Lambeau Field in December.
For football fans, those four words are enough to conjure up iconic images of football being played in the snow in one of the NFL's most storied venues. The home of the Green Bay Packers is an important place in football history first and foremost because it is home to a team that has won 13 championships, but Lambeau Field also has a certain mystic because when games are played there late in the season, weather can be a real factor.
"Going back there with the conditions and stuff, it's going to be a really fun football outing," Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said.
When the Seahawks play the packers on Sunday, the weather shouldn't be too bad—by Green Bay-in-December standards anyway—but it could be a factor. As of Friday, the forecast for Sunday called for a high of 32 degrees, though with a 3:25 p.m. kickoff, it will be colder than that for most of the game, and a 90 percent chance of snow, with three to five inches expected to fall. Not surprisingly, the Packers would welcome such weather.
"That's the way a game is supposed to be played," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said when asked about snow games. "It's supposed to be played outside, on the grass, and this is December football. We love it."
While the Seahawks might not be as prepared as the Packers for snow, they did have the benefit an unusually cold weather in the Seattle area, and they did practice outside Thursday in freezing temperatures.
"We're going to take advantage to the fact that our weather is pretty similar to theirs and get out when we can here when it makes sense for us," Carroll said.
And perhaps most notably, the Seahawks aren't stressing out too much about this weekend's weather because they know that they have recently played in much more severe conditions when they played at Minnesota in the playoffs. On that afternoon, the kickoff temperature was minus-6 making it the third coldest game in NFL history, and it felt like minus-25 with the wind-chill factor.
"You can't get any worse than we had in Minnesota," said cornerback Richard Sherman. "Everything else in an oven compared to that."
Sherman noted that his contact lenses were freezing before that game, forcing him to wear a visor over his facemask to keep out some of the cold air. For linebacker Bobby Wagner, the cold would cause watering eyes to freeze shut.
"You can't top that," Wagner said. "What was it, negative-6? It's not going to be that, so I think we'll be fine. The only thing we need to get used to is it looked like they were slipping on film (last week), so we have to make sure we have the right cleats on."
And while Carroll won't let his team stress out over possibly playing in the snow this week—after all, both teams have to play in whatever weather comes along—he does like that his team experienced such extreme conditions last year.
"That's as extreme as you can get," Carroll said. "I love that that's happened and we've been through that and our guys know what that's all about. I don't think it's going to be quite like that, but it's good to have that in your background."
Yet as cold as it was in Minnesota, it was dry, meaning traction wasn't an issue, and as Wagner noted, some players were slipping in the snow last week when the Packers hosted the Houston Texans. And if snow does come, that can have an effect on everything from traction on the field to ball security for runners to the ability to throw and kick a cold, slick ball.
"You have to take into consideration," said offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell, who knows plenty about bad-weather football having played at Wisconsin and coached both in Green Bay and Minnesota. "There are certain things that you're taking into consideration, yes, and then you kind of have to see what happens when you get there… You have to be able to adjust. We know that the forecast is coming, but then if it's 55 and sunny, we'll go ahead and play it normal, and if it's 33 and snow, then we'll be able to make some changes. You have to determine how the field is, it could still be a fine field and guys are running around no problem in the snow, or it could get real slippery and have to make adjustments. We'll kind of go on the fly with that."
Bad weather can affect the quarterbacks more than just about any other player because they handle the ball on every play and are the ones trying to throw a cold and potentially slippery ball, but Russell Wilson, who played one season at Wisconsin, is looking forward to a potential snow game.
"I can't wait," Wilson said of returning to Wisconsin. "It's going to be awesome. Obviously I get to go back to Wisconsin. We know it's going to be a tough environment. We're really looking forward to it… We want a tough environment, we look forward to those types of situations and I'm hoping it's coming down, I'm hoping it's snowing. I'm hoping it's kind of a downpour of snow. That would be great.
