On Wall Street, a "triple witching hour" occurs on the last hour of the trading days of the third Friday of March, June, September, and December, when contracts for stock options, stock index futures, and stock index options all expire concomitantly. These expirations can create increased trading volume and volatility as traders may close or roll over their positions, potentially causing unusual price swings, particularly in the final 60 minutes of the trading day — hence the term.
In the NFL, a "triple witching hour" occurs when a team that plays their home games in a domed stadium has to play outdoors, on natural grass, and at a northern, outdoor venue in November or later, all in the same game — and this happened when the Lions lost 16-9 to the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
The temperature at kickoff time was 45 degrees, with a wind chill of 38 due to a 15 mph wind — and that proved to be more than enough to throw Detroit quarterback Jared Goff off his game, as Goff went 14 out of 37 (37.8%) for 255 yards, with 1 touchdown and 1 interception, for a passer rating of 60.1.
Then again, "triple witching hour" games have always thrown the Lions off their game, as last night's loss dropped them to 16-38-1 straight up and 22-31-2 against the spread therein dating all the way back to 1994 (Detroit is now also 19-50-1 outright and 29-39-2 point-wise since that same year).
Meanwhile, Nick Sirianni remained undefeated lifetime versus the NFC North, at 11-0, and will host the Bears in a rare "Black Friday" game on November 28.
Also in Week 12, the Vikings travel to the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field to take on the Packers. Since vacating Metropolitan Stadium and moving their home venue indoors in 1982, Minnesota is 18-44-1 straight up and 23-36-4 against the spread in "triple witching hour" games, The Colts also go on the road at Kansas City in Week 12 — and since 2012, Indianapolis is 10-18 both ways as a visitor in cold weather (the Colts coughed up 6 turnovers in a "triple witching hour" loss at Pittsburgh two weeks ago).
And once the 18-game schedule arrives, there will be even more "cold-weather" games — because under no circumstances will the NFL move the start of their regular-season schedule back up to the Labor Day weekend (not since 2000 has the NFL opened its season on that weekend).
But from here on, there will be more NFL games played in cold weather — and that will definitely satisfy the "purists."
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