The similarities between last season’s Super Bowl and this season’s regular season opener go beyond the opponents. Just like they did back in February, the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks will also square off in perfect football weather this time around.
According to NFL Weather, the kickoff temperature at Seattle’s Lumen Field on Wednesday night be 76°F with wind not expected to be a factor. A cloud cover of 99% is in the forecast but the precipitation chance is still a mere 5%.
The National
Weather Service mentioned a “light and variable wind” as well as increasing clouds in its own forecast. The one shared by the Patriots via WBZ on Tuesday, meanwhile, also did not differ from any of the others.
For the Patriots, Wednesday’s game presents a continuation of the preseason conditions; their three exhibition games were all played in similar weather and kickoff temperatures in the 70s. There is one big difference, though: the starters around quarterback Drake Maye played not a single snap in the preseason. Wednesday will therefore be that particular group’s first in-game action since that Super Bowl.
The hope is that its fortunes will be different this time around from that 13-point outing resulting in a 29-13 defeat. What will effectively be the same, meanwhile, is the aforementioned weather. The stage is therefore set for a fitting opener to this year’s regular season.
Kickoff between the reigning AFC and NFC champions is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 9 at 8:20 p.m. ET.
