When you are a child, playing in the snow is one of the best things ever. When you’re an NFL player trying desperately to win on the road, and with a shot at the division crown at stake, it’s not so much. That’s what the Dallas Cowboys will face on their Week 17 trip to East Rutherford, New Jersey, to face the New York Giants, with the regular season final winner having a chance to steal the NFC East title from the football team of Washington. Much to the taste of the Giants, who are no strangers playing in the cold and snow, snowflakes have already begun to fall at MetLife Stadium – just hours before the start of the game.
For Cowboys, a team entering as a favorite, but routinely playing in the comfort of a voluntarily covered AT&T stadium, this can create some complications.
The weather is known to be a major neutralizer of the NFL, and that could be the story again today.
Both sides are already dealing with their own set of disadvantages when entering the competition, but the Cowboys are emerging from a defeat over the Philadelphia Eagles in which Andy Dalton and the large receiving unit had a field day. It will be more difficult for the passing attack to take root in the snow, and even if the flakes stop falling, there will still be rain and wind. The forecast for Sunday’s clash is a 90 percent chance of precipitation near the start, according to The Weather Channel, decreasing before reaching 80 percent or more during the game, with steady winds at 10 mph.
Given the fact that temperatures are set for the mid-30s, precipitation can come in the form of snow – as you can see above – rain or a winter mix.
In any case, this will likely affect the game plan for both teams, concluding a week that has seen both already affected by problems with the COVID-19 and a season that was nothing short of a wild journey in the division. That said, it only makes sense for Mother Nature to also kick it before everything is said and done.