Chiefs’ playoff game against Dolphins could be coldest in KC franchise history
The San Francisco 49ers traveled to Chicago for the NFC Championship Game in January 1989, and it was Bears Weather.
A negative-26-degree windchill greeted the Californians, and fans in the Windy City were thrilled at the prospect of the cold giving the Bears an edge.
Instead, San Francisco rolled to a 28-3 victory at Soldier Field.
“To be sure, weather doesn’t beat teams,” Fred Mitchell wrote in the Chicago Tribune. “Teams beat teams.”
That’s something to keep in mind ahead of the Chiefs’ AFC Wild Card Game against the Miami Dolphins on Saturday at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
The National Weather Service is forecasting a high temperature near 14 degrees. It’ll be colder than that at kickoff, which is at 7 p.m., and the low temperature Saturday night into Sunday morning is expected to be negative-2.
The Weather Channel forecast has a high of 13 for Saturday with winds at 10 mph to 20 mph and a low of negative-1.
Forecasts often change this far out, but it could be the coldest playoff game in Chiefs history and possibly the lowest temperature for any game in franchise history.
The coldest game at Arrowhead Stadium in Chiefs history was on Dec. 18, 1983, when they crushed the Broncos 48-17. The temperature that day, per Pro Football Reference, was 0.5 degrees.
Thirty-three years later to the day, the Chiefs lost to the Titans 19-17 when the temperature was 1 degree.
Even if Saturday’s game isn’t the coldest in franchise history, it could be the lowest temperature for a postseason game for the Chiefs. Here are the coldest playoff games in Chiefs history.
11 degrees on Jan. 7, 1996 (Colts 10, at Chiefs 7)
17 degrees on Jan. 19, 2020 (At Chiefs 35, Titans 24)
17.5 degrees on Jan. 8, 1994 (At Chiefs 27, Steelers 24, OT)
19 degrees on Jan. 20, 2019 (Patriots 37, at Chiefs 31, OT)
21.5 degrees on Jan. 23, 1994 (At Bills 30, Chiefs 13)
22 degrees on Jan. 29, 2023 (At Chiefs 23, Bengals 20)
This story was originally published January 8, 2024 at 11:26 AM.
