Seahawks keeping eye on upcoming storm

As this is written Wednesday morning, it could hardly be a more perfect fall Seattle day.

But that is apparently about to change as a storm bringing “heavy rain and strong winds” is set to hit the area beginning Wednesday night and last through the weekend.

A football game may not be at the top of the concerns when it comes to weather.

But if the storm is as heavy and lasts as long as forecasts indicate it could, then Sunday’s contest against the 4-1 Atlanta Falcons – set for a 1:25 p.m. kickoff – could definitely be impacted. However, forecasts call for the storm to weaken by Sunday afternoon – Weather.com is calling for showers and winds of 16 miles per hour in Seattle on Sunday.

Seattle has been famously hard to beat at home the last few years in any conditions – the Seahawks are 29-5 at CenturyLink Field since 2012.

In its last 34 home games, Seattle has outscored its opponents by 432 points – second in the NFL only to New England’s 454 – and also has a plus-31 turnover margin (also second to New England’s plus-39).

Inclement weather might seem to only further help Seattle due to Atlanta’s pass-heavy offense. Tthe Falcons lead the NFL in passing at 333 yards per game.

But then Seattle is also throwing it more than it has in years, averaging 265 per game, the most in the Russell Wilson era.

Atlanta will also be better prepared for such weather than most Seahawks’ opponents since the Falcons are spending the week in Seattle and practicing outdoors at Husky Stadium.