Updated Weather forecast for Rams vs Eagles confirms Eagles have the upper hand

The LA Rams are a West Coast team that seldom faces inclement weather. Despite NFL Playoffs lingering long into February, the Rams continue to play and practice in sunny Southern California. There the temperatures seldom dip below 60 degrees Fahrenheit for a daytime high. So you can all but eliminate playing in the white stuff that falls from the sky this time of year. However, the same cannot be said of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

One of the benefits of earning one of the top seeds in an NFL Playoff berth is retaining homefield advantages over lower-seeded teams. The Philadelphia Eagles are the second-seeded team in the 2025 NFL playoffs. The Los Angeles Rams are the fourth-seeded team. So, the Eagles will host the Rams. And that introduces several non-football advantages in the Eagles' favor.

Despite a 3:00 pm ET kickoff time, for the visiting Rams, the kickoff is 12:00 pm PT. So the Rams will effectively be starting far earlier in their normal daily cycle than the Eagles. But it also introduces wintry weather into the game conditions for Sunday. And as we have already reported, those cold and snowy conditions strongly favor the Eagles' style of play.

Light snow is falling intermittently at the Eagles practices this week. That snow and cold allows Eagles players to anticipate game-like conditions long before the first snap of the football. But for the LA Rams, there is no equivalent at practice this week. The players returned to Los Angeles, and immediately set about preparing to face the Eagles.

But practicing in 60 degree weather simply does not prepare a team to play in 30 degrees and snowy conditions:

So how bad can it get during the game? That's a huge question that is starting to yield a consensus. Snow is more and more likely, with a range of from one to four inches on the football field by the final whistle. Per NFL weather.com, the forecasted conditions have eroded from a chance of snow and temperatures in the upper 30s to now temperatures in the low 30s and snow likely throughout the game. Steady winds are forecasted out of the NorthWest at 9 miles per hour, but gusting to 15 miles per hour.

Local forecasts project steady snow throughout the game, with snow accumulating steadily as the game wears on.

Of course, the same weather conditions apply to both teams. But snowy football is a different style of sport, just as driving in snowy conditions is a different style of commute. It's more difficult to accelerate, decelerate, pivot, and turn. The football feels harder, the ball does not have good aerodynamics. and kickers notice that neither punts nor place kicking is as effective.

Because ball carries know where they want to go with the football, rushing offenses have a distinct advantage in the snow. Receivers can be effective, but the type of passing game that excels in snow is more of a ball control passing offense. Quarterbacks switch from throwing the deep ball to throwing the short passes and seeing what happens on slippery field conditions.

The Rams have a potent running attack as well, led by featured running back Kyren Williams. Williams rushed 18 times for 72 yards and one touchdown. While effective, it paled in comparison to Eagles RB Saquon Barkley's 26 rushes for 255 yards and two touchdowns. You have to expect the Rams' defense to be better prepared to face Barkley for the second time. But can they match up with Barkley while snowy conditions create a slick football field?

History is not on the Rams side in this one. While the Rams are not a conventional dome team, they do have many of the characteristics of a domed team entering Lincoln Stadium. And visiting teams that are unfamiliar with playing in the elements have not done well in the past:

Stay tuned. And as always, thanks for reading.

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