomorrow afternoon. Currently, there are blizzard-like conditions at Highmark Stadium, gusty winds and heavy snow making visibility difficult. But public safety was the primary reason why the game was rescheduled. A travel ban in the area isn’t allowing fans to make their way to the stadium and road conditions are too poor, putting people in danger and complicating efforts of road crews and rescue teams.
Currently, according to NFL Insider Jonathan Jones, the winner of the Steelers-Bills game will play next Sunday, giving them six days between games. If Pittsburgh pulls off the upset, they will travel to Baltimore, having just played there in Week 18. It will mark the third meeting between the two teams this season, the Steelers sweeping the regular season series.
Pittsburgh is expected to depart for Buffalo at 3 PM/EST and land shortly before 4 PM/EST. We’ll update you when they’re wheels down.
