Mother Nature isn’t done affecting the Buffalo Bills’ postseason run.
After having their Super Wild Card Weekend win over the Steelers moved from Sunday to Monday due to heavy snowstorms, the region is set to get battered again this week.
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A lake-effect snow warning is currently in effect in Western New York, including Orchard Park. According to the National Weather Service, heavy lake-effect snows could cause accumulations of one to three feet, with storm totals potentially exceeding four feet. The warning is currently in effect until 7 p.m. on Thursday.
According to The Weather Channel, the Buffalo area could see snow through Saturday morning.
The storm might not disrupt Sunday’s Divisional Round showdown between the Bills and Kansas City Chiefs, which is set to kick off at 6:30 p.m. ET, but it could hinder the team’s ability to get their players in for meetings and practices. A travel ban hasn’t been raised this week after Gov. Kathy Hochul put one in place during last week’s storm, but head coach Sean McDermott noted the possibility that getting players to the facility could become difficult again.
“We’ve got a plan in place to make sure we’re getting the players in at the right time, as well as the staff, and trying to be on top of that from a scheduling standpoint,” McDermott said Tuesday, via The Associated Press. “So we’ll handle it. Confident in that. And the best thing we can do right now is just have great communication around it for right now.”
Snow isn’t the only storm the Bills are weathering. Injuries have hit Buffalo significantly. The Bills played Monday without the likes of cornerback Rasul Douglas (knee), linebacker Tyrel Dodson (shoulder), safety Taylor Rapp (calf), and receiver Gabe Davis (knee), then saw CBs Taron Johnson (concussion) and Christian Benford (knee), LBs Terrel Bernard (ankle) and Baylon Spector (back), and punter Sam Martin (hamstring) suffer injuries in the wild-card round. McDermott said the club is still evaluating all the injuries, but neither the wounds nor the weather will be an excuse.
“There’s nothing we can do about it other than getting ourselves ready to go,” McDermott said. “Our team has fought all season long. We’re not going to stop fighting now. Our team’s been resilient, and our players have done a phenomenal job of stepping up when someone has gone down.
” … We’ve got to make sure that we are putting all the time that we need to put it into, whether it be, treatment opportunities right now, maximizing those opportunities to get ourselves as healthy as we possibly can for game time on Sunday.”
