At some point, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Buffalo Bills will play their Wild Card game in Orchard Park. Right now, kickoff is set for Monday at 4:30 PM/EST but based on the forecast, it sounds plausible for the game to actually take place on Tuesday.
A separate Saturday report indicates the game was nearly moved out of the region entirely. Per the Buffalo News’ Jay Skurski and Tim O’Shei, the NFL considered moving the location of the game from Buffalo to Atlanta before Governor Kathy Hochul intervened.
“A source close to the situation told The Buffalo News that the NFL was considering moving the game to Atlanta, leading Hochul to push for the day to be changed and the game to remain in Buffalo.”
How close the league actually got to a change is unclear. Moving the location of a playoff game would’ve been a drastic move, taking away the advantage the No. 2-seeded Bills had for winning the AFC East. While they may have still be considered the “home” team, they would’ve lost their home-field advantage on a neutral site. It seems more logical the NFL was open to pushing back the game a day as opposed to the logistical nightmare of making both teams move.
Throughout the week prior to the Hochul and the NFL’s announcement, there was little indication the Steelers-Bills date and location would change. As recently as Friday, the league told teams things remained “status quo” for a 1 PM/EST kick off on Sunday. But as conditions worsened and the weekend forecast became impossible to ignore, true blizzard conditions, that belief changed. It was Hochul, not the NFL, who first announced the game was being postponed until Monday.
Now, it’s a question of if the game will stay there. According to The Athletic’s Tim Graham, moving the game again to Tuesday is “very much in play.” While the worst of the winter storm is expected to occur Saturday and Sunday, the Monday forecast won’t be drastically different. Windy, cold, with snow.
The main issue is the safety of fans and personnel getting to Highmark Stadium. If the weather is severe enough Sunday, there may not be enough time to clear the roads and allow for a Monday afternoon start time. Moments ago, the Bills’ Twitter account posted video of the current scene in Buffalo. A total whiteout.
According to NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe in a Saturday afternoon report, the Steelers plan to arrive in Buffalo at 4 PM/EST tomorrow. Whether or not winter weather will delay their plans is unclear. But if the NFL is going to move the game another 24 hours, a decision figures to be made before Pittsburgh leaves around 3 PM/EST.
