FOX Weather Kickoff: Week 14 FOX NFL picks based on weather forecasts
SportsWeather was 2-0 in picks last Sunday.
(FOX Weather)
The theme of our Week 14 NFL matchups are division rivalry games. Three of the four games feature teams playing against a division rival.
We have the Atlanta Falcons taking on the Carolina Panthers, the Dallas Cowboys traveling to Landover, Maryland to face the Washington Football Team, and the Baltimore Ravens facing off against the Cleveland Browns for the second time in three weeks.
The only non-division rivalry game is the Detroit Lions, who won their first game of the season last week, playing against the Denver Broncos.
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On Fridays throughout the season, we pick FOX NFL games based on how teams have historically performed in certain weather conditions using data from SportsWeather.
SportsWeather.com season record: 30-14-1
SportsWeather has its own metrics system that compiles historical game-time weather data and meshes it against both NFL teams and player historical performance.
SportsWeather doesn’t compile data for games that are played in domes and all data is from the last 14 seasons.
MORE: SportsWeather: Predicting NFL games based on historical weather performances
GAME 1: Atlanta Falcons (5-7) at Carolina Panthers (5-7) - 1 p.m. Eastern on FOX
It will be close to 60 degrees in North Carolina on Sunday, and we're in mid-December. It's forecast to be 55 degrees (Records - Atlanta: 35-32; Carolina: 49-48-1) at game time, with winds blowing at 7 mph (Records - Atlanta: 37-42; Carolina: 74-64-1) and a 0% chance of precipitation (Records - Atlanta: 48-54; Carolina: 87-81-1).
PICK: Neither team has the weather edge, but SportsWeather predicts an Atlanta win.
GAME 2: Dallas Cowboys (8-4) at Washington Football Team (6-6) - 1 p.m. Eastern on FOX
Coming into this game on a four-game winning streak, Washington has put themselves back into the division race. It's forecast to be 45 degrees (Records - Washington: 14-32; Dallas: 10-13) in Landover, MD at the beginning of the game. Winds are expected to be blowing at 7 mph (Records - Washington: 44-75-1; Dallas: 47-41) with a 0% chance of precipitation (Records - Washington: 70-93-1; Dallas: 62-50).
PICK: SportsWeather.com gives the edge to the Cowboys and predicts them to beat Washington.
GAME 3: Baltimore Ravens (8-4) at Cleveland Browns (6-6) - 1 p.m. Eastern
It's going to be cold and windy in Cleveland Sunday afternoon. It's forecast to be 36 degrees (Records - Ravens: 30-7; Browns: 16-29) at the start of the game with 14 mph winds (Records - Ravens: 35-21; Browns: 23-54-1). However, there's a 0% chance of precipitation (Records - Ravens: 117-73; Browns: 54-115).
PICK: SportsWeather.com gives a major weather edge to the Ravens and predicts them to beat the Browns.
GAME 4: Detroit Lions (1-10-1) at Denver Broncos (6-6) - 4:05 p.m. Eastern on FOX
Weather won't have much of an impact in the Mile High. It's forecast to be 56 degrees (Records - Detroit: 17-30; Denver: 63-41), 5 mph winds (Records - Detroit: 19-36; Denver: 72-74), and a 0% chance of precipitation (Records - Detroit: 30-54-1; Denver: 101-83).
PICK: SportsWeather.com gives a slight weather edge to Detroit, but it won't be enough for them to win as Denver is still the projected winner.
Make sure to check out SportsWeather.com just prior to the game for any late-breaking conditions that could impact the outcome as weather (wind forecasted weather) oftentimes rapidly change.