The Wind In Cleveland Is Destroying Field Goal Attempts

The Cleveland Browns are playing host to the Las Vegas Raiders on this fine Sunday afternoon, and the Lake Effect is, well, in full effect at FirstEnergy Stadium on the banks of Lake Erie.

At present (1:20 p.m. ET) it is a balmy 43 degrees in Cleveland with winds of, I kid you not, 38 miles per hour. That is some pretty ridiculous wind power and it is wreaking havoc on every effort to put the football in the air in Cleveland. The two quarterbacks are a combined 5-of-9 for a robust 35 yards to start the game, as pushing the ball down the field is nearly impossible, but the real example of how ridiculous the wind is comes in the kicking game.

On their first possession, the Raiders got it into what would normally be field goal range, but as the wind howled across the field from right to left, it made it pretty much impossible to accurately judge how the ball would be effected. The result: one of the funniest things you’ll see today as the football starts at the right upright and gets blown across to miss off of the outside of the left upright.

Weeeee! It looks like a snap hook, but was probably actually a well struck kick. I don’t anticipate a lot of long field goal attempts the rest of the way in Cleveland, but if they try them, we will provide further updates on the wind carnage on the lake.