Jan. 24, 2024 Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
Temperatures could drop to single digits for the divisional round game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Chicago Bears, with a low of 2 degrees Fahrenheit predicted at Soldier Field. The Bears are accustomed to frigid conditions, of course, but “2 degrees” is barely in the vocabulary of Los Angeles residents. It remains to be seen just how much the Rams will be affected by the cold.
Still, if 2 degrees is where we end up, Rams-Bears still won’t be among the top five coldest NFL playoff games. Here are the chilliest games teams have played in the postseason.
Known as the “Ice Bowl,” the 1967 NFL championship reigns supreme as the coldest postseason game. The Green Bay Packers defeated the Dallas Cowboys 21-17 to win their 11th NFL championship, three years before the AFL/NFL merger.
Down 17-14, Bart Starr led the Packers down the field for the winning touchdown with 16 seconds remaining. At the time of the score, temperatures had dwindled to minus 18.
The then-San Diego Chargers and Cincinnati Bengals squared off in arguably the coldest game, based on wind chill factor, in NFL history: “The Freezer Bowl.” It was a drastic change for the Chargers, who were coming off a week where they defeated the Dolphins in 80-degree weather.
With a spot in Super Bowl XVI on the line, the Bengals dominated en route to a 27-7 victory. The Chargers struggled in the cold with four fumbles and were shut out in the second half.
Neither team found comfort in the cold with 19 combined points and 409 combined yards. The Seattle Seahawks wound up on top 10-9 in the NFC wild-card game after Blair Walsh missed a 27-yard field goal to win.
January football in Green Bay promises cold weather, and it wasn’t any different in 2008. The New York Giants and Packers faced off in an NFC Championship Game that would have been the coldest ever in any other stadium except Lambeau Field.
“His cheeks were so red I thought he was going to get frostbite forever,” then-Giants offensive tackle David Diehl told Sports Illustrated in 2017.
Buffalo came out on top 29-23 in a game where both teams had at least 300 total yards. The Bills would play in — and lose — their fourth straight Super Bowl two weeks later.
Things could get a bit chilly in Chicago this Sunday.