How will winter weather affect the 2nd week of NFL playoffs?
From brutally cold air in Baltimore and Buffalo to rain in San Francisco, here’s how the weather could play a role in the coming weekend’s playoff matchups.
ORCHARD PARK – As if Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs aren’t big enough challenges for the Buffalo Bills, they also have a few more to deal with it as they prepare for Sunday night’s AFC divisional round playoff showdown.
Obviously, their injury list is a major concern as coach Sean McDermott reeled off the names of nine players at the start of his media availability Wednesday who either missed the wild-card victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers Monday, or got hurt during the game..
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Buffalo Bills injury update
There’s cornerbacks Rasul Douglas (knee), Christian Benford (knee) and Taron Johnson (concussion), wide receiver Gabe Davis (knee), linebackers Terrel Bernard (ankle), Tyrel Dodson (shoulder), and Baylon Spector (back), safety Taylor Rapp (calf) and punter Sam Martin (hamstring).
That’s a problematic injury report for a preseason game, let alone a win-or-else playoff game.
As for their availability for the Kansas City game, McDermott didn’t have much of an update. He did provide a glimmer of hope as he indicated that Douglas and Dodson would be on the field in a limited fashion, though everyone will be limited because it’s only a walk through session.
The Bills have already taken on step to make sure they are covered at punter/holder if Martin Can’t play. They signed Matt Haack to their practice squad Wednesday. He was the Bills’ punter in 2021 and therefore has held for kicker Tyler Bass on placement kicks. Haack took the practice squad spot that was created when Leonard Fournette was released Tuesday.
“With Sam’s situation, just not really sure where that’s going to end up and so it gives us some flexibility there,” McDermott said. “There’s not really a change at this point to Sam status. We’ll just see how that goes.”
But injuries aren’t the only issue the Bills are dealing with. The Chiefs last played on Saturday when they beat Miami, so they have two extra days of rest and healing time heading into the first true road playoff game of Mahomes’ six-year career.
“Well, really no significance,” McDermott said of the shorter rest. “There’s nothing we can do about it other than getting ourselves ready to go. 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 in their position or their position group.”
Buffalo weather again an issue as Bills prepare for Chiefs
And now, complicating the Bills’ preparation week even further, another massive snowstorm is paralyzing Orchard Park, making life away from the field a bit more difficult for everyone in the area, including players, coaches and other Bills’ personnel. While there was a travel ban in place in Orchard Park, everyone was able to get to One Bills Drive Wednesday.
“Yeah, I’d say number one, I want to thank every everyone out there that did such a phenomenal job with the roads,” McDermott said. “We made sure we prioritized the players’ safety and everyone’s safety as best we could here. We moved our day back as far as we felt like we could and I think that’s been priority number one the entire time, so can’t be more grateful to those out there that are working to do that.”
With no let up in the snow overnight, Thursday could also be challenging from a logistical standpoint, but McDermott said the team will deal with whatever happens.
“We’re not sure,” he said about Thursday’s schedule. “The last update I have is that we may get more snow again overnight. So we’ll reset the table tonight and keep working on the game plan and also work on our weather plan.”
The team was scheduled to hold a walk-through practice Wednesday, so not a full practice. It’s possible they may not be able to do that, and they may have to resort to COVID times from 2020 and conduct position meetings via Zoom.
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Christine Lake is a sports fanatic who lives and breathes athletics. With an extensive background in sports journalism, he covers everything from major league championships to grassroots sports events. When she’s not on the field or at the stadium, you’ll find Christine coaching youth sports teams.
