Alaina GetzenbergESPN
ORCHARD PARK, NY — The Buffalo Bills’ home game against the Cleveland Browns is being moved to Detroit due to a winter storm expected to hit western New York over the next two days. The area is expected to get several feet of snow Thursday night through Saturday night, with thunderstorms and other bad conditions. The team said the decision to move the game from Highmark Stadium was made “in consultation with the Buffalo Bills and local and state authorities as the region prepares for the storm.” Gusty winds are also expected to make travel more difficult. It is not expected to snow at the time the game is scheduled to be played. 2 Related League spokesman Brian McCarthy confirmed the move had nothing to do with the Bills’ stadium being an outdoor facility without a dome and said the priority is not to divert resources away from the community. “They’ve been through it before, we’ve been through it again and we handled it well,” Buffalo coach Sean McDermott said Wednesday of the unknowns surrounding this week. “So much confidence in our team working behind the scenes on this and then the football team has to get ready to play a game and execute, so it’s a good football team coming in here.” The decision was made in part to have resources available for other community needs and for the safety of local people and fans. The team had an important snow game at Orchard Park in 2017 and the Bills beat the Colts in overtime 13-7. Buffalo had a home game against the New York Jets moved to Ford Field in November 2014 due to a snowstorm. The Bills won that game 38-3. That game was moved to Monday after being scheduled for a Sunday, but the Bills’ Thanksgiving game in Detroit makes this year’s schedule less flexible. With the news that the Browns-Bills game has been moved from Buffalo to Detroit, all previous bets placed on the game are void, per Caesars Sportsbook’s house rules. The total, which moved from 47.5 to 42 (it had risen to 43 when bets were cancelled) before the site change, attracted significant betting interest throughout the week. The Browns-Bills under took more bets than any other team to cover the spread other than Thursday night’s game between the Tennessee Titans and Green Bay Packers. It is rare that sets attract more bets than the spread. With the game now in Detroit, Caesars Sportsbook lists Buffalo as a 7.5-point favorite and the game has a 48 total. The Bills practiced inside the team’s field on Wednesday, but were outside for Thursday’s practice. At the same time, Buffalo is dealing with several ailments on the team. Three players — defensive back Cam Lewis, wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie and defensive tackle Jordan Phillips — missed Thursday’s practice due to illnesses. With the loss of this week’s home game, the Bills won’t play at Orchard Park again until Dec. 11 against the Jets.
