The Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns preseason opener hit an early pause Saturday at Huntington Bank Field after weather rolled in fast and hard.
The game was stopped just three plays in, with players heading back to the locker room after officials heard a loud crack of thunder nearby. Lightning was then spotted in the area, triggering the delay.
“It got dark and started pouring here in an instant. Loud crack of thunder on 3rd play of game, then a couple of plays later the refs paused play,” Jonathan Acosta of WGRZ Sports in Buffalo wrote on X.
Before the stoppage, Kyle Allen had started for Buffalo, with 13:30 left in the first quarter when play was halted. Shedeur Sanders was expected to start for Cleveland.
There was no official restart time at the time of the delay, but the broadcast said players would return to the field to warm up at 2:00 p.m. ET and that play was expected to resume by 2:15 p.m. ET.
The weather quickly became the story, and fans wasted no time pointing toward Cleveland’s future dome, which is scheduled to arrive in time for the 2029 season.
The Browns have already announced plans for a new $2.6 billion stadium with a translucent dome, a project that would allow Cleveland to host major events such as Final Fours, major soccer matches and concerts, while also opening the door to a Super Bowl.
For now, though, Saturday’s preseason game served as another reminder of why domed stadiums keep coming up in these moments.
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