Vikings @ Packers Could be Historically Cold

Did you buy tickets for Lambeau Field to watch the Minnesota Vikings play their border rival Green Bay Packers on Sunday night? If so, be sure to pack your hand warmers because it could be one of the coldest games played in recent NFL history.

The current forecast for Green Bay, WI on Sunday night is 0 degrees Fahrenheit. According to Dustin Baker (VikingsTerritory.com), only four games in the last decade have been played in temperatures of +8 or less. If the temperature were to hit zero by kickoff, Vikings @ Packers 2021 would go down in history as one of the coldest games ever.

Don't know what the wind chill will be, but based on thermometer temperature, the MIN-GB game will be one of the coldest of the last decade.

There have been four games at 8 degrees or less since 2010:

2016 – TEN at KC
2015 – SEA at MIN
2013 – SF at GB
2013 – DAL at CHI

— Dustin Baker (@DustBaker) December 29, 2021

The Minnesota Vikings have played indoors for most of their time in the NFL. They played in the Metrodome from 1982-2013 and US Bank Stadium has been their home since 2016. But they spent the first 20 years of existence in Bloomington, MN at the outdoor “Metropolitan Stadium” and 2014-15 at TCF Bank Stadium (now Huntington Bank Stadium) on the U of M campus.

Cold Games Historically Played in Minneapolis and Green Bay

Those 22 seasons of outdoor football in Minnesota have produced three of the eight coldest games in NFL history, according to NFL.com. There isn’t a Vikings fan alive who has forgotten Blair Walsh’s missed kick that would have won them a playoff game vs Seattle in 2016.

• Dec. 3, 1972 | The Met Stadium | -2 degrees / -26 wind chill
• Dec. 10, 1972 | The Met Stadium | 0 degrees / -18 wind chill
• Jan. 10, 2016 | TCF Bank Stadium | -6 degrees / -25 wind chill

Look away, Vikings fans ????

Blair Walsh missed this chip shot vs. Seattle 3 years ago today ❌ pic.twitter.com/rjKypcJkIJ

— BetQL (@betqlapp) January 10, 2019

But Lambeau Field in Green Bay has had its fair share of cold games too. They also hold three of the top eight spots, including the coldest game on record, The Ice Bowl (NFL Championship game) between the Packers and Dallas Cowboys on December 31, 1967. It was -13 degrees that winter day, with a -48 windchill.

Luckily for everyone involved in Sunday night’s matchup between the 2021-22 Packers and Vikings, we won’t see temperatures fall that far. But, we could see historically cold numbers nonetheless. Hopefully, it plays in Minnesota’s favor because a loss would just about end their playoff hopes.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan