If the Dolphins had beaten the Bills in Week 18, they'd be getting ready to play a wild-card game in the balmy weather of Miami, but due to their loss, they headed to Kansas City and are playing in one of the coldest games in NFL history.
The kickoff temperature on Saturday night was minus-4 degrees, which makes Chiefs-Dolphins the fourth-coldest game to ever be played in the NFL.
According to the league, there have only been five games ever where the kickoff temperature was below zero and Chiefs-Dolphins is now one of them.
| Result | Temperature (Wind Chill) | Site | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
Packers 21-17 over Dallas (Ice Bowl) | -13 degrees (-48 wind chill) | Green Bay | Dec. 31, 1967 |
-9 degrees (-59 wind chill) | Cincinnati | Jan. 10, 1982 | |
-6 degrees (-25 wind chill) | Minnesota | Jan. 10, 2016 | |
Dolphins at Chiefs | -4 degree (-23 wind chill) | Kansas City | Jan. 13, 2024 |
The Giants 23-20 win over the Packers in the 2007 NFC Championship is the only other game in NFL history where the game time temperature was below zero (It was minus-1 in that game).
This is the coldest game that the Dolphins have ever played in, which isn't great news for a Miami team that has lost 10 straight games when the kickoff temperature is 40 degrees or below (You can read more about that here).
Although the Dolphins haven't been able to win in cold weather, Chiefs coach Andy Reid won't be expecting their struggles to continue on Saturday night.
"You can't bank on that. That's where you get into trouble," Reid said, via The Associated Press. "We're not having a snowball fight."
Saturday's game is the coldest that the NFL has seen since January 2016 when the Seahawks went on the road to beat the Vikings 10-9 in wild-card playoff game where the temperature was minus-6 degrees.
When the week started, the expected temperature at kickoff was projected to be about 10 degrees, but that number dropped steadily throughout the week.
With the minus-4 kickoff temperature, the Chiefs also set their franchise record for coldest game ever played. Before this week, the Chiefs' coldest game came all the way back in 1983 on a day where the the temperature was 0.5 degrees at kickoff, according to Pro Football Reference.
To keep both teams warm, the NFL has implemented several new protocols for this game: The Dolphins and Chiefs will both have equipment and gear for such weather. There will be heated equipment including heated benches, heavy jackets, hand warmers and fluids to help avoid dehydration.
As cold as it's going to be for the players, it's going to feel even colder for the fans. Not only is the temperature expected to be in the single digits all night, but the wind chill is projected to be between -21 and -30 while the game is being played. The fans will also have extra equipment in place. Warming stations, hand warmers, hot beverages and no halftime entertainment in order to encourage games to find a warm spot during that time.
Tthe Chiefs probably won't mind that it's so cold and that's because they tend to thrive in the when the in icy weather. In their past 10 home games where the temperature was under 40 degrees, the Chiefs have gone 9-1, including 4-0 in the playoffs.
