SI

Cardinals Forced to Close State Farm Stadium Roof After Unexpected Hail Storm Hits

Ryan Phillips

A hail storm hit during the first half of the Cardinals-Bears game.
A hail storm hit during the first half of the Cardinals-Bears game. / Via CBS
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Chalk this one up to things you don't see every day.

On Sunday, as the Arizona Cardinals hosted the Chicago Bears at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, it began to rain. Then it started to hail. State Farm Stadium has a retractable dome that that was left open because the Cardinals didn't think any adverse weather was in the forecast.

Whoops.

It took 10 minutes for the roof to fully close, which meant the teams had to play in a hail storm.

Video is below.

That's a pretty bad look for whoever is in charge of making that decision.

The hail began to come down just after the Bears had recovered a fumble and taken possession of the ball. So the weather actually helped the Cardinals as Chicago could only muster 11 yards on six plays before kicking a field goal to cut into Arizona's lead at 7โ€“6.

The Cardinals answered with a touchdown on the ensuing drive to take a 14โ€“6 lead as the roof slowly closed above them.

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Ryan Phillips
RYAN PHILLIPS

Ryan Phillips is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in digital media since 2009, spending eight years at The Big Lead before joining SI in 2024. Phillips also co-hosts The Assembly Call Podcast about Indiana Hoosiers basketball and previously worked at Bleacher Report. He is a proud San Diego native and a graduate of Indiana Universityโ€™s journalism program.

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