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UPDATE: The game-time temperature is 31 degrees. That means it’s time for last minute stats around player performance in cold weather.
Game-time temperature is 31 degrees, #Raiders are 1-5 in Derek Carr's starts (win vs Jets in 2020) when it's below 40 degrees and his 75.9 rating in those starts ranks 30th of 34 QBs w/ 5+ starts since 2014 per @sportradar. Only Tannehill, Goff, RG3 and Kizer are lower
— Josh Dubow (@JoshDubowAP) January 15, 2022
The No. 5 seed Las Vegas Raiders will go on the road to open up Wild card weekend playing the No. 4 seed Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET. The game will be at Paul Brown Stadium and televised on NBC.
Weather needs to be extreme to truly impact games, but when deciding between two players who you like equally, it might be a helpful tie breaker. What we really don’t want to see is 20 mph or higher wind speeds. Rain can cause problems, but unless it is a combination of high winds and rain, we usually don’t want to downgrade our fantasy football players too much.
Helpful weather resources include National Weather Service and Dark Sky, among others. Weather reports change throughout the week, so be sure to check back on game day.
Weather projections in this piece are current as of January 11 at 11:30 a.m. ET.
Projected weather for Raiders vs. Bengals matchup on Saturday
Forecast
A chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 32 degrees. Chance of precipitation is 50%.
Fantasy/betting implications
With snow projected in the forecast, it could turn this wildcard playoff game into a winter wonderland, depending on when it starts and the accumulation. If the snow becomes a factor, then we could see both teams lean on their running game. The weather could also bring down the total or force bettors to give it a hard look before placing their bets.