"Knowing the state of Wisconsin, it will probably be snowing pretty good. Nothing really changes, you just have to protect the ball in terms of running it, same thing with throwing it, too. At the same time, you still have to have that aggressive mentality and make the plays. It's always harder in my opinion for the defense actually, because we know where we're going and they don't. So in terms of our runs, in terms of our passes, you want to take advantage of that."
Take a look at the Green Bay Packers players you can expect to see when the Seattle Seahawks take the field in Week 14 at Lambeau Field.
Green Bay Packers' Aaron Rodgers looks up during the second half of an NFL football game against the Houston Texans Sunday, Dec. 4, 2016, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Mike Roemer)
Green Bay Packers wide receiver Jordy Nelson (87) sets for play during a Sept. 11, 2016 opening-week NFL football game against the Green Bay Packers in Jacksonville, Fla. (Al Messerschmidt via AP)
Green Bay Packers wide receiver Davante Adams (17) before his NFL game against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field in Chicago on Sunday, Sept. 28, 2014. (Jeff Haynes/AP Images for Panini)
Green Bay Packers' Randall Cobb warms up before an NFL football game against the Houston Texans Sunday, Dec. 4, 2016, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Mike Roemer)
Green Bay Packers wide receiver Ty Montgomery (88) warms up during an NFL game against the Chicago Bears on Sunday, Sept. 13, 2015, in Chicago, Ill. The Packers won the game, 31-23. (Greg Trott via AP)
Green Bay Packers tight end Jared Cook runs with the football as he warms up prior to a NFL preseason football game against the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday, Sept. 1, 2016, in Kansas City, Mo. The Chiefs won, 17-7. (G. Newman Lowrance via AP)
Green Bay Packers tight end Richard Rodgers (82) in action during an NFL NFC Divisional Playoff football game between the Green Bay Packers and the Arizona Cardinals , Saturday, January 16, 2016, in Glendale, AZ. The Cardinals defeated the Packers 26-20 in overtime. (Tom Hauck via AP)
Green Bay Packers offensive lineman David Bakhtiari (69) rests during an NFL game against the Detroit Lions on Sunday, Sept. 25, 2016, in Green Bay, Wi. The Packers won the game, 34-27. (Greg Trott via AP)
Green Bay Packers Jason Spriggs (78) during an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, Sept. 11, 2016, in Jacksonville, Fla.
( Tom DiPace via AP)
Green Bay Packers offensive lineman Lane Taylor (65) looks on during the NFL week 10 football game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, Nov. 10, 2013, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Eagles won the game 27-13. (AP Photo/Joe Robbins)
Green Bay Packers tackle Bryan Bulaga (75) watches from the sidelines in an NFL game against the Tennessee Titans, Sunday, Nov. 13, 2016 in Nashville, Tenn. (Margaret Bowles via AP)
Green Bay Packers center Corey Linsley looks on from the sidelines in action against the Detroit Lions during a NFL football game on Sunday, Nov. 15, 2015 in Green Bay, Wis. The Lions won, 18-16. (G. Newman Lowrance via AP)
Green Bay Packers T.J. Lang (70) during an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, Sept. 11, 2016, in Jacksonville, Fla.
( Tom DiPace via AP)
Green Bay Packers center JC Tretter looks on from the sidelines during a NFL football game against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, Sept. 18, 2016 in Minneapolis. The Vikings won the game, 17-14. (G. Newman Lowrance via AP)
Green Bay Packers Aaron Ripkowski (22) during an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, Sept. 11, 2016, in Jacksonville, Fla.
