NFL Up Vote: Should Cowboys have concerns? Are Packers back from dead?
The NFL Up Vote crew debates if the Cowboys should have any real concerns after their loss to the Packers.
USA TODAY
With several feet of snow expected to be dumped on Buffalo, New York, this week, the NFL decided to move Sunday’s Cleveland Browns-Buffalo Bills game from its originally scheduled venue in Orchard Park to Detroit.
Relocating the game was the right call, given New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared a State of Emergency that started Thursday morning.
While Browns-Bills now will be played in the climate-controlled confines of Ford Field, this week’s weather situation in Buffalo is a reminder that it’s that time of year when NFL games could be impacted by inclement weather.
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There have been many famous winter wonderland games through the years in the NFL. Here are those moments listed in reverse chronological order:
2017 — Colts vs. Bills
A snowstorm dropped more than 16 inches in Orchard Park, New York, including between eight to nine inches during the game.
It was a mess. Early in the third quarter, fans were even treated to a rare metrological event called “thundersnow,” as lightning flashed over the stadium. The game was not stopped.
Buffalo Bills running back LeSean McCoy scored on a 21-yard run with 1:33 left in overtime in the 13-7 win over the Indianapolis Colts.
2016 — Steelers vs. Bills
Buffalo is going to show up quite a bit on this list.
Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell carved through the Bills defense for a franchise-record 236 yards and three touchdowns rushing in a 27-20 win.
In yet another reason why grass fields are superior to artificial turf ones, the start of the second half of this game was delayed when a buildup of rubber pellets — which were part of the artificial turf in the Bills’ stadium — accumulated on the sidelines after tractors swept the field of snow during halftime.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qo6hHnjibfA
2013 — Lions vs. Eagles
LeSean McCoy rushed for an Eagles single-game record 217 yards (breaking Steve Van Buren’s mark of 205 from 1949), leading Philadelphia to a 34-20 victory over the Detroit Lions at Lincoln Financial Field. That is a surprisingly high score given the conditions, with stadium staff working hard to keep yard lines clear during a storm that dropped up to six inches of snow on Philadelphia.
Neither team attempted a field goal, and there were two-point conversion tries after seven of the eight touchdowns.
2009 — Titans vs. Patriots
Tom Brady and the New England Patriots absolutely embarrassed the visiting Tennessee Titans (who were sporting Houston Oilers throwback uniforms), 59-0, at a snowy Gillette Stadium on Oct. 18, 2009. The 59-point win matched the largest margin of victory since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970 (LA Rams over Atlanta Falcons, 1976). It was the worst loss in Titans/Oilers team history, eclipsing a 61-7 defeat against the Cincinnati Bengals in 1989.
Brady (380 yards, six touchdowns passing), receivers Randy Moss (129 yards, three touchdowns receiving) and Wes Welker (150 yards, two touchdowns receiving), and running back Laurence Maroney (123 yards, one touchdown rushing) all had huge games as the Patriots set a team record with 619 yards of offense.
2007 NFC divisional playoff — Seahawks vs. Packers
Lambeau Field turned into a picturesque snow globe in what was Brett Favre’s last win on Green Bay’s hallowed ground as the Packers’ quarterback. After falling behind 13-0 to the visiting Seattle Seahawks, the Packers stormed back as snow started falling from the sky, eventually winning 42-20.
“I’ve been hoping for that (snow) for 17 years,” Favre said after the game. “I was watching the weather all day and it’s a shame, I’m like, ‘Just give us one of those big snow games.’
“I wanted to play where you couldn’t see the field, and the snowplow comes out. It keeps getting worse and worse.”
A week later, Favre and the Packers were defeated in the NFC championship game at Lambeau Field by the New York Giants in one of the coldest NFL games ever.
2007 — Bills vs. Browns
In blizzard-like conditions, two field goals by Phil Dawson and a safety provided all the scoring in an 8-0 Cleveland Browns victory.
“When you’re a kid, you dream of playing in a game like this,” said Browns wide receiver Joe Jurevicius, who grew up just east of Cleveland. “Today was the Turkey Bowl or the Christmas Bowl in the backyard when you’re wiping snow out of your eyes.
“This is why I came home — not for the elements — but to play in big games like this.”
2001 AFC divisional playoff — Raiders vs. Patriots
The famous (or infamous, depending on your point of view) “Tuck Rule” game jump-started the New England Patriots’ dynasty.
In the final game played at Foxboro Stadium, the Patriots defeated the Oakland Raiders, 16-13, in overtime. The Patriots — led by an upstart quarterback named Tom Brady — would go on to win the Super Bowl … and then win five more over the next 17 years with Brady and Bill Belichick as coach.
