The forecasts for Sunday in Green Bay is for a temperature in the high 20s and "a bit of snow.'' But Seahawks players and coaches say nothing could be worse than what Seattle encountered January at Minnesota when the temperature was minus-6, the third-coldest game in NFL history.
The latest forecasts for Sunday in Green Bay — where the Seahawks will play the Packers in a game that begins at 3:25 p.m. local time — is for a temperature in the high 20s, dipping to the low teens, and “cloudy with a bit of snow.”
Seahawks players and coaches who were asked about that prospect on Wednesday, though, had a ready answer — nothing could be worse than what Seattle encountered last January at Minnesota when the Seahawks and Vikings played a wild card playoff game in which the temperature was minus-6 at kickoff, deemed to be the third-coldest game in NFL history.
“Anything else is an oven compared to that,” said cornerback Richard Sherman. “Can’t get any worse.”
“That’s as extreme as you can get,” added Seahawks coach Pete Carroll. “I love that that’s happened and we’ve been through that and our guys know what that’s all about. I don’t think its going to be quite like that. It’s good to have that in your background.”
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Still, snow could have an impact — Sherman was among the Seahawks to say he has never played in snow, something the Seahawks haven’t experienced in the Pete Carroll era.
With snow possibly on the horizon in the Seattle area Thursday, Pete Carroll said the good news is that the team could be well-prepared for any conditions they’ll face in Green Bay.
“We’re going to take advantage to the fact that our weather is pretty similar to theirs and get out when we can here when it makes sense for us, and we’ll get ready for a team that’s really hitting it,” Carroll said.
The Seahawks didn’t do that on Wednesday, practicing indoors, but may later in the week.
Carroll, who rarely makes a big deal out of things that can’t really be controlled, noted that each team has to deal with the weather.
“It will probably be the same on both sides,” he said. “Unless it’s snowing on one side and not the other side or something like that, it’s going to be equal. We’ve been in some pretty severe situations so we’re okay about it.”
In terms of planning, its only the offensive coaches who can really do much about weather ahead of time, taking into account that they may have to alter play calls depending on the conditions.
Seattle offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell played at Wisconsin and later served as an assistant for six years for the Packers (three years as QB coach for Brett Favre) strayed slightly from the general Seahawks theme that the weather doesn’t matter to admit that “you have to take into consideration” the conditions.
“There’s certain things and obviously when we went to Minnesota last year and how it was, there’s things that you’re taking into consideration, yes, and then you kind of have to see what happens when you get there,” he said. “… We know that the forecast is coming, but then if it’s 55 and sunny we’ll go ahead and play it normal, and if it’s 33 and snow, then we’ll be able to make some changes. You have to determine how the field is, it could still be a fine field and guys are running around no problem in the snow, or it could get real slippery and have to make adjustments. We’ll kind of go on the fly with that.”