The Bills will not be home Christmas.
Following a 35-13 over the Bears on Saturday, the team will be forced to stay in Chicago overnight because of a looming blizzard in Western New York. All of Erie County is under a driving ban and wind and snow have reduced visibility, making travel unsafe.
Although Buffalo's airport is closed until Monday, the team looks like it will be returning at some point Sunday.
“Now we’ve got to stay here tonight,” Sean McDermott said after the game, per PFT. “Come back in the locker room and your first worst are, ‘We’re staying the night.’ . . . It’s hard to be away from your family when you work so hard and have so much time away from them. But I told the guys, if I’m not with my family and they’re not with theirs, there’s no family I’d rather be with than them."
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Buffalo governor Kathy Hochul said the blizzard, which is reportedly among the worst in Buffalo history, has led to the airport being closed for "hazardous weather conditions," per The New York Post.
The Bills, of course, already moved and played a game in Detroit once this season because of anticipated weather issues. It appears this could continue down the stretch.
If nothing else, the football schedule will at least somewhat offset the travel losses for the Bills. Because they played on Saturday there already would have been an extra rest day, but the Bills also play the final "Monday Night Football" game of the year against the Bengals next week.
With that being said, not making it back for Christmas morning will undoubtedly put a damper on the AFC East clinching celebration for the Bills.
