The San Francisco 49ers will host the Seattle Seahawks in the Wild Card round of the NFC playoffs on Saturday at Levi’s Stadium, and rain is in the forecast.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan was asked about his feelings about playing a do-or-die contest in wet conditions.
“I always think bad weather slows the game down and equalizes stuff, but when it’s one game, three and a half hours in the playoffs, I look at all games as equal,” Shanahan told reporters.
The coach added that rookie quarterback Brock Purdy “did a good job” of practicing in rainy conditions on Wednesday.
Confirmed: Brock Purdy is a better quarterback in the rain than Kyle Shanahan (and probably out of the rain too). #49ers pic.twitter.com/QsBlv8Jomd
— Tracy Sandler (@49ersfangirl) January 12, 2023
The entire state of California, particularly the northern half, has been hit hard by one storm after another, going back to the final week of December because of a weather phenomenon known as an atmospheric river.
According to KRON-TV, the MyNetworkTV affiliate in the Bay Area, the region received more than a foot of rain between December 26 to January 10.
West Coast teams are often stereotyped as being soft because of the temperate climate they play in, and it has always been thought they cannot deal with playing games, especially playoff games, in any type of inclement weather.
But thus far, Purdy has shown he can deal with some uncomfortable conditions.
He led the Niners to a road win in Seattle, one of the toughest places to win a road game in the NFL, in Week 15, and two weeks later, he helped them overcome a double-digit deficit on the road to defeat the Las Vegas Raiders.
The playoffs will be the true test of what the Iowa State University product is made of, but so far, there is no reason to expect it to come undone.
