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GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Sunday’s NFC championship game at Green Bay isn’t likely to be the coldest ever in the NFL, although temperatures are expected to be near zero at kickoff.
The coldest game in NFL history was the 1981 AFC championship game, played Jan. 10, 1982, at Cincinnati’s Riverfront Stadium. The temperature was minus-9, and the wind chill plunged the readings to minus-59 as the Bengals beat San Diego 27-7.
Next was the Ice Bowl on Dec. 31, 1967 for the NFL title at Lambeau Field. The Packers beat Dallas 21-17 on Bart Starr’s quarterback sneak in the final seconds. It was minus-13 that day and the wind-chill factor was estimated at minus-48.
Projections for Sunday are temperatures reaching a high of 3 degrees, and with kickoff set for 5:30 p.m., the thermometer almost certainly will register below zero during what amounts to a night game. But the wind is not expected to be significant.
In Sunday’s early game between San Diego and New England at Foxborough, Mass, a 24-degree temperature is forecast for the 3 p.m. EST kickoff, with a wind-chill of 13. Hardly frigid compared to Green Bay.
The coldest game ever at Gillette Stadium was on Jan. 10, 2004, when the Patriots beat the Tennessee Titans in 4 degree temperatures.
A lot of talk has been around comparing todays Packers-Giants game to the coldest NFL game on record. It won’t break the records, but by the end of the game, temperatures will drop below zero, and I’m not sure how many athletes can’t be effected by the cold. Even with intense movement, the body temperatures will have a tough time keeping at a good level without extra layers.
As for the coldest game every, it was at Lambeau field on Dec. 31, 1967 with a game time temperature of -13. This will not be even close. There was an interesting report on Cincinnati claiming their game as the coldest, not because of the temperature (it was -9, 4 degrees lower), but because of the wind chill. This is a lot of nonsense as using the wind chill is not a good comparison. Those of you who watch me and know me know that I have often talked about the flaws of the wind chill. It’s not a true feels like temperature. If I put you in a room that is -20 and then push you outside with a wind chill of -20, you would not feel the same. In fact, if you are not properly dressed you will be banging on the door begging to come back inside to the warm room. The wind chill really is a measure of energy lost via the wind and is based on exposed flesh. Wear layers and cover the arms and face, you take away the wind chill.
Now back to the wind chill for those past games. In 1967 there was a wind chill listed as -48 degrees and it was said to “feel like” -48. Well, we changed the equations of the wind chill in the year 2001 and now what was told to feel like -48 would be claimed in today’s standards to feel like -36. I’m not sure how our feelings changed, do you? The -36 is still impressive, and you won’t find me wanting to stand outside for a long period of time without proper gear. However, given the new equations, it would be hard to break the old records with the wind chills. But the true measure of temperature will always stand the test of time.