Seahawks have weathered the inclement conditions
Jan 27, 2014, 2:46 PM | Updated: Jan 28, 2014, 9:23 am
By Brady Henderson
JERSEY CITY, N.J. – The Seahawks kicked off their week of practices Monday with a session at the Giants’ indoor training facility in East Rutherford.
“We did not go outside today,” coach Pete Carroll said afterward.
The Seahawks are no strangers to bad weather as their playoff win over the Saints on a cold, windy and rainy night proves. (AP) |
Perhaps it’s because they didn’t feel they had to. For all the talk about what each team is going to do to prepare for whatever Mother Nature might throw at them come Super Bowl Sunday, the Seahawks aren’t exactly complete strangers to less-than-ideal conditions.
“We play in an area that has somewhat inclement weather occasionally, so it’s not something that we’re bothered by,” Carroll said. “The normal issues arise, the ball being a little bit harder to handle and the wind blowing and things like that do change the factors somewhat, but for us it’s no big deal.”
It certainly wasn’t back in September when a lightning storm forced a delay in a Sunday night game against San Francisco at CenturyLink Field, which Seattle won easily. Nor was it an issue earlier this month when the Seahawks beat the visiting Saints in a rainy and windy divisional-round game. The temperature was 36 degrees when Seattle shut out the Giants in December at MetLife Stadium, the site of this year’s Super Bowl.
It was two degrees warmer on Monday than it was then, but the forecast calls for the temperature to drop to 19 degrees Tuesday before climbing back to 38 by Friday. That’s the same temperature expected — for now, at least — come Sunday, with the forecast calling for a 20 percent chance of rain and winds at 8 mph.
Not quite the blizzard some feared. But even if it does turn out that way, don’t expect it to catch the Seahawks off guard.
“I would definitely say it’s not a bad thing,” receiver Golden Tate said of the potentially inclement weather. “We’ve had a chance to practice in it, play in it, so I think we’re going to be ready. I think it’s big that we’re familiar with New York and Giants Stadium, so I don’t think it’s going to be too much of a problem.”