The Coldest NFL Games in History

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Matchup: 2001 AFC Divisional Playoff: Oakland Raiders vs. New England Patriots

Date: Jan. 19, 2002

Air Temperature: 25 F 

Max Wind Speed: 3 mph

Wind Chill Factor: 25 F 

Precipitation: A ton of snow

Long before the Deflategate and Spygate controversies, the Patriots were an upstart team who benefited from one of the most debatable, game-changing calls ever. The 2001 AFC Divisional Playoff game between the Pats and the Raiders is widely referred to as the “Tuck Rule Game”—arguably the most pivotal moment in New England’s franchise history—that had shone the Brady Bunch a new light toward their first world championship banner. 

In addition, this game is dubbed the “Snow Bowl” because it occurred during a blizzard that looked like an outdoor scene in The Shining. Earlier that season, young second-stringer Tom Brady had moved into the team’s starting quarterback position after superstar Drew Bledsoe was placed on the disabled list with an injury following Week 2 of the regular season. With 2:06 left in the game, New England was down 13-10 with the ball on its own 46-yard line. Brady attempted a pass, but appeared to have stopped his passing motion as he was being sacked by Raiders cornerback Charles Woodson. Brady subsequently fumbled the ball, which was recovered by the Raiders. But did Brady really fumble or did he tuck the ball into his body? The Tuck Rule was indoctrinated in the NFL by the league in 1999 and reads as follows:

NFL Rule 3, Section 22, Article 2, Note 2. When [an offensive] player is holding the ball to pass it forward, any intentional forward movement of his arm starts a forward pass, even if the player loses possession of the ball as he is attempting to tuck it back toward his body. Also, if the player has tucked the ball into his body and then loses possession, it is a fumble.

The officials went to video review, and the play was ultimately ruled as an incomplete pass instead of a fumble, which helped the Patriots to maintain possession and get another chance on their final drive near the end of regulation. Brady led the charge down the field in that following series, getting into field goal range for Adam Vinatieri to kick a clutch 45-yarder to tie the game with 27 seconds left, and doing the same in OT to set up another game-winning field goal to nab the win. The final score was 16-13. If you’ve ever seen this replay, and are a Patriots fan, of course Brady didn’t fumble. If you were rooting for the Raiders, or never heard of the Tuck Rule before the game, he certainly did. 

Matchup: 1993 AFC Divisional Playoff: Los Angeles Raiders vs. Buffalo Bills

Date: Jan. 15, 1994

Air Temperature: Zero F

Max Wind Speed: 16 mph

Wind Chill Factor: Minus 32 F 

Precipitation: Snow, fog, and rain

Before this 1993 AFC Divisional Playoff matchup, the Raiders faced the Bills in the 1990 AFC Championship in Buffalo, N.Y. The Bills’ “No-Huddle” offensive strike dismantled the Raiders that game in the freezing cold temperatures. Bills’ Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly revealed in the ESPN 30 for 30: Four Falls of Buffalo documentary that Raiders’ Hall of Fame defensive end Howie Long mercifully begged Kelly to “slow it down,” as they pounded Los Angeles 51-3. 

Three years later in their next playoff matchup versus each other, in the 1993 AFC Championship, the weather conditions were far worse at Rich Stadium. The mercury read zero degrees at kickoff, and the wind chill factor of minus 32 degrees Fahrenheit made it the coldest game at Rich Stadium to date. The Raiders led most of the game, but the Bills, with momentum from Kelly’s 31-yard drive in the fourth quarter, plus running back Thurman Thomas’ go-ahead 8-yard touchdown, won 29-23. Buffalo would eventually go on to Super Bowl XXVIII, losing four consecutive times in four years. Talk about going cold when it counts.

Matchup: 1967 NFL Championship: Dallas Cowboys vs. Green Bay Packers

Date: Dec. 31, 1967

Air Temperature: Minus 15 F 

Max Wind Speed: 13 mph

Wind Chill Factor: Minus 48 F 

Precipitation: Snow 

This was back when the Super Bowl was simply called the NFL Championship—from the era before players were given multi-million dollar contracts and coaches wore fedora hats and long trench coats instead of team logo-embroidered gear. 

