Former NFL quarterback and current ESPN analyst Robert Griffin III called for the postponement of Saturday night's AFC Wild Card Round playoff game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins because of dangerously cold temperatures.
Griffin took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to express his belief that the weather is "not safe" for players and fans to endure:
The Dolphins-Chiefs game should be postponed too. -1 degree weather, with wind chills of -30 degrees, snow and 29 mph winds IS NOT SAFE for players or fans and IS NOT FOOTBALL WEATHER.
Per ESPN's Marcel Louis-Jacques, the National Weather Service projects that there will be a minus-30-degree wind chill during Saturday's game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.
RG3's comments came shortly after New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that the AFC Wild Card Round playoff game between the Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers originally scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m. ET in Orchard Park, New York, was being moved to Monday at 4:30 p.m. ET because of weather:
Governor Kathy Hochul
@GovKathyHochul
I've been in communication with commissioner Roger Goodell regarding the dangerous conditions in Buffalo this weekend. In consultation with our emergency response teams, leadership, and the NFL, the Bills game will be postponed to 4:30 pm Monday.
Hochul declared a state of emergency for several counties in Western New York from Saturday afternoon through Monday morning, and per Weather.com, the forecast calls for as much as two to three feet of snow and wind gusts up to 65 miles per hour in certain parts of Western New York from Saturday morning through Monday morning.
According to WIVB's Adam Gorski, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz noted that the rescheduling had to do with the safety of people traveling to and from the game, saying:
"We want our Bills to win, but we don't want 60 to 70 thousand people traveling to the football game in what is going to be horrible conditions. [Law enforcement officials] need to be assisting in the middle of a snowstorm, helping those in need, not directing traffic at a football stadium. … This is something we all agreed on."
The postponement of Buffalo vs. Pittsburgh increased the chatter of something similar happening for Kansas City vs. Miami, but per Louis-Jacques, that won't be the case.
A source explained why, saying: "There are no public safety travel concerns for getting to the stadium for fans, the clubs, stadium personnel or public authorities."
That means the Chiefs and Dolphins will indeed face off in what could be one of the coldest playoff games on record.
The 11-6 Chiefs won their eighth consecutive AFC West title this season, but quarterback Patrick Mahomes had a down year by his standards and KC was only able to secure the No. 3 seed in the AFC.
Miami led the AFC East for most of the season and seemed poised to end the Bills' dominance of the division, but the Dolphins lost three of their final five games, including a 21-14 home loss to Buffalo in Week 18 that resulted in the Bills winning their fourth straight AFC title.
The Dolphins had to settle for a wild-card berth and the No. 6 seed, and they must now play in weather that most players on the team likely aren't accustomed to playing in.
Kickoff in Kansas City is set for 8 p.m. ET on Saturday night, and the game will stream exclusively on Peacock.
Miami Dolphins Discussion Forum
Latest News and Fan Discussion for the Miami Dolphins
