Bucs Coach Todd Bowles Politely Answers Reporter Who Didn’t Realize Lions Play Indoors
Weather was a major storyline during the NFL’s wild-card playoff weekend. The Dolphins and Chiefs played in sub-zero temperatures on Saturday night in Kansas City, while heavy snowstorms in Buffalo postponed the Steelers-Bills matchup from Sunday to Monday.
One reporter apparently had that in mind on Tuesday when asking Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles about facing the Detroit Lions in the divisional round.
“Looking forward to Detroit, the weather has been a factor in some of the playoff games, even for the most prepared teams. Today, it’s 13 in Detroit,” the reporter said. “Any special plans to acclimate the team to not only endure but perform in those kind of frigid temperatures should you face [the Lions] in Detroit?”
Bowles paused for a couple of seconds before responding.
“You do know we play indoors, right? They got a dome,” said Bowles, taken aback by the question.
Awkward! This was like a real-life version of those Southwest Airlines “Wanna Get Away?” commercials.
The Lions have played in the domed Ford Field in downtown Detroit since 2002. Before that, their home stadium was the Pontiac Silverdome for 37 years. Pro football has been played indoors in Detroit since 1975.
Weather forecasts have the temperature for Sunday afternoon at 23 degrees. But as Bowles said, the Bucs will have to deal with that for less than a minute when they get off the team bus. Otherwise, it will be a climate-controlled 70 degrees inside Ford Field when the Bucs and Lions kick off on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET.
