Browns vs. Bills Moved to Detroit amid Forecast of 6 Feet of Snow in Buffalo

The NFL is moving Sunday's game between the Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns to Ford Field in Detroit, the Bills announced Thursday:

This comes as the forecast for Buffalo is predicting as much as six feet of snow over the weekend. Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency Wednesday in preparation.

This isn't an unprecedented situation. The NFL shifted a game between the Bills and New York Jets from Buffalo to Detroit in 2014 because of the weather forecast.

Inclement weather can make for a great visual, and plenty of games—the 1967 "Ice Bowl" comes to mind—are remembered largely for their playing conditions.

But accommodating the fans who plan to attend factors into the equation. Even if the snowfall largely ceases by Sunday afternoon, the roads leading out of Buffalo and to Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, New York, could be treacherous.

"When you wake up on Friday morning and Saturday morning, there will still be impassable roads," Hochul said. "We just want people to give our plow operators the time and the space to be able to do their jobs so by Sunday, if the weather cooperates and the storm starts abating, we'll be able to be ready to get people on the roads by then."

The Bills have lost back-to-back contests, and losing out on a home game isn't what they will have wanted, but the upside is they won't even have to move their stuff out of their Ford Field locker room. They play the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving Day in one week's time.