Arizona Cardinals: Cold weather won’t be an issue despite schedule concerns

Cold weather’s tangible impact on the game…not as much as you think

Here’s the fun part. Cold weather may affect the individual player more than the team and the game itself. Research performed by WeatherStem.com states the following:

1. The average punt distance was 3 yards shorter
2. Pass completion percentage dropped only 2 percent
3. Field goal accuracy dipped 2 percent
4. Scoring was found to roughly be the same

Now I agree with all of those, except the Cardinals-Patriots 2008 matchup where the Cardinals lost 47-7. Another exception to this is the iconic Detroit Lions-Philadelphia Eagles snow game, where the final score was 34-20. Of course, there are exceptions to all of these, but these two stuck out the most. Let’s not forget the 59-0 Patriots shutout of the Tennesse Titans that was cold enough it snowed for a good part of the game.

In fact, when Bruce Arians took over, he had a 2-1 record in cold weather games through October of 2015. That accounted for *half* of the wins the Arizona Cardinals have had since playing in sub-50 degree games from 2001-15. Although anyone knew that those teams were definitely not the greatest way before October rolled around through most. So was it really the team being that bad or the cold making them lose the game?

With the technology of apparel, nutrition, and fueling, and other sideline equipment to help keep players warm, it’s been a long time since we’ve seen an EXTREMELY cold game affect everything. The most recent games I can say have been affected the most by cold weather? The 2007 NFC Championship between the Green Bay Packers and New York Giants, and the “Blair Walsh miss” Wild Card game in 2016 between the Seattle Seahawks and Minnesota Vikings.