The Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers playoff game was postponed to Monday due to an expected winter storm in New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Saturday.
The game was supposed to be played at Highmark Stadium, home of the Bills, on Sunday at 1:00 p.m., according to WIVB News. The game has since been moved to 4:30 p.m. on Monday.
The Buffalo Bills said on Twitter the decision was made in “the best interest of public safety, and with the Buffalo Bills, and the Pittsburgh Steelers, as the region prepares for the storm.”
Blizzard conditions are expected in Western New York, according to the state’s Department of Transportation. Hochul announced on Twitter a travel ban will be implemented in Erie County and urged residents to buy their essentials before the storm hits.
“We want our Bills to win, but we don’t want 60 to 70 thousand people traveling to the football game in what is going to be horrible conditions,” Mark Poloncarz, Erie County Executive, said, according to WIVB.
“[Law enforcement officials] need to be assisting in the middle of a snowstorm, helping those in need, not directing traffic at a football stadium … This is something we all agreed on,” he added.
Fans took to Twitter, outraged at the game’s cancellation. Many pointed out how the team’s new stadium was designed for “protection from the elements.”
“Honest question: Wasn’t the argument for Buffalo’s new stadium not having a roof that football is supposed to be played in the elements?” JJ Watt, a former defensive end for the Houston Texans, wrote on Twitter. “This is multiple games in recent years that have been rescheduled due to weather.”
“Do we want the elements to be a factor or not?” Watt added. (RELATED: Buffalo Bills Fan Shot And Killed Near Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium).
In a press release from 2022, the Bills noted the stacked seating “will provide protection from the elements, [and] extensive radiant heating will be in place to enhance fan comfort.”
Other fans made jokes about the game’s cancellations and the fans’ behavior at previous games.
Buffalo weather on Buffalo weather
Sunday being 27° on Monday
with 60% chance being 22° with a
of snow 50% chance of
snow pic.twitter.com/QeyykrapIX— Baku 🐧 (@Mazursky8895) January 13, 2024
Buffalo Bills:
we have postponed the game for the safety of our fansBills fans: pic.twitter.com/18pVcVNtBw
— El_Travador (@El_Travador) January 13, 2024
One user noted how the Bills played in a blizzard back in 2017 in a game against the Indianapolis Colts.
Bills vs Colts, 2017. They played in a damn blizzard. What changed Buffalo? Fuck yall. pic.twitter.com/8Ckwm25eL8
— SteelTwins | BRING MASON BACK (@SteelTwins) January 13, 2024
The playoff game will be televised Monday on CBS, WIVB reported.
