REPORT: NFL insider, there’s “no truth” to the game location being moved.
Bills vs. Steelers Weather Emergency Rumors Debunked: ‘No Truth’
The Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers will no doubt need to bundle up for Sunday afternoon’s Wild Card playoff game at Highmark Stadium in what will likely be a winter wonderland. However, the extent of the impact that the expected snowy weather will have on the game’s location and start time got blown a bit out of proportion on Thursday. Related content Per reports from CBS NFL insider Jonathan Jones, there’s “no truth” to the game location being moved.
“Multiple sources tell me there’s no truth to rumor the Steelers-Bills wild-card playoff game could be moved to Cleveland due to weather concerns in Western New York,” Jones tweeted. The Buffalo area is expected to be 70 percent covered in snow on Sunday with a high of 29 degrees Fahrenheit. As a result, rumors started swirling online that the game could be moved to Cleveland to avoid overly-inclement weather.
One article started making the rounds and suggested that bad weather could “prompt a state of emergency” in Western New York much like it did last season when the Bills played the Cleveland Browns at Ford Field in Detroit in late November.
With the Browns playing at the Houston Texans and the Detroit Lions hosting the Los Angeles Rams for the Wild Card this weekend, moving the game to Cleveland could make some sense under extreme circumstances since Cleveland Browns stadium will be empty. While the rumor felt notable, it didn’t come from a known, reliable source. Reputable league sources quickly caught wind of the speculation and put it to rest. The Bills and Steelers are set to kickoff from Highmark Stadium on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
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NFL shuts down wild rumor about Bills-Steelers playoff game
The NFL was forced to deny a wild rumor about the state of Sunday’s Pittsburgh Steelers-Buffalo Bills playoff game.
The weather forecast for Sunday’s game in Buffalo is not ideal from a football perspective. Temperatures are forecast to be in the 20s, with wind gusts as high as 50 MPH on top of that. There is also a chance of snow, and it could be heavy if a band of lake-effect snow pops up over the stadium.
The weather conditions helped spark a rumor about the game potentially being moved to Cleveland. The rumor started on Pittsburgh’s KDKA radio by host Marty Griffin, who claimed to have heard from sources that the Browns’ stadium officials had been told to be ready.
The blowback to this claim was immediate, and multiple reports followed shortly after denying that relocating the game was under consideration at all.
We have certainly seen how rough things can get in Buffalo in the worst conditions. However, moving a playoff game is the last thing anyone would want to do. Moving the game to Cleveland, where travel would be even easier for Pittsburgh fans, would be even worse.
The real risk appears to be how much the windy, cold weather could impact the game. It may not be conducive to Josh Allen and the Bills’ passing game, which would not be ideal from Buffalo’s perspective.
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