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The San Diego Chargers practiced under beautiful San Diego skies, feeling the comfort of spring-like temperatures this week while preparing prepares for their first playoff game since 2009. Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis sent his men to an outdoor practice with temperatures around 29 degrees and a 15-mile-per-hour wind and the region receiving 2-6 inches of snow.
The game will played in Cincinnati this weekend with conditions similar to what Cincinnati practiced in. The Chargers aren't worried. They've played well with in "bad weather", writes Paul Dehner with the Cincinnati Enquirer.
The Chargers played two games in bad weather this year. They played on a Thursday night at Denver with a game-time temperature of 37 degrees and clear. They also played at Kansas City with temperatures dropping from 24 degrees at kickoff.
They won both for their two most impressive victories of the season.
"It’s what playoff football is: You play in it and handle the elements, and I don’t think it really is an issue," quarterback Philip Rivers said. "I don’t think we’re spending much time checking out the weather forecast. We’ll go there and play in whatever conditions there are."
If you were to ask us, having temperatures hovering between 20-30 degrees doesn't constitute as "bad". It's what most of the nation deals with this time of year. It's normal. Though, maybe not to them.
Temperatures isn't even the actual story.
Weather models haven't come to a consensus at this point, but local meteorologists are predicting anything from four to eight inches of snow this Sunday, as heavy snow is predicted to arrive between the third and fourth quarters on Sunday. The entire region is blanketed under a winter storm warning throughout the entire day.
Writes Adam Kiefaber from the Enquirer:
Don Hughes, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said Sunday’s high temperature of 36 degrees is expected to be in the area around kickoff of the San Diego Chargers and Cincinnati Bengals playoff game at Paul Brown Stadium at 1:05 p.m.
Temperatures will begin to fall and get back to below freezing around 3 and 4 p.m., Hughes said. That is when the heavy snow is expected to fall. Winds are expected to be moderate.
"We are in the AFC North. We love the snow. We love the cold weather," said Bengals defensive tackle Domata Peko. "Hopefully, it gets down to zero or really cold for these California boys."
Some, in San Diego, have even less experience in cold weather games.
"The coldest game I played was in Kansas City, so I’m not too used to the cold weather being from Florida," said Chargers tight end Ladarius Green.
Cold is one thing. Factor in the snow and it should be a nasty, sloppy game. It should be a game made perfect for Ohio football.