Report: Hurricane Ian could push Bucs vs Chiefs to Minneapolis
One of the NFL's premiere matchups in Week 4 will pit Patrick Mahomes against Tom Brady when the Kansas City Chiefs travel to take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for Sunday Night Football.
Hurricane Ian could throw a wrench into the game, however, and force the game to be moved to Minneapolis.
NFL Network's Jeff Darlington reports that the league is monitoring Hurricane Ian which was upgraded to a Category 2 storm on Monday afternoon. If the Tampa Bay area faced a "devastating impact" from the storm, the league would consider moving the game.
A logical solution would be to move the game to Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, which is available with the Dolphins traveling to Cincinnati with a Thursday night game against the Bengals. But Darlington reports that the NFL doesn't want to detract resources from the recovery efforts, which would lead the league to look for other neutral sites.
New Orleans could also be a possibility as the Saints are playing the Vikings in a neutral site game in London, but Darlington suggests that the league could pick a site in the Midwest, and that Minneapolis is a possibility.
As a result, if the game is moved, it is likely the Bucs and Chiefs would play at a neutral site in the Midwest — such as Minneapolis. (the Vikings play in New Orleans on Sunday). Those plans remain fluid given the unknown path of the storm.
— Jeff Darlington (@JeffDarlington) September 26, 2022
U.S. Bank Stadium will be available on Sunday afternoon as the Minnesota Vikings will be in London, and that could give local football fans a chance to see two future Hall of Fame quarterbacks go to battle.
Darlington warned that the plans remained fluid due to the unknown path of the storm but the National Hurricane Center on Monday evening.
Government officials issued several evacuation orders for the surrounding counties and the storm is expected to reach landfall within the next 24-36 hours.
Related: Hurricane Ian might slam Tampa
