Hurricane Ian Shakes Up NFL Week 4 Slate

Hurricane Ian made landfall on the southwest side of the coast of Florida near Naples Wednesday afternoon. The Category 4 hurricane would steadily head east where it is projected to head out over the Atlantic, picking up momentum before turning back in the direction of the Carolinas. Fortunately for the NFL Week 4 slate, Hurricane Ian only affects a handful of games.

Category 4 Ian Has Some Bettors Hesitant

With Sunday’s slate just a couple days away, let’s take a look at Jacksonville visiting Philadelphia, Cards at Panthers, and for Sunday Night Football, Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs take on Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Bucs.

Arizona Cards visiting Carolina Panthers (-1.5, 43.5o/u) field conditions are not going to be very ideal. Bank of America stadium will see anywhere from 3-5” of rain with winds up to 20 MPH before kickoff, but continue to dissipate as the game continues.

When it comes to betting on football and the weather, there is only one factor you need to really pay attention to: the wind! The wind can literally blow away 3 points. In week 3 of the NFL, Pittsburgh Steelers kicker Chris Boswell missed a 38 yard field goal straight down the middle but was no match for the wind pushing the football wide right. With another low total, the books are expecting both teams to stay on the ground.

Jacksonville Jags visiting Philadelphia (-6.5, 45.5o/u) for the NFL Week 4 game is going to be mostly cloudy with about a 50% chance of rain with wind less than 10 MPH. Not so bad considering Hurricane Ian will have been downgraded to a tropical storm before the 1 pm kick off. It will be key to watch which direction the hurricane moves and the correlation with the lines. If wind speeds and rain pick up, expect money to come in on the under.

Kansas City Chiefs vs Tampa Bay (pick, 45.5o/u) game has been moved back to Tampa Bay following Hurricane Ian’s devastation. The books opened the lines up early in the week at -2.5 in favor of the Chiefs. However, the lines have been moving back and forth with the Chiefs loss last week to the Colts.

Movement went as far as the Buc favored -1 before moving to a pick em game. Do not be surprised if the line starts to move in the Bucs favor with the announcement that the game will be played in Tampa. The public loves to rally behind tragedy. Look for the players to try and put it all out there on the field for their community.

NFL Dodging a Bullet

It’s the last weekend of September and the NFL is already having to deal with inclimate weather. Luckily for them, Hurricane Ian landed on Florida’s west coast Wednesday morning. If it were to have arrived on Thursday or Friday, most of the NFL Week 4 slate on the East Coast would have been greatly impacted by extreme weather conditions. Remember, wind is the biggest factor when betting games that have bad conditions. The wind can make teams one dimensional, and force them to run the ball.