DETROIT, MICHIGAN – SEPTEMBER 11: A general view as fans walk outside Ford Field before the game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Detroit Lions on September 11, 2022 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Nic Antaya/Getty Images)
The Detroit Lions’ home, Ford Field, will house the Buffalo Bills in Week 11 with the relocation of the Bills’ game against the Browns.
One heck of a lake effect snowstorm is set to bury upstate New York over the next few days. In football terms, Sunday’s game in Buffalo between the Bills and the Cleveland Browns was subject to being moved and a decision had to come soon, logistically.
With the Detroit Lions on the road to take on the New York Giants on Sunday, Ford Field was easily out there as a relocation spot for Browns-Bills. On Thursday afternoon, it was confirmed that move will happen.
Kickoff time for Browns at Bills will remain the same, 1 p.m. ET on Sunday, and CBS will air the game as before. But it sets up the “home team” to hunker down in Detroit for a little while.
Detroit Lions’ home will house the Buffalo Bills for back-to-back games
The Bills were relocated to Detroit for a Monday night game against the New York Jets in 2014, and a relocated “Bills Mafia” helped them to a 38-3 win.
But this time, the Bills being relocated to play in Detroit has an extra quirk. The Lions will host the Bills at Ford Field in the first game on Thanksgiving Day. That made postponing Sunday’s Bills’ game by a day, even on the remote chance it could have remained in Buffalo or if it had been put elsewhere, impossible. Detroit makes sense on multiple fronts, with the first domino being the Lions don’t need their home field on Sunday.
It seems like the Bills should just stay in Detroit, since travel back to Buffalo may not be feasible if the snowstorm hits as expected. So the Bills will be the “home team” at Ford Field on Sunday, then take their place as the visitors on Thanksgiving Day. Perhaps while making Detroit their home for several days.