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For the first time in eight years, the NFL has made the decision to move a regular-season game due to snow.
With an epic snowstorm on the verge of hitting western New York, Sunday’s game between the Browns and Bills will be moved from Buffalo to Detroit, the NFL announced Thursday. The game, which will be played at Ford Field, will remain at 1 p.m. ET.
The NFL hasn’t moved the location of a regular-season game due to snow since November 2014. Eight years ago, a Sunday game between the Jets and Bills got moved to Monday night in Detroit. However, this year’s game won’t be switching days.
The reason the date of the game isn’t changing is because there was no way the league was going to be able to make it work with Buffalo’s schedule. After their Week 10 game against the Browns, the Bills have to turn around and play a Thanksgiving game against the Lions in Detroit. With the Bills playing just four days later, that means moving the Browns game back to Monday or Tuesday was out of the question.
With a blizzard about to hit Buffalo, moving the game became the only thing that made sense. As things currently stand, the National Weather Service has already issued a snow advisory that will be in place for the Buffalo area until 1 p.m. ET on Sunday, which just happens to be the exact kickoff time of the game. The current forecast is calling for two to four feet of lake-effect snow.
One problem with moving the game to Detroit is that the Bills lose their home-field advantage against the Browns, as Cleveland is only a 2.5-hour drive from Detroit. On the other hand, the Bills get a slight benefit because they won’t have to travel for their Thanksgiving game.
It’s not yet clear how the NFL is going to handle tickets for this game, but back in 2014, tickets to the Jets-Bills game ended up being free, so that will be something to keep an eye on. The Bills beat the Jets, 38-3, that year, which means they have a 1-0 record as the home team in Detroit.
Although this is the first game in eight years to be moved due to snow, it’s only been a little over a year since the last time a game was moved to inclement weather. For the 2021 opener, the Saints home game against the Packers was moved to Jacksonville due to Hurricane Ida.
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