5 Coldest NFL Games in League History

With the NFL playoffs come some of the coldest games in league history. Unless, of course, you’re lucky to find yourself inside a dome or traveling south. While snow games bring excitement to fans’ television screens, it’s a completely different ball game when professional athletes are playing in frigid temperatures.

Five Coldest Games in NFL History

Let’s count down the chilliest games in the history of the league, which now includes one of the opening contests of the 2023 Wild Card round.

5. Jan. 20, 2008 | New York Giants vs. Green Bay Packers

• Temperature: -4 degrees
• Wind Chill: -24 degrees

They call historic Lambeau Field the “Frozen Tundra” for a reason. It’s cold. Really cold. That’s especially evident given that two of the top five coldest games in NFL history took place at the home of the Green Bay Packers.

We’ll get to The Ice Bowl in a minute, but first, we need to talk about the -4 degree game that took place in 2008. The New York Giants, who are prone to the cold weather themselves, ended up winning the 2007 NFC Championship Game 23-20 over Green Bay.

Eli Manning and Brett Favre combined to throw 75 passes while both teams only ran a combined 50 times. The Giants had two weeks to thaw out before beating the then-undefeated New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII, 17-14.

4. Jan. 13, 2024 | Miami Dolphins at Kansas City Chiefs

• Temperature: -4 degrees
• Wind Chill: -27 degrees

Arrowhead Stadium now has the fourth coldest NFL playoff game in history.

Not only did the temperatures dip all the way down to -4 degrees by kickoff, but winds that gusted up to 27 miles per hour gave the wind chill a chilling -27 degrees.

While this AFC Wild Card opener for both teams officially becomes the fourth coldest NFL game ever, this contest is takes the claim of most frigid game ever at the iconic Chiefs home venue.

3. Jan. 10, 2016 | Seattle Seahawks vs. Minnesota Vikings

• Temperature: -6 degrees
• Wind Chill: -25 degrees

Turn away, Minnesota fans. While your beloved Vikings made the playoffs and were on the cusp of a win in the NFC Wild Card round, Blair Walsh missed a 27-yard field goal that would’ve given them a 12-10 lead with 22 seconds remaining.

MORE: 5 Biggest Comebacks in NFL Playoff History

Can you blame the weather for the missed kick? Sure. After all, it was -6 degrees Fahrenheit, the third-coldest game in NFL history. And when you factor in that Minnesota finished the afternoon with just 183 yards of total offense, there was minimal support for Walsh, who scored all nine points for the Vikings that day.

2. Jan. 10, 1982 | ‘Freezer Bowl’ San Diego Chargers vs. Cincinnati Bengals

• Temperature: -9 degrees
• Wind Chill: -59 degrees

Imagine traveling from sunny San Diego to Cincinnati to play a football game in wind chills of -59 degrees. That’s exactly what happened when the Chargers played the Bengals in the 1981 AFC Championship Game that’s since been dubbed the “Freezer Bowl.”

The Bengals’ starting offensive linemen, headlined by Hall of Famer Anthony Munoz, played the entire contest without any sleeves on and coated their arms with Vaseline. The Bengals went on to win the contest in front of over 46,000 fans, 27-7.

1. Dec. 31, 1967 | ‘Ice Bowl’ Dallas Cowboys vs. Green Bay Packers

• Temperature: -13 degrees
• Wind Chill: -48 degrees

The coldest game in NFL history belongs to the “Ice Bowl,” a game played between the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers way back in 1967. It was a crisp -13 degrees Fahrenheit, while the wind chill made it feel like -48 degrees. The day prior, it was 20 degrees, making it a 33-degree swing.

Neither team anticipated the cold temperatures, but both fought on, as did the 50,861 reported fans in the stands. On what was a frozen playing surface, the Packers beat out the Cowboys 21-17 for their third consecutive championship.

Want to predict the results of the 2023 NFL postseason with our FREE NFL Playoff Predictor? How about looking into in-depth breakdowns of team depth charts or the NFL playoff schedule? Pro Football Network has you covered with all that and more!