The Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins are getting set to battle in brutal weather conditions at Arrowhead Stadium in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs on Saturday night, which has some wondering if the NFL will make a schedule change.
Temperatures could hover around zero degrees Fahrenheit, and wind chills are expected to make the things feel like minus-30 degrees.
But in spite of the National Weather Service projecting it to be “dangerously cold,” the league has no plans to move the Chiefs-Dolphins game, according to Andy Slater of Fox Sports 640.
Moving a game to an alternate location is not without precedent. It has happened before, and the NFL is already considering moving the Wild Card matchup between the Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers with heavy snow and icy cold in the forecast for Buffalo on Sunday afternoon.
You can understand why the NFL would not want to alter its schedule. After all, teams work all season long to secure home-field advantage in the playoffs, so the league surely wants to honor what clubs like Kansas City did throughout the regular season.
On the other hand, the NFL also factors the safety of its fans in attendance, not to mention the safety of the players on the field. That’s why there are some who feel that Arrowhead Stadium may not exactly be the best place for a football game this weekend.
Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa talked about preparing to play in cold weather earlier this week, saying “the whole thing is a mindset” and that “we’ll see what we have to do as far as adjusting or not.”
Of course, for Tagovailoa and Co., this will certainly be strange territory, as the Dolphins have become accustomed to playing in the sweltering heat of South Florida.
Assuming that the NFL doesn’t make any changes to this game (and it appears they won’t), it will certainly be interesting to see how both teams adjust to the horrendously cold weather on Saturday night.
Want the latest NFL analysis, breaking news, and insider information? Click here. Interested in reading storylines and analysis about the NBA? Check out our partner NBA Analysis Network.
