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Brrrr. Hope the Chiefs and Dolphins can find some extra winter gear for their opening NFL playoff game. Arrowhead Stadium could be akin to an ice palace by Saturday night.
The game kicks at 7 p.m. between the third-seeded Chiefs and the sixth-seed Dolphins. Sometime during the day, the temp will peak at 11 degrees. That’s the toasty part of the afternoon. It’ll be zero (fahrenheit not celsius) at kickoff. Temperatures then are expected to go negative before the game is over. Layer in the wind, with gusts of 15 mph, and we’re talking deep freeze conditions for the players and fans. Wind chill could be as low as negative 18.
In fact, the weather is supposed to be so nasty for the Dolphins-Chiefs that it could be one of the coldest NFL games on record. The so-called Frozen Tundra of the NFL is in Green Bay. The infamous Ice Bowl was on New Year’s Eve 1967 when the Packers beat the Cowboys for the NFL championship. The temperature was a minus 13, with the wind chill at negative 50. And the Vikings, before they played indoors, also hosted some Arctic-friendly kind of games. Plus, Bills Mafia knows all about snow and cold. Buffalo’s game against the Steelers won’t be as frigid this weekend because it’ll be played in the afternoon.
The NFL researched some of the league’s chilliest contests. You can check that list here.
Chiefs faced snow Wednesday; Dolphins enjoying 70 degrees
Weather forecasts seem to indicate that the Chiefs-Dolphins will quality as one of the coldest. The Kansas City Star noted that the coldest game in Chiefs history was in 1983 when temperature at kickoff was zero degrees. It also had wind chills of a negative 30.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid shrugged off the weather distractions. It’s already cold in KC this week, with six inches of snow on the ground. And Reid plans to have his team practice outdoors, weather be damned.
“I don’t really care what goes on out here,” Reid told reporters. “We’re not having a snowball fight.”
Meanwhile, recent history suggests that the Dolphins don’t fare well in the cold. Dating back to a road date in Green Bay in 2017, the Dolphins have lost 10 straight games when the temperature was 40 degrees or chillier. And these games aren’t close. The average margin is 17 points. Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa doesn’t have much exposure to cold at all. He grew up in Hawaii and played college football at Alabama. He’s 0-4 in games he’s played where the temps were 45 or below.
Then again, Patrick Mahomes grew up in Texas and doesn’t have a problem with cold weather. Of course, he won his first Super Bowl in Miami.
Miami coach Mike McDaniel shrugged off the weather. It’s the same for both the Dolphins and Chiefs, although on Wednesday, it was an idyllic 70 in Miami Gardens.
“If we’re playing in any playoff game that isn’t at home, it probably will be cold,” McDaniel told reporters. “It will be the same for both teams. For us and for the individuals in the locker room, I know they will not use that as an excuse.”
More must-reads:
- Winners and losers from Day 2 of the 2024 NFL Draft
- Eagles move up in draft to select another DB
- The '100 catches in an NFL season' quiz
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