( Tom DiPace via AP)
Green Bay Packers running back (44) James Starks on the field during warmups before a game against the Oakland Raiders played at O.co Coliseum in Oakland on Sunday, Dec. 20, 2015. (AP Photo/John Cordes)
Seattle Seahawks running back Christine Michael (32) looks up from the sideline with his helmet off during a NFL Sunday Night football game against the Arizona Cardinals, Sunday, October 23, 2016 in Glendale, Ariz. The game ended in a 6-6 tie. (Paul Jasienski via AP)
Green Bay Packers defensive end Letroy Guion (98) during an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys at Lambeau Field, Sunday, Oct. 16, 2016 in Green Bay, Wis. The Cowboys defeated the Packers 30-16. (Perry Knotts via AP)
Green Bay Packers defensive end Dean Lowry runs on the field as he warms up prior to a NFL preseason football game against the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday, Sept. 1, 2016, in Kansas City, Mo. The Chiefs won, 17-7. (G. Newman Lowrance via AP)
Green Bay Packers defensive tackle Kenny Clark looks on from the sidelines during a NFL football game against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, Sept. 18, 2016 in Minneapolis. The Vikings won the game, 17-14. (G. Newman Lowrance via AP)
Green Bay Packers defensive end Mike Daniels (76) celebrates his sack of Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan (2) during the second of an NFL football game, Sunday, Oct. 30, 2016, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Green Bay Packers outside linebacker Clay Matthews (52) during the national anthem before an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys at Lambeau Field, Sunday, Oct. 16, 2016 in Green Bay, Wis. The Cowboys defeated the Packers 30-16. (Perry Knotts via AP)
Green Bay Packers linebacker Jake Ryan (47) looks on from the sidelines during a week 7 NFL football game against the Chicago Bears, Thursday, Oct 20, 2016, in Green Bay, Wis. The Packers won 26-10. (Scott Boehm via AP)
Green Bay Packers linebacker Joe Thomas (48) looks on as he stands on the playing field during a week 7 NFL football game against the Chicago Bears, Thursday, Oct 20, 2016, in Green Bay, Wis. The Packers won 26-10. (Scott Boehm via AP)
Green Bay Packers linebacker Julius Peppers (56) rests during an NFL game against the Detroit Lions on Sunday, Sept. 25, 2016, in Green Bay, Wi. The Packers won the game, 34-27. (Greg Trott via AP)
Green Bay Packers cornerback Quinten Rollins (24) lines up against the Arizona Cardinals during an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 27, 2015, in Glendale, Ariz. (Jeff Haynes/AP Images for Panini)
Green Bay Packers cornerback Damarious Randall during NFL football training camp, Thursday, July 28, 2016, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Matt Ludtke)
Green Bay Packers defensive back Micah Hyde (33) rests during an NFL game against the Detroit Lions on Sunday, Sept. 25, 2016, in Green Bay, Wi. The Packers won the game, 34-27. (Greg Trott via AP)
Green Bay Packers cornerback LaDarius Gunter (36) watches from the sideline during an NFL preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium on Friday, August 26, 2016. The Packers defeated the 49ers 21-10 (Kevin Terrell via AP)
Green Bay Packers strong safety Morgan Burnett (42) during warm ups prior to an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys at Lambeau Field, Sunday, Oct. 16, 2016 in Green Bay, Wis. The Cowboys defeated the Packers 30-16. (Perry Knotts via AP)
Green Bay Packers defensive back Ha Ha Clinton-Dix (21) rests during an NFL game against the Detroit Lions on Sunday, Sept. 25, 2016, in Green Bay, Wi. The Packers won the game, 34-27. (Greg Trott via AP)
Green Bay Packers long snapper Brett Goode (61) looks on from the sideline during the NFL week 9 football game against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, Nov. 4, 2012 in Green Bay, Wis. The Packers won the game 31-17. (AP Photo/Paul Spinelli)
Green Bay Packers' Jacob Schum walks on the field during the second half of an NFL football game against the Philadelphia Eagles, Monday, Nov. 28, 2016, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Green Bay Packers kicker Mason Crosby (2) on the sideline in the first half of an NFL preseason football game against the Cleveland Browns in Green Bay, Wis., Friday, Aug. 12, 2016. (AP Photo/Mike Roemer)
