Bills’ post-Bears game travel affected by Buffalo airport closure

The Buffalo Bills are in Illinois on Saturday afternoon to play the Chicago Bears in their Week 16 tilt. The Bills left home on Thursday right after practice to ensure they would be able to get to the Windy City before the winter storm arrived, but getting home could be trickier.

Western New York is currently dealing with a blizzard, as high winds and falling snow have combined to reduce visibility across the region. Plows were taken off the road, and there is a total driving ban in Erie County.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul updated the situation Saturday morning, saying the Buffalo Airport would be closed through at least 11 a.m. on Monday. If the Bills are going to get home in time for Christmas on Sunday, they’ll need to fly into Rochester, which isn’t dealing with as much lake effect snow, and drive home through the travel bans in western Genesee County and Erie County. More than 37,000 people remain without power in Western New York.

The other option is simply staying in Chicago until the storm settles a bit on Sunday morning.

UPDATE 4:40 p.m. Eastern

"With Buffalo’s airport currently closed through Monday due to inclement weather, the Buffalo Bills will spend Christmas Eve overnight in Chicago. Per source, the plan as of now is to fly into a nearby airport at some point tomorrow morning, then bus back to Buffalo."

Luckily, they are in Chicago. Perhaps they could enlist the Kenosha Kickers for the ride home just in time for their families waking up: