The Bills/Steelers matchup scheduled for tomorrow afternoon has been pushed to Monday. New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced that the first-round playoff game has been postponed to Monday at 4:30pm ET (via Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports). The Bills have officially announced the decision.
Per Jones, Hochul has been communicating with commissioner Roger Goodell about a potential postponement. The storm is expected to reach it’s peak in Buffalo tomorrow afternoon, and the game was set to kick off at 1:00pm. Buffalo is expecting two to three inches of snow per hour, and there will be a travel ban in the city starting tonight through at least 6:00am Sunday morning. Hochul declared a State of Emergency on Friday.
“I’ve been in communication with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell regarding the dangerous conditions in Buffalo this weekend,” Hochul tweeted. “In consultation with our emergency response teams, [Bills] leadership, and the NFL, the Bills game will be postponed to 4:30 pm Monday.”
As Troy Renck of Denver7 tweets, the decision was made to protect those who will be traveling to the game, including fans. In other words, the decision wasn’t made in an effort to improve the on-field product. Per Jones, the Steelers have yet to leave Pittsburgh as of Saturday afternoon, and the organization is now expected to travel on Sunday.
The NFL certainly isn’t afraid of staging playoff games in inclement weather, and while the Bills/Steelers game has been pushed back, the Chiefs and Dolphins are still expected to play tonight in what will rank as one of the coldest games in NFL history (per the Associated Press, via ESPN).
While the NFL rarely moves games, this move isn’t completely unprecedented. In fact, the Steelers previously dealt with a postponed playoff game in 2017, per ESPN’s Brooke Pryor. The game was pushed back seven hours due to traveling concerns in Kansas City. The Steelers ended up winning that game over the Chiefs, with all 18 of Pittsburgh’s points coming via kicker Chris Boswell.