The Steelers’ Week 7 trip to Paris already carried plenty of unfamiliar baggage. Now the weather has added another layer of uncertainty.
Pittsburgh spent the early part of the practice week at home before planning to finish preparations in France on Friday, after flying overnight Thursday. That plan got knocked off track when Friday’s session at the Stade de France was canceled because of rain and wind, according to PennLive’s Nick Farabaugh.
For a team that was already handling an unusual schedule, losing that practice is no small thing.
The Saints, by contrast, got to Paris early to settle in before kickoff. The Steelers took the opposite route and waited as long as possible to travel. Whether that strategy pays off or not, Friday’s weather disruption made the setup even more unpredictable.
Sunday might not offer much relief, either. AccuWeather’s forecast for Paris calls for a high of 64 degrees, with rain possible and wind gusts reaching 35 miles per hour, along with sustained west winds at 15 mph. The rain is expected to end in the morning, but the wind figures to stick around through the day, even if it settles to 20 mph gusts by evening.
The game is set for 9:30 a.m. Eastern time, which is 2:30 p.m. in Paris, so conditions could still be a factor when the Steelers and Saints take the field.
International games tend to bring a little chaos with them anyway. In Week 1, the Rams arrived late for their matchup with the 49ers in Australia and ended up losing by 20 points. Last week, the Texans, who had been 1-4, scored 34 points in a win over the Jaguars in London.
For Pittsburgh, this is only its third regular-season international game and just the second since 2013. The Steelers played the Vikings in Ireland last year.
And for Mike McCarthy, this is a first as a head coach in an international setting. His last experience on a coaching staff for one came in 1998, when he was an offensive assistant for the Chiefs in Tokyo in a preseason game.
Now the Steelers have to deal with a missed practice, a weather shift, and the usual weirdness that comes with crossing the Atlantic for a game. That’s a lot to juggle before Sunday’s matchup with the Saints in Paris.
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