BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — The Buffalo Bills’ wild-card playoff sport towards the Pittsburgh Steelers that was scheduled for Sunday was moved to Monday amid a forecast for harmful winter climate, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul introduced Saturday.
Hochul and different officers stated they had been making the change for security’s sake. “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 stated at a information convention within the Buffalo suburbs.
Officials suggested residents to remain off the roads beginning at dusk on Saturday, with a driving ban taking impact at 9 p.m. The sport will now be performed at Highmark Stadium at 4:30 p.m. Monday as a substitute of 1 p.m. Sunday.
Hochul stated she began speaking with the NFL on Thursday about the potential of having to reschedule the sport. From her hometown of Buffalo, she closed her information convention by saying, “Go, Bills.”
The NFL and Bills issued an announcement citing “public safety concerns” as the explanation to push again the sport by a day.
The forecast for the Buffalo space known as for heavy snow and winds gusting as excessive as 65 mph (105 kph) Saturday, with 1 to 2 toes or extra of snow ultimately piling up. The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning lasting by 7 a.m. Monday, saying that “travel will be very difficult to impossible at times,” with the mixture of snow and really sturdy wind inflicting near-zero visibility.
Much of the storm was anticipated to be concentrated in a slim band of lake-effect snow hovering over Buffalo’s southern suburbs, which incorporates the Bills’ dwelling in Orchard Park.
The Steelers have pushed again their journey plans and can now head to Buffalo on Sunday.
The Bills are accustomed to weather-related schedule modifications. In 2022, a lake impact storm led to Buffalo’s dwelling sport towards Cleveland being moved to Detroit in November. A month later, a large blizzard compelled the Bills to delay their journey dwelling, forcing them to remain in a single day in Chicago on Christmas Eve.
___
Peltz reported from New York City. AP Sports Writer Will Graves in Pittsburgh contributed to this report.
