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Forecasting rain for regular referees’ return to Eastern divisions

Rain on the East Coast could alter the course of three matchups NFLWeather.com

Print This September 29, 2012, 11:44 PM EST

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49ers @ Jets: Rebounding in the Rain

Week four is set to kick off, and there are a number of matchups to keep an eye on as rain is expected to hit the East Coast throughout weekend. The San Francisco 49ers are traveling to MetLife stadium to take on the New York Jets. Both teams are looking to improve to three wins on the season. The last time these two teams met in a regular season game was back in 2008, when the Niners were able to put away the Jets 24-14 at Candlestick. Sunday’s game will likely see showers in East Rutherford, mainly overcast with a high near 72.

Both teams are expected to play a physical style of ballgame in this weather, with the defenses taking center stage. The 49ers are bitter coming off an upset loss to the Vikings last week. San Francisco tried to air it out against Minnesota after falling behind early and could not recover. Expect the 49ers to return to smash mouth football and run the ball, rain or shine. Even with star cornerback Darrelle Revis out for the season, Harbaugh will feed his running backs to open up the field for Alex Smith. A key matchup to watch for is going to be the Jets front seven against the 49ers running game. If Gang Green can stop the run and force Alex Smith to make unwanted throws in the rain, they can limit San Francisco’s offensive production. The Jets offense also struggled last week going up against a tough Dolphins squad in the humid Miami heat. The return of Jets tight end Dustin Keller will be key. The 49ers defense has given up a touchdown to opposing tight end’s every week this season so keep an eye on Keller’s offensive performance.

With rain in the forecast, expect the Jets offense to play a variety of personnel to try to get things going on offense. However, 49ers defensive coordinator Vic Fangio will look to counter that by putting more pressure on quarterback mark Sanchez. Expect this to be a close game in the rain. But if the weather does clear up, the 49ers will run away with this one.

09/30/2012 01:00 PM

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Redskins at Buccaneers: Opportunity - Rain or Shine

Another game to be impacted by these weather storms on the East Coast will be the
Washington Redskins at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This game will be held at Raymond
James Stadium, a field known for having one of the best natural grass surfaces in the league.
NFLWeather.com forecasts a slight chance of thunderstorms, but mostly sunny skies, and highs
in the upper eighties. If rain does enter the forecast, humidity will still exhaust the defenses.

The Redskins offense has been phenomenal this year, led by impressive rookie quarterback
Robert Griffin III. Washington just signed running back Ryan Grant to accompany an already
crowded backfield. Even though the Redskins face the number one rated rush defense this
week, don’t expect them to abandon the run. Offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan will look to
utilize all of his weapons on the ground if thunderstorms occur. Of course, his weapons on the
ground include RGIII.

The Bucs pass defense has been another story. Ranked last in the NFL, opposing quarterbacks
have been averaging over 350 yards passing against Tampa. (These numbers are a little
skewed due to a bad fourth quarter against the Giants.) If receiver Pierre Garcon returns to
action Sunday, expect RG3 to have a great day through the air to go along with his usual yards
on the ground.

On the other side of the ball, the Bucs offense has been struggling to remain consistent this
season. This week, they face an ideal matchup to finally break out. The Redskins defense has
failed to keep opposing offenses under thirty points in each of the first three weeks and they
have lost both Brian Orakpo and Adam Carriker for the year with injuries. Rain or shine, expect
the Buccaneers to pound the ball with Doug Martin and try to wear down the Redskins defense
in this humidity. Expect this game to be a high scoring affair, even in a humid downpour.