The Bills vs. Steelers wild-card game will not be postponed again.
After the game was pushed back a day from its originally scheduled kickoff time of Sunday at 1 p.m. as a snowstorm pummeled the Buffalo area Saturday, Gov. Kathy Hochul said Sunday the NFL playoff game in Orchard Park will go on as scheduled for Monday at 4:30 p.m.
“The game will not be pushed back again. I’ve spoken to the commissioner of the NFL [Roger Goodell] several times today. I’ve spoken to the owner of the Buffalo Bills [Terry Pegula] about their preparations. There are volunteers who have walked to the stadium who are helping clean it out,” Hochul said.
Erie County executive Mark Poloncarz also said Sunday that all of the snow may not be removed from parking lots by Monday, so fans are encouraged to carpool.
The Steelers landed safely in Buffalo on Sunday, according to CBS Sports.
Bills Mafia has been eagerly anticipating this home playoff game after the Bills (11-6) closed the regular season with five straight victories to win the AFC East and secure the No. 2 seed in the conference.
The team was offering $20 an hour for people to help shovel snow ahead of the game, but early Sunday the Bills urged fans to abide by a travel ban that was still in place due to the weather, putting off some of the cleanup.
Hochul said Sunday afternoon a travel ban remained in effect in Orchard Park, although workers did make it to Highmark Stadium to start removing snow.
Shoveling was initially scheduled to begin Saturday night but was delayed as the Buffalo area was expected to get hit with at least a foot of snow, and possibly up to three feet.
The Bills are hoping for a breakthrough this postseason after failing to get over the hump in recent years.
Buffalo lost to the Chiefs in the AFC Championship game three years ago and followed that up with an overtime loss to Kansas City in the divisional round two years ago; both games were in Kansas City.
The Bills then lost to the Bengals in last year’s divisional round.
Should the Bills defeat the Steelers, they would finally get a home game against the Chiefs in the playoffs next weekend.
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