Rain, snow, wind and cold could improve the Vikings’ chances to win the NFC North.
While the Vikings will enjoy a controlled environment inside U.S. Bank Stadium against the Colts, the Packers and Bears will be fighting strong winds and very cold air in Chicago. In New York, the Lions are hoping quarterback Matthew Stafford’s one-finger glove holds up in a cold rain against the red-hot Giants.
Here’s the latest Sunday forecast for both games, according to the National Weather Service.
Packers at Bears: “Patchy blowing snow before noon. Mostly sunny and cold, with a high near 2. Blustery, with a west northwest wind 10 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.”
Lions at Giants: “Rain. Temperature rising to near 55 by 11am, then falling to around 46 during the remainder of the day. Southwest wind 14 to 16 mph becoming northwest in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 90%.”
Rodgers is 0-3 in games with a single-digit temperature at kickoff
Can Aaron Rodgers handle a wind chill of 20 below zero? If anything, it should help cool him down. In his last four games he has 10 touchdowns and zero interceptions with a passer rating of 121.1, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Rodgers is 0-3 in games with a single-digit temperature at kickoff, according to ESPN. It also helps that Rodgers hasn’t practiced all week because of a right calf injury.
Meanwhile, Stafford will be slinging footballs in the rain with a bad middle finger on his throwing hand. He said he had a hard time gripping the football after suffering the dislocation/torn ligaments last week, and now he’ll have to do it in the rain.
“It’s going to be what it’s going to be,” Stafford said Thursday, according to the Detroit Free Press. “I’m not a weatherman. But we’ll see. When we get there, if we need to make an adjustment, we’ll make an adjustment. If not, we’ll just go out there and battle through it like everybody else is and try to play as well as we can.”
Division standings if the Vikings win and the Packers and Lions lose
- Lions – 9-5
- Vikings – 8-6
- Packers – 7-7
The Vikings would still have to win out and have the Lions lose out to win the division.
