The much anticipated and much awaited NFC West showdown between the San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks had resumed after a minor postponement of one hour due to the continuous lightning strikes in the area. The weather at that point of time was not suitable for play.
The delay in the game between the two teams was announced by referee, John Perry. He announced the delay at 9.05 p.m EDT on Sunday night with 3L13 remaining in the first quarter of the game. The game was poised interestingly with both the teams fiercely competing against each other. Players returned to the field at 9.55 p.m. EDT. The game started 10 minutes after that.
Lightning flashes and thunder are pretty common in the area. There was always a chance that the game could be delayed because of such external factors. They were observed around the stadium during the Seahawk’s offensive possession, just before the delay occurred. The lightning was the major reason for the delay, with many incessant ones striking the area. Fans let a sigh of relief when it let up around 9.45 p.m. EDT.
This was the second NFL game which was delayed by the weather on Sunday. The game between Tampa Bay and New Orleans went through a 69 minute delay in the first quarter because of similar reasons. That game resumed after an hour too. Such weather was forecasted by the Meteorological department a day before the match.
In fact, this was the second such delay in the history of Century Link Field. On the 14th of December, 2006, a night game on Thursday between the Seahawks and 49ers had its start postponed by a few minutes after parts of the field began to bubble due to a rainstorm. The rainstorm was not a severe one, but was enough to disrupt the game for some time.