Steelers vs. Bills Wild Card Game postponed due to extreme weather conditions

Fans who made plans for the big Pittsburgh Steelers game are now going to have to make some adjustments. The Steelers vs. Bills Wild Card Game was originally set to kickoff at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday. Unfortuantely, this contest has now officially been postponed.

New York Governer Kathy Hochul just announced that this AFC playoff game, set to take place in Buffalo, is being moved to 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday, January 15h, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.

The Steelers vs. Bills game was originally slated to be played on Sunday afternoon. This would have ben right in the thick of Super Wild Card Weekend (and a day that most viewers have off). However, extreme weather conditions in Buffalo -- that included high winds and lake effect snow flurries -- forced this game to be moved.

This creates quite the predicament for many fans. Folks were planning around this Sunday afternoon game. Playing on Monday could make this more challenging, as work scheduled for many can interfere. It seemed like most Steelers fans were hoping the game would continue as scheduled, but we aren't surprised to see it postponed due to the weather conditions.

There were whispers that this game could be moved to Cleveland and remain at the same time on Sunday, but these were quickly shut down by the league. The NFL didn't want to take home-field advantage away from the Buffalo Bills in the playoffs (which makes sense).

Did the Steelers lose their only advantage?

As we kept our eyes on the forecast in Buffalo all week, we talked about the advantage that the weather could give the Pittsburgh Steelers in this road playoff contest. The Steelers have resorted to deploying their third-string quarterback, and while the results have been good, we can't expect Mason Rudolph to go toe-to-toe with QB Josh Allen this week.

On the other hand, the snowy and windy weather conditions could have forced this game to come down to whichever team could run the ball more effectively. Jaylen Warren and Najee Harris have arguably been the best duo of running backs in the league over the second half of the season, and this could have shifted the tides slightly toward Pittsburgh this week.

Though we could still see cold and snowy weather at Highmark Stadium in Buffalo on Monday, the Windter Storm Warning for the area will have ended by this time. We can only hope that the conditions in Buffalo still favor the Pittsburgh Steelers in this do-or-die NFL Wild Card Game.