With a major snowstorm expected to hit Western New York in the coming days, the NFL is preparing for all eventualities.
The league is monitoring weather around Buffalo ahead of Sunday's game between the Cleveland Browns and Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium and is in communication with both clubs, NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero reported Thursday morning. No decisions have been made about possibly changing the venue for the Week 11 matchup. However, rescheduling the AFC clash is not currently a consideration, as the Bills play four days later on Thanksgiving in Detroit, Pelissero added.
Beginning Thursday night and through Saturday, the Buffalo area is expected to be hit with a lake-effect snowstorm that could drop upwards of four feet of snow, The Weather Channel projected Thursday morning. "Major to extreme impacts" are expected to be felt in the region, according to NOAA's Weather Prediction Center, which advises against travel and driving in the predicted conditions.
Cleveland (3-6) and Buffalo (6-3) are scheduled to kick off from Orchard Park, N.Y., at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday afternoon.
The last time a game was moved out of Buffalo due to weather was in 2014, when a Week 12 game between the Jets and Bills was moved from Sunday afternoon at then-Ralph Wilson Stadium to Monday night at Ford Field, a domed stadium, in Detroit. Buffalo won, 38-3. The NFL made the decision on Thursday of that week to move the game after multiple days and feet of snow.
