Bill Belichick confirms Patriots are playing the Chargers, not the weather
If the 11-5 New England Patriots have one definite advantage over the 12-4 Chargers in the eyes of most, it’s with the Foxborough weather. That’s expected to hold true on Sunday, too, with an expected kickoff real-feel of 20 degrees.
But speaking with the media earlier this week, Patriots Bill Belichick refused to play into such an angle.
“We’re playing the Chargers,” Belichick said. “We’re not playing the weather. Whatever it is, it is.”
That may be true, but the numbers do seem to favor the Patriots in more ways than one. Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers has been hit-or-miss in cold weather throughout his career, and the Patriots have been downright unbeatable in cold weather games at Gillette, with wins in 13 straight games with a kickoff temperature under 32 degrees.
The Patriots also practiced in this weather, too, while the Chargers went through their workouts in sunny California.
“It’s cold and that’s just part of this time of year,” Brady offered at his weekly press conference. “But it’s good to be playing when it’s cold out. It’s good to be playing this time of year in Foxborough.
“The weather changed a little bit [Thursday]. It snowed at the start and then got sunny and then got cloudy, then got windy, then got sunny and it’s just a bunch of different things. Just to practice in it, we’re prepared for it and hopefully we can use some of the things we’ve learned to our advantage.”
Again, though, to Belichick, there’s no advantage that comes with the seemingly Patriots-friendly weather.
“We’re going to be on the same field,” Belichick noted.
