49ers vs. Colts: Weather could have impact on Week 7 game

The 49ers host the Colts for Sunday Night Football in Week 7, and shoddy weather could make for an interesting game with rain in the forecast.

The San Francisco 49ers hope their Week 6 bye did some good, as head coach Kyle Shanahan and Co. seek to get away from the issues that ultimately led to a three-game losing streak before the time off.

Returning from the break, the 2-3 Niners get to host the 2-4 Indianapolis Colts for a prime-time Sunday Night Football showdown at Levi’s Stadium. It’ll also be a reunion, of sorts, with San Francisco’s first-round NFL Draft choice from 2016, now-Colts defensive tackle DeForest Buckner, who was traded off to Indy ahead of the 2020 season.

Yet there are likely to be some other external factors working their way into this game, which should make WynnBET‘s listing of the 49ers as 4.5-point favorites a bit trickier to manage.

49ers vs. Colts: Weather forecast predicts rain and wind for Week 7

A much-needed storm is heading towards northern California over the weekend. And while the populous can feel good about getting additional rain to help quell drought issues, the rainfall is expected to impact Sunday night’s game at a wide-open Levi’s Stadium.

No domes here, for those casual fans who haven’t been or seen Levi’s Stadium.

According to the latest weather forecasts, there’ll be an 80-percent chance of rain at the time of kickoff with southerly winds getting up to 16 miles per hour. Rain is also forecasted to hit for much of the day, too, potentially sogging the field and hindering pregame warmups.

The kickoff temperature is predicted to be 63 degrees.

For those in attendance, it certainly might be wise to don rain gear.

How weather might impact 49ers vs. Colts

From a general perspective, the chances of a sloppier game certainly increase with poorer weather.

This isn’t necessarily great news for a Niners team that’s already struggled with dropped passes this year, as 49ers Webzone’s Al Sacco pointed out during the bye week:

This factor alone could force Shanahan to rely more on the ground game, as San Francisco is averaging 4.2 yards per rush but will face off against a pretty stout Indy defense that’s surrendering 4.1 rush yards per attempt.

Field-goal and extra-point attempts may be more challenging, too, especially when kickers are tasked with kicking into the wind.

Although there’s going to be the contrarian boost when the wind is at each kicker’s back.

The 49ers and Colts kick off on Sunday, Oct. 24 at 8:20 p.m. ET from Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.