Pittsburgh Steelers, Buffalo Bills game rescheduled for Monday due to heavy snow, wind

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Bills fans face snow, bitter cold ahead of Playoff game to shovel out stadium

Conditions are gradually improving in Orchard Park, New York as fans work to shovel snow from Highmark Stadium ahead of the Bills playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. FOX Weather Correspondent Katie Byrne is at the stadium where nearly a foot of snow fell.

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. – A storm system that brought blizzard conditions to the nation’s heartland has impacted nearly every NFL playoff game this weekend, including the matchup of the Pittsburgh Steelers versus the Buffalo Bills in the always seemingly snowy town of Orchard Park, New York.

On Saturday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that the Sunday game had been postponed.

"The decision to move the game to Monday was made in consultation with New York Governor Kathy Hochul in the best interest of public safety, and with the Buffalo Bills and the Pittsburgh Steelers, as the region prepares for the storm," the NFL said in a statement.

The governor said the playoff matchup will happen Monday evening.

As of Monday morning, lake-effect snow had dropped 18 inches of snow in Orchard Park, according to the National Weather Service.

Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz showed the video below of the stadium area on Sunday morning.

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Buffalo Bill's stadium hidden by near-blizzard conditions

"There is supposed to be a football stadium back there, but you can't see it." Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz drove past the Buffalo Bill's stadium which he couldn't see through the blowing snow.

"You should be able to see a stadium there, but you can't because it's terrible out with snow falling at a rate of at least 3 inches per hour and winds still whipping," Poloncarz wrote on social media.

The wind gusts across the largely unfrozen water of Lake Erie established a band of heavy lake-effect snow, bringing near-whiteout conditions with temperatures in the teens and 20s.

Conditions improving at Highmark Stadium by kickoff

There is some good news for the Wild Card playoff game now scheduled for Monday at 4:30 p.m., according to the FOX Forecast Center.

The snow should be mostly tapered off in time for kickoff, allowing for a safer fan experience for the postponed Bills-Steelers game.

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Temperatures will still be in the teens for kickoff, but the threat of snow is trending down. A leftover snow shower or flurry is not out of the question, but conditions look mostly cloudy with some lingering wind gusts between 10 and 20 mph. Overall, fans should expect an easier time getting to and from the game.

Monday might be the best day this week for an NFL game in western New York. 

Computer forecast models show more snow will develop over western New York as the lake-effect snow machine kicks back into full swing by Tuesday and continues through Thursday.

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Bills players are prepared to face the cold and windy conditions on Monday. Most of the stadium seats remained covered in snow hours before the game. Fans are being asked to come prepared in waterproof shoes and pants. 

"The wind may move the ball a little bit," Bills quarterback Josh Allen said after Wednesday’s practice. "Typically, it’s going to be, with weather like this, a game that both teams are going to run the ball, and it’s going to be very possession-limited, so we got to make these possessions count."

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"The lake-effect snow, you can see, is really going to taper off as we head into Monday, allowing the Buffalo Bills to finally take on the Pittsburgh Steelers," FOX Weather Meteorologist Haley Meier said. "This was only the third time in program history that they had to postpone a game."

A similar threat of heavy snowfall in 2022 forced a regular season game between the Cleveland Browns and Buffalo Bills to be moved to Ford Field in Detroit.

The Bills organization did not publicly state that they entertained a change of venue despite being under a Winter Storm Warning but has employed shovelers to remove snow from the stadium.

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Shirtless snow shoveler before Buffalo Bill's game

Don't try this at home! Near blizzard conditions and heavy snow forced officials to postpone the Wildcard game between the Buffalo Bills and the Pittsburgh Steelers until Monday. The team put out a call to all fans for help shoveling snow. In return, the shovelers get $20 per hour and free food. The temperature never made it out of the low 20s and with wind gusts maxing out at 60 mph, the wind chill barely made it above zero.

Snow shovelers are still needed on Monday to clear the stadium, and the Bills are offering free meals and $20 per hour. 

A driving ban in place on Sunday prevented snow shovelers from reporting to their shifts at Highmark Stadium. Some fans walked to the stadium in whiteout conditions. 

"There will eventually be multiple shifts available for snow shovelers to work and be part of the team to get the venue ready for the Super Wildcard Playoff game against the Steelers," the Buffalo Bills posted on social media.

FOX Weather Correspondent Katie Byrne reported Bills fans arrived at the stadium overnight into Monday to help, and as the snow let up, more were starting to show up with shovels in hand. 

If the Bills win, expect similar weather conversations to happen at the end of the week, as Highmark Stadium would be home to a playoff game for either the Chiefs or Texans.

"We’ve been through a lot of games here where we’ve had to, no pun intended, weather the storm that way, right," Bills head coach Sean McDermott stated before a recent practice. "It affects how you play the game, how you manage the game. So, when we have that here, it’s an added dimension to our preparation."