Major snowstorm could impact massive Dolphins-Bills game

It appears Saturday's massive game between the 8-5 Miami Dolphins and 10-3 Buffalo Bills held at Buffalo's Highmark Stadium could take place in a winter wonderland. 

Victoria E. Freile of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle and Brian Galliford of Buffalo Rumblings pointed out that Saturday's prime-time matchup will occur during a lake effect snow warning for the Buffalo region. Forecasts predict varying amounts of snowfall in Orchard Park before and during Saturday's encounter. 

"One warning predicts between one and three feet of lake effect snow will fall between 7 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Monday," Freile noted. "The second warning predicts between one to two feet of lake effect snow between 7 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Sunday." 

Depending on the way the wind blows and when, between 18 and 24 inches of snow could fall on and around Highmark Stadium. The good news as it pertains to the game taking place as scheduled is that it was believed as of early Friday afternoon that the worst of the snow will be past Orchard Park before kickoff at 8:15 p.m. ET on Saturday.

Last month, the Week 11 matchup between the Cleveland Browns and Bills was relocated from Buffalo to Ford Field, home of the Detroit Lions, because of a paralyzing snowstorm. There's no indication such a change will be necessary this weekend. 

The first-place Bills currently sit atop the AFC East and overall conference standings thanks to a 24-20 win over the 10-3 Kansas City Chiefs in Week 6. Meanwhile, the 7-6 New England Patriots, 7-6 Los Angeles Chargers and 7-6 New York Jets are all flirting with catching and even leapfrogging the Dolphins in the playoff race before January arrives.