The Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints had entirely different approaches to how they would prepare for their international Week 7 game in Paris, France. As the Saints arrived early to get acclimated to the unfamiliar setting, Mike McCarthy's squad waited as long as possible—not making the trip until Thursday.
But with the weather shakeup, the Steelers might be wishing they had shown up sooner.
After spending the early portion of the practice week in Pittsburgh, the Steelers intended to finish the practice week in Paris on Friday after flying overnight Thursday. Unfortunately, McCarthy was forced to cancel Friday's practice at the Stade de France due to rain and wind, per PennLive's Nick Farabaugh.
This was a wrinkle the Steelers didn't need in an already unusual setting.
The weather could prove to have an impact on the Pittsburgh Steelers in Paris in Week 7
Both the Steelers and the Saints have to deal with the weather as it comes—it's not a one-or-the-other thing. But missing practice on Friday (which would have been their only practice in Paris) is not a great start.
To make matters worse, this Week 7 international contest could come with some unpredictable weather during the game.
The forecast for Sunday in Paris may include some rain and high winds. According to AccuWeather, it calls for a high of 64 degrees, with a chance of rain and wind gusts up to 35 miles per hour and sustained western winds of 15 mph.
As of now, it looks like the rain may wrap up in the morning. Though many of us will be watching this contest live in the U.S. Eastern Time Zone with a 9:30 am kickoff, it will be 2:30 pm in Paris when the Steelers-Saints game begins. However, the winds are expected to remain throughout the day, slowing down to 20 mph gusts in the evening.
Even if the weather conditions wind up being perfect on Sunday for McCarthy's team, the Steelers were already hit with a curveball due to Friday's missed practice.
And these international games include enough randomness as it is.
In Week 1, we witnessed a late travel arrival from the Los Angeles Rams in their contest against the San Francisco 49ers in Australia, only for the Rams to show up flat and lose by 20 points. Just last week, the previously 1-4 Texans put up 34 points in a win over the Jaguars in London.
This is only the Steelers' third-ever regular-season international contest and just the second since 2013 (Pittsburgh played the Vikings in Ireland last year). Meanwhile, Mike McCarthy has never been the head coach during an international game. The last time he was even on a coaching staff for an international game was as an offensive assistant for the Chiefs in 1998 in Tokyo, Japan—and that was for a preseason game.
Between the arrival and the weather causing a missed practice on Friday, the Pittsburgh Steelers' Week 7 game preparation could be all out of whack. Let's hope it doesn't affect their performance on the field against the Saints in Paris on Sunday.
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