The NFC Championship Game takes place at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, with the San Francisco 49ers hosting the Detroit Lions for the 6:30 p.m. ET kickoff.
California doesn’t throw too much weather at teams, but we did see rain impact this past weekend’s Divisional Round matchup in the Bay Area. What does the forecast have in store for Championship Sunday? And how will it affect the Conference Championship odds?
I break down the game-time conditions and how those could impact the NFL odds for the NFC Championship in my Lions vs. 49ers weather report to help you make your NFL picks.
If you're looking for more NFL playoff coverage, be sure to check out our Super Bowl odds page. We also have a Chiefs vs. Ravens weather report ahead of the AFC Championship Game.
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Lions at 49ers Weather
After rain, snow, wind, and cold impacted the early rounds of the postseason, Sunday’s NFC title game could see pretty much perfect conditions at kickoff.
Partly cloudy skies are on the menu with a 5% chance of rain Sunday evening. Winds will be very light, with sustained breezes of 2 mph and gusts not that much stronger. Game-time temperatures will drop a tad as the action plays on, sitting around 65 degrees at kickoff and cooling to the high 50s come the fourth quarter.
That’s it. It’s safe to say — barring any freak weather events — the elements should not influence the outcome of the NFC Championship Game.
While no wind or rain will muck up the works, it should be noted that this contest will be the Detroit Lions’ first outdoor game since December 10 — a span of almost 50 days — and just their second outdoor venture since losing at Baltimore on October 22.
Save from those stops in Baltimore and Chicago, Detroit has either played at home under the dome at Ford Field or on the road at indoor track in Dallas/Minnesota/New Orleans/Los Angeles.
The Lions went 3-2 SU and ATS on the road in outdoor games, averaging just 19.2 points per outing — a significant downtick from their home scoring clip of 29.9 ppg and an average of 30.75 points on the road in indoor venues. Detroit finished 2-3 O/U outdoors this season.
Fingers point to quarterback Jared Goff, who watches his passing prowess peter out when playing in the elements. Goff completed just 63.59% of his pass attempts for only 6.47 yards per pass, while his QB rating suffered to 82.0 (70.2%, 8.09 ypa, and 108.9 QBR inside).
It should also be noted Levi’s Stadium is a natural Bermuda grass surface, not artificial turf. Indoors or out, synthetic surfaces play cleaner and faster than natural grass. This trip to the Bay Area puts the Lions’ speedy offense on that “slower” surface against a very stout defensive opponent in the San Francisco 49ers.
Detroit is currently a 7-point road underdog with this total sitting as high as 51 points as of Monday afternoon.
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