It’s not quite winter yet, but you wouldn’t know it looking at Buffalo’s weekend forecast, which calls for heavy snow, potentially up to 30 inches in some areas. Predicting snow accumulation this far in advance, especially in the famously volatile Lake Erie region, is, admittedly, risky business. Though if the forecasted nor’easter comes to fruition, dropping huge snow totals on greater Buffalo, it would have a major impact on Sunday’s game between the Bills and Browns, currently scheduled for 1 PM ET at Highmark Stadium.
Winter weather comes with the territory in Western New York, an area of the country that records upwards of 90 inches of snowfall annually. Not only would snow affect transportation in and out of the stadium, it would also impact the game itself, with low visibility and treacherous field conditions both posing significant obstacles to scoring. When Buffalo and Indianapolis encountered snow during their game in 2017, neither team found much success throwing the ball, defaulting to their ground games in a 13-7 Bills victory. The Bills and Browns experienced a similar blizzard in 2007 with lake-effect snow blanketing Cleveland in a game that saw its combatants combine for eight total points (two field goals and a safety).
If Sunday’s game devolves into another such rock fight, with neither team able to establish a consistent passing presence, the Browns, buoyed by arguably the league’s top backfield tandem (Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt), would stand to benefit most. Of course, even with the neutralizing effects of Mother Nature, the Bills still have a distinct talent advantage, not to mention a home crowd that lives for these moments, wearing Buffalo’s famously uninviting weather as a badge of honor.
As any meteorologist worth their salt would tell you, a lot can change in five days. One could easily imagine a scenario where Rochester and Syracuse get the worst of the storm, or another where rising temperatures lead to rain instead of snow. But if the season’s first major weather event wreaks as much havoc as they’re saying it will, fans can expect a wild one Sunday in Orchard Park.
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