For the first time in eight years, the NFL made the decision to move a regular season game due to inclement weather.
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 1:00 PM ET.
The NFL has not moved the location of a regular season game since November 2014. Eight years ago, a Sunday game between the Jets and Bills was moved to Monday night in Detroit. However, this year’s game will not change days.
The reason the game date isn’t changing is because there was no way the league could work around Buffalo’s schedule. After the Week 10 matchup with the Browns, the Bills have to turn around and play a Thanksgiving Day 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, the game drive became the only thing that made sense. As things stand right now, the National Weather Service has already issued a snow warning that will be in effect for the Buffalo area until 1 p.m. ET on Sunday, which happens to be the exact start time of the game. The current forecast calls for two to four feet of snow due to the lake.
One problem with moving the game to Detroit is that the Bills lose home-field advantage over the Browns, since Cleveland is only a 2.5-hour drive from Detroit. On the other hand, the Bills have a slight benefit because they won’t have to travel for their Thanksgiving game.
It’s not yet clear how the NFL will handle tickets for this game, but 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 home record in Detroit.
