Buffalo is expected to receive heavy snowfall before the NFL divisional round playoff game between the Bills and Chiefs.
By surmounting severe winter conditions and a seventh-seeded Pittsburgh Steelers, the Buffalo Bills secured a spot in the AFC divisional round, where they will host the defending Super Bowl winner Kansas City Chiefs as well as Patrick Mahomes on Sunday.
After spending his first 15 career playoff games either at Arrowhead Stadium, which is located in Kansas City, or the neutral venues for the Super Bowl, Mahomes will be participating in his first true road game. Once more, he and the Buffalo Bills will be competing in subzero conditions this week.
A lake-effect snow advisory is in effect for Western New York, including the Bills’ Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park.
This means that Buffalo could receive between one and three feet of snow, with additional storms potentially bringing the total to more than four feet.
According to Accuweather, this advisory remains in effect until Thursday at 7:00 p.m. ET. Buffalo may experience snowfall until Saturday.
A week ago, Governor Kathy Hocul of New York issued a travel ban in response to the storms; however, at this time, no such ban remains in effect.
The Chiefs-Bills game, scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, is unlikely to be affected by snowfall; however, the home team may have trouble accessing the team facility for weekday practices and meetings involving its players and coaches.
Volunteers and stadium personnel who labored through nearly a foot of snow and gusty winds to get Highmark Stadium ready to host the Buffalo Bills’ victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the wild-card round deserve recognition.
They may be spared the task for the rest of this week, albeit only marginally. The Bills utilized volunteer snowy shovelers to clear the stadium in time for the rescheduled kickoff on Monday at 4:30 p.m. ET after Hochul imposed travel restrictions.
The Buffalo Bills are expecting significantly improved conditions as they prepare to host the Kansas City Chiefs in Sunday evening’s divisional-round playoff game.
Last week, New York Governor Kathy Hochul cited public safety concerns as the reason for postponing the wild-card round game.
A winter storm brought approximately 17 inches of snow, blizzard conditions, and gusts of wind up to 40 miles per hour to the region, forcing the game scheduled for January 14 to be canceled.
At game time, the NFL and the Bills announced that, for the first time in NFL playoff history, there would be no assigned seating due to the accumulation of snow on the seats.
A lake-effect snow advisory is presently in force throughout Western New York, which includes Orchard Park. As per the National Weather Service, substantial lake-effect snowfall may result in accumulations ranging from one to three feet, with precipitation totals potentially surpassing four feet.
The advisory remains in force until Thursday at 7:00 p.m. The Weather Channel predicts that snow may fall in the Buffalo region through Saturday morning.
“Therefore, we shall manage it. I am certain of that.” At this time, the most effective course of action is to just have excellent communication surrounding it.”
While the storm may not impede the commencement of Sunday’s Divisional Round match between the Bills and Kansas City Chiefs at 6:30 p.m. ET, it may impede the team’s ability to transport their players to practices and meetings.
Despite the absence of a current travel ban, head coach Sean McDermott acknowledges the potential for additional challenges in transporting players to the facility, following Governor Kathy Hochul’s implementation of one during last week’s storm.
“We have a strategy in place to ensure that the staff and players arrive at the appropriate times, and we’re attempting to stay on top of that from a scheduling perspective,” McDermott told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
“There’s nothing we can do about it except get us ready to go,” McDermott commented. “Our group has fought throughout the entire season. We are not planning to cease our current conflict at this time.
Our team has exhibited remarkable resiliency, with each player demonstrating exceptional initiative in replacing an opponent who has fallen.