They'll be throwing snowballs instead of footballs this weekend in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, but a major winter storm projected to dump as much as a foot of snow on both cities should pass in time for Sunday's two NFL conference championship games.
The storm caused the New England Patriots to fly to Pittsburgh a day ahead of schedule Friday night to avoid expected travel delays today. The Patriots will miss a scheduled walkthrough, but coach Bill Belichick said they also skipped it before last weekend's home game against the Colts.
Philadelphia could get the worst of the snowstorm, which is predicted to start early this morning in western Pennsylvania and gradually spread across the state. The National Weather Service predicts 4 to 8 inches in both cities - but State College, Pa.-based Accuweather is calling for 6 to 12 inches in Pittsburgh and as much or more with blizzard-like conditions in Philadelphia.
Once the snow clears out, a gametime temperature of 18, with a minus-7 wind chill factor, is predicted for the late afternoon Falcons-Eagles NFC Championship game in frigid Philadelphia. Forecasters are calling for 16-degree temperatures and a wind chill of 10 for the early evening Patriots-Steelers AFC Championship game in Pittsburgh.
The Falcons are downplaying the weather factor, saying it hardly makes a difference once the game begins.
"It doesn't matter to us - rain, snow, sleet," Falcons coach Jim Mora said. "You just go play. We're not a team that worries about those things. We don't have room in our brains for that type of stuff."
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