Handicapping The Weather

The weather. We can't do much about it - or can we? For sports that are played out of doors the weather can influence the outcome of a game. For football in particular, weather can impact the game plan as schemes and talent re-act differently to the elelments. There are four keys to undersatnding the impact of weather in a football game:

1. Heat & humidity - This is most noticable in late summer college football games, where field conditions on the artificial turf can rise to over 110 degrees. This often affects the visiting team, travelling with a smaller squad, where replacement bodies (quality or not) are scarce. To add insult, the visitors are often on the sunny side of the field in their away dark (heat absorbing) uniforms.

2. Wind - Usually associated with late season games, this can have an effect on both kicking game and the weak armed QB. Conversly, some teams can manage this very well. Who can forget the master use of the swirling Giant Stadium wind during Phil Simms brilliant days there.

3. Cold - Oh, that forzen tundra. Yeah, it gets cold but there were no heated benches on thinsulate back in Coach Lombardi's days. This tends to be overrrated and the effects of which are built into the line. Still when combined with wind and percipitation, the cold can reduce a falshy, spalshy offense into truf crawlers.

4. Rain and Snow - Slick fields, muddy turf tend to give the offense an edge. Sure, the slippery ball is an accident waiting to happen but for the most part the offense knows where it is going, where it going to cut - leaving the defense less sure footed and an additional half step behind.

To find out more about the weather and its influence on the outcome of football we recommend:

NFL Handicapping and Hot Weather - Brian Gabrielle

SportsWeatherPage.com: On altitude
SportsWeatherPage.com: On weather

Handicapping The Weather by Trace Fields A cached version from Google