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As teams around the NFL prepare to fight for their playoff lives in the upcoming Divisional Round matchups, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Buffalo Bills also find themselves preparing for awful weather.
They aren’t the only teams expecting bad weather as the Chiefs–Dolphins game is expected to have sub-zero temperatures at kickoff and a wind chill that will make it feel like it’s below -20.
Meanwhile, New York Governor Kathy Hochul has already declared a State of Emergency for the western portion of her state because of the snow storm expected for the weekend.
As a result of that expected weather, Hochul urged Steelers fans to stay home. She also took the opportunity to take a shot at the team, saying it was going to be a rough game for the team anyway.
During her press conference, she said, “We think it’s just better if you stay home and tune in on television. It’s going to be safer for all of us. It’s going to be a rough game for you anyhow.”
‘Football Weather’
It’s that time of year again where we get to see football played in “football weather”.
We hear the tales all the time. The Ice Bowl. The Freezer Bowl. That time the Giants beat Brett Favre in short sleeves at Lambeau Field.
On Sunday, football fans will be treated to yet another playoff game where both teams struggle to score because of the weather conditions.
The matchup in Buffalo is expected to feature temperatures in the low 20s with single digit wind chill, accumulating snow, and winds from 25 to 35 miles per hour with gusts up to 40.
The Bills are even currently looking to hire people to shovel snow before the game.
If you’re a fan of football weather, then you’re going to like what you see in the Bills-Steelers matchup.
Game Might Not Be as Rough for Steelers as Hochul Expects
Heading into the first weekend of the NFL playoffs, there is no team being given a worse chance to win than the Steelers.
They are currently a nine and a half point underdog, which is two and a half more points than any other NFL spread over the weekend.
However, that doesn’t necessarily mean this game will be a blowout.
To begin with, no coach in football is better than Mike Tomlin as an underdog. He is the best in the league at both winning and covering spreads when his opponent is favored.
On top of that, big spreads haven’t exactly translated to success for the Bills this season. They needed late scores to win against both the Giants and Chargers while favored by double digits.
Even worse, they lost to the Patriots and Broncos while favored by seven and a half points against both teams.
We also saw the Bills in a similar situation last year.
Coming off of a win over the Dolphins, the Bills welcomed the Bengals to Highmark Stadium for a playoff game.
That game also was played in snowy conditions.
Josh Allen struggled in that game and the Bengals’ run game thrived. Joe Mixon ran for 105 yards on 20 carries to help the Bengals to a 27-10 victory.
The Bills were only favored by six points in that game, but it makes it easy to wonder what will happen this year as the Bills prepare for a playoff game in the snow against an opponent who is a large underdog and is prepared to run the ball early and often.
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