Lightning Halts Another NFL Game As Jaguars, Panthers Enter Weather Delay
Storms halt play in Jacksonville midway through the second quarter.
UPDATE: The game resumed at 3:10 p.m. after a one-hour delay.
Usually it’s MLB or the PGA Tour dealing with weather delays, but for the second time in Week 1, an NFL game was halted due to lightning. The Panthers and Jaguars had to leave the field after a thunderstorm rolled into Jacksonville on Sunday afternoon.
Midway through the second quarter, just after Jacksonville’s first touchdown gave them a 10-3 lead, officials stopped play due to the storm.
Some fans complained the delay came too early, since the storm hadn’t yet reached the stadium.
As of 3:00 p.m. ET, there was no timetable to return to play. The radar showed that storms could last up to two hours. Every time lightning strikes in the area, the NFL must wait another 30 minutes before returning to play.
Lightning in Jacksonville forced a weather delay in the Jaguars’ Week 1 game against the Panthers, the NFL’s second lightning stoppage of the opening weekend.
(Nathan Ray Seebeck/Imagn Images)
It’s a tough break for the players, who can only sit in the locker room and wait it out. We saw a similar situation during the first game of the season between the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys. That game was also halted due to lightning in Philadelphia, leading to an hour-long delay.
While the teams had piled up the points and yards prior to the stoppage, neither offense showed much flow after the lengthy delay.
It remains to be seen how the Jaguars and Panthers players will respond to the layoff, particularly if it extends for several hours.
Weather delays are never ideal for players, coaches, or fans, but safety always takes priority when lightning is nearby. For the Jaguars and Panthers, the delay disrupts early momentum and forces both teams to reset once play resumes. How each side adapts after the layoff could ultimately determine the outcome of this Week 1 matchup.