Dolphins to play franchise’s coldest game in frigid Kansas City, one of the coldest games in NFL history
KANSAS CITY — The Miami Dolphins are playing their coldest game in franchise history and one of the coldest playoff games in NFL history Saturday night against the Kansas City Chiefs at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
The single-digit temperatures Saturday in Kansas City are forecasted to drop below 0 degrees by the 8 p.m. kickoff.
According to AccuWeather, kickoff temperature for the AFC wild-card round matchup will be a frigid -5 degrees. With sustained winds of 15 mph and gusts up to 29 mph, there is a projected wind chill of -29 degrees.
The game will smash the Dolphins’ record for coldest game the franchise has played in. Miami’s previous low was a 10-degree kickoff temperature on Dec. 21, 2008, also in Kansas City and a 38-31 Dolphins win. The Dolphins’ coldest playoff game was their 2016 AFC wild-card loss to the Steelers at Pittsburgh (17 degrees).
Saturday night’s game at Arrowhead is up there with the coldest postseason games in NFL history. The 1967 NFL Championship, also known as the Ice Bowl between the Cowboys and Packers at Green Bay’s Lambeau Field has the record at -13 degrees (-48 wind chill). The 1981 AFC Championship between the Bengals and San Diego Chargers in Cincinnati was -9 (-59 wind chill). A 2015 wild-card round game between the Seahawks and Vikings in Minneapolis was -6 (-25 wind chill).
While never playing in below-0 temperatures before Saturday night, the Dolphins hadn’t fared well even in less than 40-degree weather. They lost their previous 10 such games entering Saturday.
The quarterbacks had stark differences in experience and success playing in games below 45 degrees at kickoff. The Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes entered 26-12 with 274 total yards per game, 73 touchdowns and 20 interceptions. Miami’s Tua Tagovailoa: 0-4, 221 yards per game, four touchdowns and four interceptions.
There is a wind chill warning in Kansas City, noting the wind chills that could reach 40-below could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 10 minutes.
The National Weather Service released an advisory: “Dangerously cold temperatures and wind chills continue (Saturday) night.”
While there was snow earlier in the week in Kansas City and some flurries Saturday morning and afternoon, there is a forecasted 0 percent chance of precipitation at night in the area.
The NFL decided to keep Saturday night’s Dolphins-Chiefs game on as scheduled while postponing Sunday afternoon’s wild-card pairing between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Buffalo Bills in Orchard Park, New York to Monday at 4:30 p.m.
The league cited “public safety concerns in light of the ongoing weather emergency in western New York” in a press release. The decision was made in consultation with New York Governor Kathy Hochul.
The postponement, while making for safer conditions for fans to travel to Highmark Stadium, could put the winner at a disadvantage in the divisional round of the playoffs. The two other wild-card round winners will be settled Saturday, meaning two days before either the Steelers or Bills advance, and the top seed Baltimore Ravens are waiting on a bye week.
The Dolphins could have avoided traveling to freezing temperatures for the first round of the playoffs had they not blown a three-game lead in the AFC East with five weeks remaining to Buffalo.
Miami would instead be playing in roughly 70-degree weather Saturday night in Miami Gardens had the team sealed the division, clinching the No. 2 seed in the conference’s playoff picture.
This story will be updated.