Buffalo Bills vs Pittsburgh Steelers game postponed due to snow

The Buffalo Bills’ home playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers has been postponed from Sunday. Despite multiple reports the game could be pushed back again to Tuesday, it looks to be on track for Monday afternoon.

New York governor Kathy Hochul announced the initial move to Monday on Saturday, with the Buffalo Bills confirming the report soon after. The game was moved from 1:00 pm Eastern on Sunday to 4:30 pm Eastern on Monday. Monday is a federal and state holiday due to Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Later on Saturday, Tim Graham of The Athletic reported that “Tuesday still very much in play” for another postponement. Late Sunday, Hochul confirmed that a move to Tuesday would not happen and the game would go on as announced. The Steelers were able to get to Buffalo on Sunday.

The reason for the postponement is a full travel ban in Erie County, where Buffalo’s home field resides in Orchard Park. A lake-effect snow band was predicted to impact the area surrounding the stadium and, coupled with very high winds, create whiteout conditions across the area from Saturday night through the end of Sunday. That’s exactly what happened.

While some Steelers fans are calling Buffalo and Western New York “soft”, complaining that the move helps the Bills and wasn’t necessary, video and images from Sunday show it was the right decision. In January 2023, 47 people died in Buffalo as a result of a similar blizzard event.

When juxtaposed with images from Saturday night’s game featuring sub-zero wind chills in Kansas City, it’s understandable why people are asking the question about the game. The play on the field really isn’t the issue. Trying to clear roads to get thousands of people to the game, rescuing folks stranded while driving to the stadium, and diverting first response workers from helping people in actual need are the more pressing issues.

“We want our Bills to win, but we don’t want 60,000 to 70,000 people traveling to the football game in what’s going to be horrible conditions,” Erie County executive Mark Poloncarz said prior to the storm.

If you’re near Orchard Park, you can sign up to shovel snow from inside the stadium once the travel ban is lifted. The Bills are paying $20/hour plus food.

The Associated Press is reporting that discussions took place during the week of moving the game to Atlanta. With the limited timeframe of the storm and the desire by the Bills and New York State to host the game, the decision to postpone was made instead.

It’s happened before, kind of. In 2017, the NFL changed the start time of a playoff game between the Steelers and the Kansas City Chiefs due to ice. It went from a 1:00 pm kick to an 8:00 pm start time but stayed on the same day.

This is not the first time a Bills game has been moved due to inclement weather. In November 2022, the Bills’ home game against the Cleveland Browns was moved to Detroit after a massive snowstorm left the field inundated. In 2014, the Bills hosted the New York Jets in Detroit after a similar event. In December 2017, the Bills and Indianapolis Colts played in an unexpectedly massive snowstorm that didn’t start until game time.

This will certainly play a role in the next round of the playoffs, as well. The winner of the Bills and Steelers will be playing against a team that won their game on Saturday with two extra days of rest.