2015 NFL Playoffs: High Wind Advisory Awaits Seahawks And Packers In NFC Championship Game


The 2015 NFL playoffs may see the birth of the “Wind Bowl” as the Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers prepare to kick off in the NFC Championship Game in what could be dangerously high wind gusts.

The teams are set to meet at CenturyLink Field in Seattle on Sunday, but the teams may have an even bigger force to deal with. The forecast calls for gusts of wind greater than 40 miles per hour, which could ground the passing and kicking games to a halt.

Here is the complete forecast for the NFC Championship Game, via the National Weather Service.

Showers. High near 51. Breezy, with a southwest wind 17 to 24 mph, with gusts as high as 43 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

As Danny Kelly of the SB Nation blog Field Gulls notes, the conditions could favor the Seattle Seahawks, who boast a better rushing game with running back Marshawn Lynch and quarterback Russell Wilson both capable of chewing yards on the ground.

“A little over one year ago this week, the Seahawks faced off against the New Orleans Saints in divisional round action, and winds were howling off of Elliott Bay in excess of 20 miles per hour. Rain was part of the equation as well. Seattle relied heavily on their run game in that one, rushing the ball 35 times for 174 yards and two touchdowns on their way to a 23-15 win to move to the NFC Championship Game. Russell Wilson completed just nine passes.”

The extreme conditions could make the 2015 NFC Championship game one to remember and place it among other historic games overshadowed by weather, including another one that involved the Packers. The 1967 NFL Championship game between Green Bay and Dallas was so cold that it was dubbed “The Ice Bowl.”

The game was played with a wind chill of around ?36 °F (?38 °C). A malfunction in the Lambeau Field heating system left moisture on the field that froze into an icy surface, and it was so cold that the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse marching band had to cancel their halftime performance after several musicians had their brass instruments freeze to their lips during practice.

Despite the possibility of historically difficult conditions and extremely high winds, the Packers and Seahawks say they are completely focused on the game at hand. Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said the game is exactly as it should be — the top two teams this season facing off with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line.

“It’s just the way it should be. It should be just like that right now,” Carroll said.

The Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers kick off in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday at 3:05 p.m. from a very windy CenturyLink Field in Seattle.

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