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 JennaLaineESPN

@JennaLaineESPN

Weather update: Very aggressive lightning bolt and a collective "OMG" in the press box just now. It looked close and it sounded close too. When those lightning strikes happen, it resets the [30-minute wait] clock.

5:14 PM · Sep 20, 2026

The NFL rule is that when lightning hits within an 8-10 mile radius of the venue the game is halted. There is an automatic 30-minute wait period after the last lightning strike. The game was delayed at 3:59 pm. Since Jenna Laine reported a dangerous, close lightning strike at 5:14, the earliest the game could have restarted was 5:44 pm. 

The longest NFL weather-delay is 2 hours 2 minutes in Miami on September 9, 2018.

*Update This game is now officially the longest weather delay in Niffle history.