The “Ice Bowl” was a matchup between iconic coaches Vince Lombardi and Tom Landry and their respective teams, the Packers and Cowboys, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis. Packers’ linebacker and Hall of Famer Dave Robinson refused to let the frigid conditions get to him skin deep. He detailed how he defied his iconic coach Vince Lombardi’s instructions to the team about playing in the cold:

“Vince told us before the game, ‘I don’t mind the offensive and defensive lineman wearing gloves, but I don’t want the running backs, receivers, linebackers, or defensive backs to wear gloves.’ So everyone was going off moaning and groaning, and I went up to the equipment manager and said ‘Dominic, give me a pair of brown gloves. He’ll never know the difference.’”

Green Bay fullback Chuck Muncien stated that, on the first play of the game, the Packers fumbled the ball. The referee who blew his whistle to stop play had it frozen on his lip, so he ripped it off and the blood that spilled from his lip instantly froze. They didn’t have a whistle blown for the rest of the game, which made the players and coaches rely on the officials to literally yell, “Stop,” to cease play. One person in the crowd even died of hypothermia. Eventually, the crowd of 50,000 who attended the game witnessed the Bart Starr-led Packers win their third straight NFL title, beating the Cowboys 21-17.

Matchup: 1981 AFC Championship: San Diego Chargers vs. Cincinnati Bengals

Date: Jan. 10, 1982

Air Temperature: Minus 9 F 

Max Wind Speed: 27 mph

Wind Chill Factor: Minus 59 F 

Precipitation: None

The wind chill factor for this game alone is why The Freezer Bowl is the coldest game day in NFL history. The searing winds clocked in at 59 below zero, eclipsing the freeze of the first Ice Bowl in 1967. Cincinnati’s weather conditions could have caused frostbite within five minutes to anyone who dared to step outside, let alone the Bengals and Chargers, who played through four 15-minute quarters, or the estimated 46,300 people who were clinically insane enough to tailgate and hang inside Riverfront Stadium that day. 

The Chargers went from facing the Dolphins in a hot and humid “Epic in Miami” divisional game just one week prior to heading north to compete in subzero-degree weather. Chargers Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Fouts explained how brick it was: “My helmet, on and off, was a challenge because it was frozen.” He continued, “It hurt too much getting it on and off.” 

Legend has it that icicles formed on Fouts’ beard, and he admitted that he was unable to throw a spiral with the game ball. The Bengals decidedly played the game bare-armed to tough it out, and put hot water bottles in their jock straps under their athletic cups to keep their hands warm. The Bengals had the 1981 league MVP and Comeback Player of the Year in quarterback Ken Anderson, who led them to victory, 27-7. Anderson was treated for a frostbitten ear, along with hundreds of others in the stadium who also needed medical attention due to frostbite. 

Matchup: 1975 AFC Championship Game: Raiders vs. Steelers

Date: Jan. 4, 1976

Air Temperature: 18 F 

Max Wind Speed: 20 mph

Wind Chill Factor: Minus 8 F 

Precipitation: Rain and snow 

Coach John Madden and his motley crew of bullies in black and silver had a notorious reputation for being unethical in their style of play. Oakland had a team motto: Rule No. 1: Cheating is encouraged. Rule No. 2: See Rule No. 1. 

Allegedly, the Raiders had played games with black-dyed casts on their shoulder pads to blend in with their jerseys, which annihilated their opponents off the line of scrimmage. 

For the game that is now regarded as “The Ice Bowl 2,” perhaps the Raiders had a taste of their own medicine. Surely, the grounds crew had tried to chip away at all the thick ice that formed on each team’s sideline before and during the game. But legend has it that the night before the game, the Three Rivers Stadium grounds crew had poured an excessive amount of water near and on the Raiders’ sideline. This caused the team’s wide receivers to slip every time off scrimmage. Raiders owner Al Davis was livid about his team’s ice-capped sidelines, and NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle rebutted, “It’s the same for both teams.” The weather caused a helter-skelter type of game, totaling 13 turnovers between both teams. The Steelers won with a final score of 16-10. 

Matchup: 1995 AFC Divisional Playoff: Indianapolis Colts vs. Kansas City Chiefs

Date: Jan. 7, 1996

Air Temperature: Zero F 

Max Wind Speed: 9 mph

Wind Chill Factor: Minus 15 F 

Precipitation: None

Twenty years before his ferocious meltdowns on referees from the Michigan Wolverine sidelines, Jim Harbaugh and the Colts went into the 1995 AFC Divisional Playoff game versus the Chiefs with a predicted zero chance to win in zero-degree weather at a sold-out Arrowhead Stadium. Kansas City had the best regular season record at 13-3, and was heavily favored over the Colts, whose record was a mediocre 9-7. To add more odds against the Colts, two of their star players, running back Marshall Faulk and defensive lineman Tony Siragusa, were on the injured list. The wind chill at kickoff was a freezing 15 degrees below zero, and it turned out to be a low-scoring game, in which each team only scored one touchdown. The Colts kicked a field goal to go up 10-7 in the third quarter, and held the lead until the game time expired. 

Matchup: 1980 AFC Divisional Playoffs: Oakland Raiders vs. Cleveland Browns

Date: Jan. 4, 1981

Air Temperature: Minus 5 F 

Max Wind Speed: 16 mph

Wind Chill Factor: Minus 37 F

Precipitation: None

Over 78,000 fans had numb skulls as they witnessed the Raiders and Browns play at Cleveland Stadium. Wind, cold weather, and a frozen tundra for a playing field were the biggest challenge for both teams, rather than each other. This game is nicknamed “Red Right 88” (meaning “Red Slot Right, Halfback Stay, 88”), which was a pass play-call from Browns head coach Sam Rutigliano when Cleveland had their final possession to close the game. 

Trailing 14-12, the Browns had the ball on the Raiders’ 13-yard line, and had a chance to set up a game-winning field goal. Instead, Sipe opted for a pass to tight end Ozzie Newsome, and the ball was intercepted by Raiders safety Mike Davis. Game, Raiders. To this day, the Browns have remained a lovable, albeit losing, squad to their hometown faithful, and are still in search of a franchise quarterback who doesn’t make unsavory decisions.

Matchup: 2007 NFC Championship: Giants vs. Packers

Date: Jan. 20, 2008 

Air Temperature: Minus 4 F 

Max Wind Speed: 17 mph

Wind Chill Factor: Minus 24 F 

Precipitation: None

For years, Brett Favre was the king of cold weather, and he was set to hold court at Lambeau Field with his Packers (14-4) versus the Giants (13-6) for this game. Would Old Man Winter get the best of the aging veteran wearing No. 4 in negative four-degree weather? Things initially looked bright in the first half for the Packers, as Favre threw a 90-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Donald Driver—the longest play in Packers postseason history. As the game wore on, and after a series of lead changes, Giants quarterback Eli Manning was on point with 254 passing yards, playing his third game in a row without throwing a pick. Eli gunned the ball to his top target, Plaxico Burress (excuse the pun), who ended up with 11 receptions and 154 yards. 

The game was pushed to overtime at 20-20. In the sudden death period, Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes made a clutch 47-yard field goal to win the game for New York, 23-20. This was the first Conference Championship loss for Green Bay at home. Also, this game turned out to be Favre’s last stand as a Packer because he never wore a Green Bay jersey again. The team had invested their future on another guy.

Matchup: Oakland Raiders vs. Green Bay Packers

Date: Dec. 26, 1993

Air Temperature: Minus 3 F 

Max Wind Speed: 11 mph

Wind Chill Factor: Minus 20 F 

Precipitation: None

The Packers had a cold streak of not reaching playoff contention for 10 years up to this point. That’s when a young Brett Favre, a backup to starter Don Majkowski, replaced Green Bay’s “Majik Man” after he was placed on the injured list earlier that 1993 season. Favre became a miracle worker and fan favorite with his clutch plays and penchant for comeback wins for the Pack. 

Also, venerable head coach Mike Holmgren arrived within one month after Favre had stepped into the starting role. This game at Lambeau Field versus the talented Raiders, who were led by Jeff Hostetler, was crucial because it was a Wild Card berth to the playoffs. At kickoff, the thermometer read a frosty negative 1 degree temperature, and, once again in cold weather, the Raiders went completely, well, cold. The Packers played their best football and annihilated the Raiders 28-0. This is the turning point when the Cheeseheads at Lambeau Field considered “The Pack Is Back.”