As the Cleveland Browns take the field against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on Sunday afternoon, it’s a bitter day in the Windy City. At kickoff, the temperatures hovered around nine degrees.
That’s single digits right there with a wind chill factor between minus-20 and minus-30 below zero. On a cold day like this one, players will do their best to stay by heaters along the sidelines, and fans will do their best to stay warm in the stands.
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While it’s bitterly cold in Chicago, it ranks a little higher than some of the coldest games in NFL history.
Longtime NFL fans will know about the famed “Ice Bowl,” where Bart Starr and the Green Bay Packers took on the Dallas Cowboys in 1967. The game was for the NFL championship that season. At kickoff, it was minus-13 below zero at Lambeau Field.
It currently feels like -6 degrees at Soldier Field (ties the fourth coldest game there in history) 🥶 pic.twitter.com/qIXLT0cWGn
— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) December 14, 2025
That’s where the famed term “The Frozen Tundra” came from, as spoken by late NFL narrator John Facenda. On the field, it felt like minus 48 degrees below zero. Talk about cold! It sure was on that day.
In a 1982 AFC Championship game at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati, the Bengals hosted the then-San Diego Chargers. It was minus 9 degrees on the field, with a wind chill factor of minus 32.
In 2016, the Seattle Seahawks, accustomed to the weather in the Pacific Northwest, traveled all the way to Minneapolis, Minnesota, to take on the Vikings. It was minus 6 degrees on the field and minus 25 degrees, considering the wind chill factor.
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Just a couple of seasons ago, though, the Miami Dolphins had some weather shock when they hit the field against the Kansas City Chiefs at a bitterly cold Arrowhead Stadium. At kickoff, it was minus-4 degrees and had a wind-chill factor of minus-27 degrees.
Now, in the NFL regular season, there have only been two games in the long history of the league. One of them took place in 1972, when the Bears faced the Vikings at the fabled Metropolitan Stadium in Minneapolis. There was no roof over this stadium, as it was one of those old-school stadiums that doubled as the home of the Vikings and MLB’s Minnesota Twins.
It was minus-2 degrees in that game, and the wind-chill factor made it feel like minus-26. Those are not ideal conditions for any NFL game, much like the ones mentioned here.
Then, in 2008, Packers quarterback Brett Favre played his final game for the franchise as the Packers hosted the New York Giants. In that game, it was minus-1 degrees with a wind chill of minus-23.
So, while it’s definitely a cold day in Chicago, it ranks just outside the coldest games in NFL history.
