The Coldest Game In NFL History Was Played In Cincinnati, Ohio

Michigan is facing a nasty cold front that is making up for lost time after being very mild pre-Christmas. Conditions outside make it difficult to do everyday things, let alone play, but that's what the Cincinnati Bengals did in 1982 with conditions that were MUCH worse than 0-degree weather in Ohio.

In what is known as the Freezer Bowl, it's the coldest recorded game of all time, factoring in wind chill, coming in at -59 degrees F:

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Frosty temperatures are typical for National Football League playoff games but never have football fans and players shivered as much as they did on January 10, 1982, when the Cincinnati Bengals hosted the San Diego Chargers in the AFC Championship Game. With a kickoff temperature of nine degrees below zero and a minus 59-degree wind chill, what would be dubbed the “Freezer Bowl” was the coldest game in NFL history.

The cold seemed to help the Bangels get the victory, having the San Diego Chargers out of their warm, sunny element and able to defeat them 27-7. It would seem that not only did the cold help them, but the wind that was moving at around 27 miles per hour was another factor, which made for another very rare happening at a football game as it is remembered:

The game was one of the few in NFL history in which the same team kicked off to begin both halves. Cincinnati won the toss and instead of receiving, elected to have the brutally cold wind at their backs to start the game, believing it would neutralize San Diego's passing game and help the Bengals to build an early lead.

The second-coldest game in NFL history was the infamous 1967 NFL Championship Game, known by many as the Ice Bowl which pitted the Dallas Cowboys against Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers.