KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Despite a forecast of extremely cold temperatures, Saturday night’s AFC wild-card game between the Dolphins and Chiefs will not be postponed, an NFL source told ESPN.
The National Weather Service is projecting wind chill temperatures to drop to minus-30 degrees Fahrenheit during the game, but with no travel advisory in place, the NFL source said the game will carry on as scheduled.
“There are no public safety travel concerns for getting to the stadium for fans, the clubs, stadium personnel or public authorities,” the source said.
That’s not to say there won’t be measures in place to keep players and fans safe during the below-freezing temperatures.
Team medical staffs will brief the players, coaches and other personnel in advance of the game regarding safe practices for the cold temperatures. Each team will have equipment and gear to provide additional protection from the cold temperatures, the source said, including heated benches, other heating equipment, heavy jackets and parkas, gloves, hand warmers, and fluids to avoid dehydration. The playing field at Arrowhead Stadium will be properly covered, heated and prepared ahead of the game.
For the fans, the Chiefs are taking additional measures, including warming stations, hand warmers and hot beverages. They are also refraining from halftime entertainment in an effort to encourage fans to leave their seats and seek warmth.
Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said this week that there was no true way to prepare for conditions like the ones his team will face Saturday night; the air conditioning at their indoor facility drops to only about 50 degrees, so he said he wouldn’t bother running it during practice.
NFL chief medical officer Allen Sills and other league medical consultants have been in touch with both teams’ medical staffs, as well as medical personnel at the NFL Players Association.
He did, however, admit that it’s a special experience being able to play in a game like this.
“No one likes being cold. That’s why we have temperature control,” McDaniel said. “However, it does make the moment bigger when you know that it is an absolute fact that it’s going to be frigid. Well, what if as a team, you find a way for it to not affect you? To be able to go and do athletic performance in that weather, it takes will.
“That will comes from a passion that is deep down that has been derived while a lot of these guys started playing the game that you’re unlocking.”
The Dolphins and Chiefs are set to kick off at 8 p.m. ET. The game is streaming on Peacock for fans outside of the Miami and Kansas City coverage areas.
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