The Browns and Bills are moving their Week 11 game from one end of Lake Erie to another.
Due to the potentially historic snowstorm expected to drop as much as 4-6 feet of snow in Buffalo this weekend, the NFL announced Thursday that the Browns' game will move from Highmark Stadium to Ford Field in Detroit. Kickoff is still scheduled for 1 p.m. and will be televised on CBS.
The change will make a drastric difference on the game environment, as cold temperatures, wind and possibly more snow was expected during kickoff time in Buffalo. Instead, the game will be played indoors in a neutral site.
The Browns have said all week that they're ready for any weather scenarios and travel changes to the game, and aside from a different destination, not much else will be affected for how the Browns prepare for the Bills.
"At the end of the day when Sunday comes, whatever the situation is we just have to go out there and play," WR Amari Cooper said earlier on Thursday.
Head coach Kevin Stefanski has been a part of weather-related neutral site games before. In 2010 as an assistant coach with the Vikings in 2010, Minnesota moved its game from the Metrodome to Ford Field when the roof collapsed due to a snowstorm on Sunday morning of the game. The Vikings lost 21-3.
"I have been part of neutral location games," he said Wednesday. "You guys can do your homework on that one."
The game location is settled, and the Browns will be able to complete a normal week of practice — which is what they've been doing all along.
"We're really just trying to focus on us right now and getting the gameplan down that we have set," Joel Bitonio said earlier on Thursday."
