Another week, another snowstorm in Buffalo that stands to impact a Bills game.
Ahead of the team’s Week 15 game against the Dolphins, a weather system brought significant snowfall to Buffalo in the hours leading up to kickoff. Though far from the multiple feet of snow that the city received earlier in the year, Saturday’s storm may have some significant ramifications on the AFC East tilt.
Photos shared by WGRZ chief meteorologist Patrick Hammer showed Highmark Stadium covered in a white blanket around 7:30 a.m. ET, just over 12 hours before the 8:15 p.m. Saturday kickoff. Hammer also reported an hour earlier that there was already eight inches of snow on the ground.
Buffalo is bracing for what could end up being a foot or more of snow as the storm continues all day on Saturday and overnight into Sunday. When Bills–Dolphins gets underway, snow is expected to still be falling.
The Bills are no strangers to inclement weather, having already relocated a game to Detroit the weekend before Thanksgiving due to a storm that brought multiple feet of snow to the area surrounding Highmark Stadium. However, their opponents may not fare as well in the conditions.
The Dolphins found themselves as the subject of conversation last weekend, when they appeared to use sideline heaters during a 55-degree weather game against the Chargers in Southern California. Coach Mike McDaniel had some fun with the impending Buffalo weather this week in practice when he wore a short-sleeve shirt that said “I wish it were colder.”
He also shrugged off the forecast for Saturday’s game, saying he would do “zero monitoring” before kickoff.
“To me, you just decide whether you’re going to let it factor in or not, and then you adjust as best you can,” McDaniel said, per ESPN. “There’s certain things that become harder when there’s moisture or it hits a certain level of frigidness. But the good news is that there’s not different atmospheres on both sidelines. We will be playing the game in the same elements.”
Though McDaniel and the Dolphins may try to put on a brave face, the Bills would seem to have a clear advantage in the snowy conditions. Time will tell if Miami can brave the elements when the game kicks off at 8:15 p.m. ET on Saturday.
