Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson grew up in Florida and attended the University of Louisville before being drafted by the Baltimore Ravens. In Louisville and Baltimore, he’s played games in the cold, but he has never played in snow and doesn’t sound too keen on the idea.
“Zero,” said Jackson when asked this week about his experience playing in snow. “Saturday would be my first time playing football in the snow, if it does. Hopefully, it don’t.”
Bad news, Lamar. It’s gonna.
According to The Weather Channel, there is a 60 percent chance of snow Saturday night along with 14 MPH wind gusts in Orchard Park. There’s a 20 percent chance of snow Saturday during the day and a 40 percent chance of snow Sunday morning, so even if it shifts 12 hours, he’s still likely to experience his first game with a snowfall.
Jackson’s final five games of 2020 were played in temperatures in the 30s. We think his coldest career NFL game was in 2018, when it was 27 degrees and no wind in Kansas City. In that game he threw two touchdowns and lost a fumble in a 27-24 OT loss. He was 13-of-24 passing for 147 yards.
Snow tends to limit shifty players, who can’t put their foot in the ground and cut at will. It also hinders a defender’s ability to stop on a dime and make the tackle, so the offense theoretically has an advantage running the ball because they know where they are going. Experience playing in the snow and knowing how it’s going to alter what you can do, and how you need to adjust, is important—and Jackson won’t have that skill already in his pocket.