New York Governor Kathy Hochul has announced she and the NFL are moving the start time for the Pittsburgh Steelers-Buffalo Bills Wild Card game initially slated for Sunday at 1 PM/EST. The game will now take place at 4:30 PM/EST on Monday in Buffalo. The game will remain on CBS.
Governor Hochul sent out these tweets just moments ago, noting a full travel ban in Erie County starting at 9 PM/EST tonight.
The NFL has also officially released a statement on the change while the Steelers have also acknowledged the postponement.
A dangerous snowstorm creating blizzard conditions is the reason for the change. Over the last 48 hours, the Buffalo forecast has continued to worsen with wind chills around zero, wind gusts over 40 miles per hour, and heavy snow that will extend through Sunday. A state of emergency was declared for Western New York and Erie County as the region experiences its first significant snowstorm of the year.
Initially, the NFL was adamant they weren’t changing the time of Sunday’s game. But dangerous weather conditions, especially for fans traveling to the game, forced the state’s and the league’s hand. As NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport outlined, that was the catalyst for the change, saying field conditions weren’t the chief concern.
Per the PPG’s Ray Fittipaldo, the Steelers will fly into Buffalo tomorrow instead of today.
Per NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe, the Steelers were holding their walkthrough practice when they were informed of the postponement. They shut practice down and will presumably hold it tomorrow. Per Wolfe, the team planned to fly into Buffalo today at 4 PM and will attempt to do so around the same time tomorrow, though weather could pose a challenge.
The Steelers have also cancelled their playoff party scheduled for Saturday night that was supposed to feature WR Santonio Holmes.
The ugly conditions likely would’ve been a bigger benefit to the Steelers than the Bills. While both teams can run the ball, Pittsburgh’s offense is built around the ground game more than Buffalo’s, with the goal of running the ball at will, controlling time of possession, and keeping QB Josh Allen and the Bills’ offense off the field. Now, they’ll lose that advantage.
Already, the line for the game has increased from 33 to 38, a signal that better weather should produce more points. Which favors the Bills over the Steelers.
It’s not the first time a Steelers’ playoff game has been moved. In the 2016-2017 playoffs, the Steelers-Chiefs Divisional Round was pushed from an afternoon to night kickoff due to an ice storm. Pittsburgh still came out on top 18-16. But this time, the game will be played on an entirely different day.
Buffalo earned the two-seed and home venue this weekend after beating the Miami Dolphins 21-14 in the regular season finale. Had they lost, the Bills would’ve become the seventh seed and been on the road this weekend. Pittsburgh would’ve become the sixth seed and played at Kansas City Saturday night, where wind chills are expected to be -30. Either way, the Steelers would’ve been dealing with severe winter weather.
If Pittsburgh pulls off the upset, they’ll now head to Baltimore next weekend, doing so on a short week. The Ravens, meanwhile, enjoyed a first-round bye and two weeks of rest, sitting key starters in their Week 18 regular-season finale.
The Steelers-Bills game will be the first of two Monday playoff games. The night game, as originally scheduled, will be held between the Philadelphia Eagles and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
