Dolphins-Chiefs wild-card matchup expected to be among the coldest games in NFL history

Arrowhead Stadium is going to be freezing on Saturday night.

The Kansas City Chiefs will host the Miami Dolphins in their wild-card matchup on Saturday night in what could be one of the coldest games in NFL history.

The high on Saturday in Kansas City is only expected to be 11 degrees during the day. It’s expected to be about 0 degrees by the time the game kicks off at 7 p.m. local time, and it’s expected to dip well into the negative temperatures once the sun sets. The posted low as of Tuesday night is forecasted at -5 degrees on Saturday night, and the high for Sunday is set for -1 degrees.

With winds expected anywhere from 10 to 15 miles per hour on Saturday night, it’ll likely feel much colder.

There are a number of famous sub-zero temperature games throughout NFL history. “The Ice Bowl” comes to mind first, when the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers squared off in the NFL Championship game in 1967 with a listed temperature of -13 degrees and a wind chill pushing -50 degrees, per the NFL.

More recently, the wild-card game between the Seattle Seahawks and Minnesota Vikings in 2016 had a windchill of about -25 degrees. That game was played outside at the University of Minnesota while the Vikings were building U.S. Bank Stadium.

According to the Kansas City Star, the coldest game at Arrowhead Stadium occurred in 1983, when it was just 0.5 degrees at kickoff. The Chiefs’ coldest home playoff game was just 11 degrees, so Saturday’s matchup should safely break that record.

That’s going to be quite the adjustment for the Dolphins, too. The forecasted low for the Miami area on Saturday night is 64 degrees — though to be fair, that’s pretty chilly for South Florida.

Had the Dolphins beaten the Buffalo Bills on Sunday night, they’d be hosting their first playoff game. Instead, they’ll have to deal with Winter Storm Finn. That’s quite the consolation prize.