The Detroit Lions are set to take on the Buffalo Bills at their brand-new Highmark Stadium on Thursday night, in what's certain to be an electric environment. It's the Bills' first home game this season, and their first home game at their new stomping grounds.
One feature of the Bills' new stadium is that it still does not have a cover. The team has expressed a want to maintain an advantage over visiting teams who aren't used to playing in the often cold, often snowy conditions that Buffalo has to offer. But what about rain?
In Buffalo today, rain will be hitting the area a few hours before kickoff - around 5pm EST. There's a near-50 percent change that it'll continue into 6pm EST, but it'll likely taper off as we get closer to the time of the game's start. That means the new turf might be slippery to start, and that offers the Lions a slight ground game advantage over the Bills.
Lions, Bills' ground games could struggle in Buffalo weather
With the rain, and the turf, things could be a little slippery for both Jahmyr Gibbs and James Cook in this game.
Since it won't be raining during the game, that could open the door for both teams to rely more on their passing game, although that makes me nervous in regard to Jameson Williams' ability to hold onto catches. If the game balls are wet from snaps and getting carried by Gibbs, that could make the prospect of Williams handling deep passes a little scary.
READ MORE: Jahmyr Gibbs and Aidan Hutchinson lose out on Player of the Week honors
Still, it's likely Detroit will be running much of their offense through Gibbs, and rain could help him to both evade tackles and gain an advantage on less-speedy defenders that aren't able to get their footing against him in the open field. Buffalo doesn't have as great of a need to rely on Cook for their offense, and with the rain, they might steer more clear of that option to begin the game.
Of course, the chances of generating fumbles could go up if player uniforms or game balls are slick. That's great for the Lions' defense line and Aidan Hutchinson, who is proficient at punch-outs since last season, but not such great news for Gibbs and the Lions' run-heavy offense.
Pros and cons exist for the Lions thanks to this potentially messy weather, but one thing's for sure - it's not the clear weather advantage that the Bills tend to have up north.
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