Weather has small but noticeable affects on the gameplay. Bad weather helps your inside running game, but hurts your outside runs because it’s harder to cut. Heavy rain and snow slightly reduce most pass completion percentages, but help in any “hook” type routes or long passes against Man coverage.
Bad weather also increases the overall fumble percentage by about 1%-3% (worse in snow).
Luck plays a role in any game, and football’s no different. You may call the perfect play or the best possible defense and still lose out on a play. It’s not unheard of to see two punts returned for touchdowns in a single game, even though the punt returner returns only 4% for touchdowns. Over time, though, if you’re right more often than wrong, then odds are in your favor.
Special Teams are often the deciding factor in otherwise balanced games. A punter who can consistently bury the opposing team inside their own 20 helps his defense out considerably. The punt or kick returner who breaks free for a long return can fire up his team and put pressure on the opposing defense (even better, he can score, which REALLY fires his team up).
And a proficient field goal kicker is worth his weight in gold, especially in close games.
Clock Management. There are two sides to Clock Management. First, you want to dominate time of possession if possible, because it frustrates your opponent, and it’s hard for him to score when you have the ball. Secondly, it wears their defense down by the fourth quarter.
On the other hand, if it’s late in the half, and you want to try to score again – or it’s late and the game and you have to score, maybe multiple times, then you need to slow the clock down. See the Clock Management screen for more information.