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The full schedule for the 2022 NFL season has been revealed and there’s plenty of things to unpack. Particularly, which teams could be having a rough time dealing with the weather down the stretch.
As fall gives way to winter late in the season, northern venues like Highmark Stadium in Buffalo, Soldier Field in Chicago, and Lambeau Field in Green Bay, WI, become treacherous for both the visitors and even home teams as temperatures drop. While the images of two teams trudging their way through the snow may be aesthetically pleasing to viewers at home, it’s not a pleasant experience for the teams that are actually involved.
Here are a few teams that may have a rough time from Thanksgiving onward.
Buffalo Bills
It’s almost cheating to include the Bills considering that they already play in one of the oldest venues in the league. But consider what they have to deal with in the final six weeks of the season.
They’ll host the Patriots on December 1 for Thursday Night Football in Week 13 and follow that up with back-to-back home games against the Jets and Dolphins. They’ll then hit the road to frigid Soldier Field for a Christmas Eve showdown against the Chicago before heading to Cincinnati to face the Bengals the following week. Buffalo will finally close the regular season out against New England in what will surely be miserable conditions at Highmark Stadium by then.
Los Angeles Rams
The reigning Super Bowl champions will have a challenging schedule and a couple of uncomfortable trips out of perpetually sunny Southern California late in the season to deal with.
In Week 12, the Rams will head to Kansas City to face the Chiefs on November 27. Arrowhead Stadium is underrated for how cold it can get after Thanksgiving and that will be an extra factor for the champs to deal with on top of Patrick Mahomes. Three weeks later, they’ll head up to Lambeau to face the Packers the week before Thanksgiving and will close the regular season at Seattle, another place where the weather can get wonky in early January.
Philadelphia Eagles
Similar to the aforementioned Bills, the Eagles will have a few uncomfortable trips to look forward to late on top of their own venue in Philly.
In the dead center of December, they’ll hit the road to New York to face the Giants before heading out to Chicago to face the Bears. After a trip down to Jerry World to face Dallas, they’ll return home for a pair of home matchups against the Saints and Giants to close the season.