Weather, Favre Headline Monday Night

The Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears will bring Week 15 to its conclusion tonight, but not without a little bit of drama. To kick things off, since the Metrodome is still undergoing repairs, the game will be played outdoors at the University of Minnesota’s TCF Bank Stadium. The weather for tonight calls for sub-zero windchill temperatures and three to five inches of snow by kickoff. The Vikings and the NFL have already worked all day and night to clear 20 inches of snow out of the stadium.

Secondly, we can’t talk Vikings without mentioning everybody’s favorite 41-year old quarterback Brett Favre. Favre has been upgraded from out to questionable after waking up and experiencing some sort of sense that he might be able to play tonight. With his shoulder in considerable pain and a field that is frozen over, Favre should seriously re-consider his decision if he chooses to play tonight. While I am in the camp that believes an injured Favre gives the Vikings a better chance to win than an experienced Joe Webb at QB, in the long-term, having Favre on the field tonight is simply not worth it, not for Favre, and not for the Vikings. They might as well see what they have in Joe Webb instead of honoring a lame duck future Hall-of-Famer. In two more weeks, Brett Favre will (hopefully) be gone, and everyone can move on from this forgettable year for the Vikings.

Just to give some sort of idea of how poor the playing conditions will be tonight, here’s what Vikings punter Chris Kluwe tweeted, “Serious time — All respect to the people that cleared the field and got it ready, you did an amazing job. That being said, it’s unplayable.” And in a separate tweet, “The field is as hard as concrete an hour and a half after they took the tarp off, and anyone that hits their head is getting a concussion.”

This sounds like a tough predicament for the NFL and the players involved in tonight’s game. A league that has been hellbent on safety this season, the NFL will surely have their fingers crossed tonight. Moreover, it’s a enormous struggle for the fans, who must sit outside in frigid temperatures without being able to fall back on alcoholic beverages, which will not be served. On average, a sold-out NFL game will sell about 50,000 beers.

Advertisement