At this time of the NFL season, the weather can impact games significantly, especially cities in the North and Midwest. With the Week 10 Thursday Night Football game between the Carolina Panthers and Chicago Bears being played at Soldier Field in Chicago, could we see weather effect the game?
Let’s examine the Week 10 Thursday Night Football NFL weather forecast and the impact it may have on the fantasy football options playing tonight, including the likes of DJ Moore, Adam Thielen, and Cole Kmet.
Chicago Weather Report for Carolina Panthers vs. Chicago Bears
- Temperature: High 40s
- Precipitation: <10% chance at kickoff
- Wind: 10-15 mph southwest
The weather forecast is from the National Weather Service and is correct as of 5:00 a.m. ET on Thursday, Nov. 9.
The current weather forecast for tonight’s NFL game does not look too bad. The wind is projected to be around 10-15 mph at kickoff — at that speed, the effects will likely be minimal. When wind speeds are over 10 mph, games trend toward being lower scoring, but closer to 10 mph, the impact diminishes.
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The forecast earlier in the week was a little less clear. It appeared as though we may see wind speeds as high as 20 mph with gusts up to 34-35 mph. However, that weather is set to hit Chicago earlier in the day and the worst of the winds should be cleared by kickoff. The current forecast sees the gusts decreasing all afternoon before becoming virtually non-existent leading up to kickoff.
The intriguing thing about the current weather forecast for tonight’s NFL game is that some of the gusts may still be around as late as 6-7 p.m. Central Time. Therefore, we could see pictures of high winds during pregame and warmups, which may spook fantasy managers.
However, the forecast as it stands has the game being relatively unimpacted by those gusts. That will be the key thing to remember if we do see adverse conditions during pregame reports or the Amazon Prime kickoff show.
Fantasy Football Impact of Chicago Weather on DJ Moore, Adam Thielen, Cole Kmet, and Others
With any weather forecast, we always have to be prepared that things can change or be slightly inaccurate. That can go both ways, so we could see those 20-plus mph gusts completely clear earlier than the 7 p.m. forecast, or we could see them hang around a little longer. The positive is that it seems unlikely we will see those gusts sitting at the 30-35 mph speeds Chicago could see at lunchtime.
In terms of the fantasy impact on the pass catchers, the effect will likely be relatively minimal. If the high winds are around for the first quarter, we may see teams play things safe by keeping the ball on the ground and in the hands of their RBs. However, that is not unusual for the first quarter of an NFL game to be played a little more cautiously.
For the likes of Moore, Thielen, Kmet, and the others, we should see the wind speeds decreasing throughout the game, which will line up with the offenses tending to be more aggressive. In the final three quarters of the game, or at the very least the second half, the current forecast has the wind essentially being a non-factor.