Postseason football is finally coming back to Foxboro on Sunday night, and there are a lot of reasons to believe the Patriots can come out the victors, despite going against an experienced team in the Chargers.
Besides playing at Gillette Stadium and having home-field advantage, and with the fans hopefully helping, there is also the factor of the weather that can work in their favor. The Chargers play in an open-air stadium, so it's not technically a dome, but it does have a canopy roof that mainly shields them from the elements.
Even better, they play in Los Angeles, and that is not an area that gets New England cold or any extreme weather like sleet or snow. That won't be something they're spared on Sunday, as the weather report for Foxborough already looks like it will benefit the home team.
If Bill Belichick were still in town, he would definitely be asked to his weather machine to make it as cold as possible.
The Patriots need to hope it gets really cold on Sunday night
Instead, it's expected to reach a high of 42°F during the day, which is significantly warmer than the usual January temperature at this time of year. By game time, however, it'll drop to what is already estimated to be 34°F, which is not the kind of weather the Chargers are used to.
It needs to be something the Patriots try to exploit, because it could become a game-changing factor they cannot allow to affect their performance. It can negatively impact the Chargers, since they play in an open-air stadium with a canopy and enjoy ideal weather conditions every Sunday. Playing in freezing temperatures is never easy, but it's even more difficult for teams from warmer climates like Los Angeles.
Staying warm on the bench and during any lull period will be crucial. The Chargers will try to do the same, but it might not be enough. Surely, they'll have heaters by the bench, and they'll have to hope it will help, even with Justin Herbert dealing with a hand injury, which will only make throwing a cold, hard football even trickier.
There is one fortunate part for the visiting team: high winds are not expected, which is good. However, the temperature will certainly be something to pay attention to, and the colder the better for the Patriots.
NOTE: If anything changes about the forecast, this article will be updated.