The forthcoming Wild Card playoff game between the Buffalo Bills and the Pittsburgh Steelers at Highmark Stadium is anticipated to be played in heavy snow, leading to a buzz about a potential location change.
Rumors concerning the weather altering the game's location ran rampant on Thursday. CBS NFL insider Jonathan Jones verified through multiple league sources that the location change was fake news.
Jones tweeted, "The claims of relocating the Steelers-Bills wild-card playoff game to Cleveland due to Western New York's weather issues are unfounded, according to multiple sources I've spoken to."
It is projected that about 70% of the Buffalo area will be covered in snow on Sunday, with temperatures around 25 degrees and winds of 10-25 MPH. Consequently, social media was rife with conjecture that the game could be moved to Cleveland to avoid excessively harsh weather.
An online piece from the Daily Mail speculated that extreme weather could lead to a state of emergency in Western New York, mirroring a situation last season when the Bills played the Cleveland Browns at Ford Field in Detroit last year.
High-profile league sources picked up on the rumors swiftly and quashed them.
As planned, the Bills and Steelers will start the game from Highmark Stadium on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.