Cleveland Browns: Weather leads the storylines in Week 16 vs. Saints

The Cleveland Browns and New Orleans Saints face off on Saturday, and they will also be battling the elements — which could be the biggest factor

On Saturday, the Cleveland Browns will host the New Orleans Saints along the shores of Lake Erie. There will be many storylines to follow that afternoon but none more pressing than the fact that the weather conditions will be downright awful.

Let’s discuss that forecast and a couple of other storylines, that will have a bearing on who will come out as the winner.

Browns storyline No. 3: How will the weather affect the game?

The biggest storyline of this week‘s game between the Browns and the Saints is the weather — which will be frightful on Christmas Eve. Temperatures are expected to be around 10° and wind chills will be anywhere between 20 and 30 below zero.

Perfect conditions down along the lake.

Over the history of Cleveland football, there have been many games that have been at the mercy of mother nature. This game will be remembered for its cold and blustery conditions like many before it. How many of you remember the 1981 “Red Right” game against the Oakland Raiders or more recently the “Snowbowl” game against the Buffalo Bills?

A few weeks ago, Cleveland had their game moved from Buffalo when they played the Bills because there was a pending five feet of snow coming storm. There won’t be that much snow, but the wind and frigid conditions will probably force both teams to run the ball a lot.

For the Browns. they have one of the best running back groups in the NFL with Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt. Chubb was hampered some this week, recovering from an injury to his foot from last week’s game against the Baltimore Ravens, but he should be ready to go on Saturday.

Cleveland has used poor weather conditions down along the lakeshore over the years to their advantage and this will be another game to do that to the Saints who are used to playing their games in dome stadiums.