This game, of course, is most known for a pivotal play late in the game when Charles Woodson appeared to force a fumble by Brady, recovered by Greg Biekert, seemingly giving Oakland the win. However, officials ruled that Brady’s arm had gone forward in a passing motion, evoking a rarely used rule that deemed the play an incomplete pass.
The Patriots’ Adam Vinatieri made two of the most clutch field goals — a 45-yarder in the driving snow to tie it in regulation and a 23-yarder in overtime to win it — to cap a game that will be talked about and debated for as long as football is played.
1993 Thanksgiving Day — Dolphins vs. Cowboys
In an extremely rare event in which snow filled Texas Stadium in Irving, Texas, the defending Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys were defeated, 16-14, by the Miami Dolphins on Thanksgiving Day.
The Dolphins won on a 19-yard field goal by Pete Stoyanovich, who got a second chance to win the game after his first attempt — a 41-yarder — was blocked, seemingly ending the game and giving the Cowboys the win. Instead, Cowboys defensive tackle Leon Lett slid into the ball, the Dolphins recovered and by rule granted possession and a second chance to win the game.
This was the second high-profile oopsy-daisy on a national stage for Lett, who 10 months earlier was running toward a sure touchdown in Super Bowl XXVII only to showboat and allow the Buffalo Bills’ Don Beebe to swat the ball from his grip right before reaching the end zone.
1985 — Buccaneers vs. Packers
This might be the snowiest game in NFL history, with 12 inches of snow falling before the game and an additional four to five inches during the game at Lambeau Field on Dec. 1, 1985. The Green Bay Packers prevailed, 21-0, over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who were miserable in the cold and deep snow.
“My second start of my NFL career, I played in a blizzard, worst blizzard in Green Bay history,” Hall of Famer Steve Young recalled years later. “We’re in white uniforms. I can’t see – the snow’s coming in my face. I can’t see anything. I can’t see anybody …
“Snow is piled high in the field, and (Alphonso Carreker) shoves my face down in the snow, and it gets packed in there. I can’t breathe. That was the low point.”
Young finished the game completing eight of 17 passes for 53 yards, and was sacked five times. Packers quarterback Lynn Dickey, meanwhile, had no issues throwing the ball, completing 22 of 36 passes for 299 yards, with Hall of Famer James Lofton having 106 yards receiving. Running backs Eddie Lee Ivery and Gerry Ellis each rushed for more than 100 yards in the rout.
1984 — Packers vs. Broncos
On Oct. 15, 1984, the visiting Packers were overwhelmed by the Denver Broncos on “Monday Night Football” during a blizzard at Mile High Stadium.
The Packers fumbled on the first play of each of their first two drives, with the Broncos returning both of those fumbles for touchdowns in the 17-14 win.
1982 — Dolphins vs. Patriots
In the “Snowplow Game” of Dec. 12, 1982, neither the visiting Miami Dolphins nor New England Patriots could muster any points through 55-plus minutes in the cold, snowy conditions at Schaefer Stadium.
With his team in field goal position with 4:45 left to play, Patriots coach Ron Meyer got into some Bill Belichick-level shenanigans, calling on a tractor to clear the snow from the AstroTurf field for kicker John Smith. It worked, as Smith booted a 33-yard field goal for the 3-0 win.
Years later, Dolphins coach Don Shula was still perplexed by what happened that day in Foxborough.
“I called the commissioner (Pete Rozelle) and told him it was the most unfair act that had ever happened in a football game,” Shula said. “He agreed. I asked him what he was going to do about it. He said, ‘Nothing.'”
1948 NFL championship game — Cardinals vs. Eagles
Could you imagine players from the two teams playing in the Super Bowl coming out of the locker rooms before the game to help the grounds crew prepare the field?
Well, before this showdown played in a blizzard at Philadelphia’s Shibe Park, players from the Eagles and defending NFL champion Chicago Cardinals had to help the grounds crew remove the tarps covering the field.
Steve Van Buren, the Eagles’ Hall of Fame running back, initially thought the game would not happen on that snowy December day.
“I looked out my bedroom window that morning, saw the snow and went back to bed,” Van Buren said. “I was sure the game would be postponed.”
“Greasy (Neale, the Eagles’ head coach) called the house and woke me up. He said, ‘Steve, you’re coming, right?’ I said, ‘Greasy, they’re not going to play in this weather.’ He said, ‘The game is still on, so you’d better get here.'”
With his car snowed in, Van Buren took public transportation — first a bus, then a subway — and walked the final seven blocks to the stadium.
It was a good thing he showed up … Van Buren scored the lone touchdown in the Eagles’ 7-0 win.
