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After watching the San Francisco 49ers play the Green Bay Packers this past weekend in what can only be called the “Freezer-Burn Bowl,” I wondered about game-time temperatures the Denver Broncos have endured since the team’s first National Football League playoff game in 1977. The downright frostiest home game-time temperature was 13 degrees—a mark that was hit in 2013 and in 1978. The warmest home playoff game? Forty-seven degrees, in 1990, against the Cleveland Browns. Balmy.
I used Pro-Football-Reference.com to find the game-time temperatures for all of Denver’s playoff matchups. Wind-chill, when it is recorded, is the second number. In the case of the Broncos’ 2011 playoff matchup against the New England Patriots, PFR didn’t have a temperature, but I found it here. If a game was played indoors, then it’s noted and doesn’t have a temperature.
I can’t predict the game-time temperature for Denver’s Sunday home game against the San Diego Chargers, but The Weather Channel expects the day’s high to be 45 degrees, while the low is expected to be 20 degrees.
Here’s the all-time temperature list, by season:
2012/2013:
- Jan. 12, 2013 (home, Baltimore Ravens): 13 degrees/8 degrees
2011/2012:
- Jan. 8, 2012 (home, Pittsburgh Steelers): 40 degrees
- Jan. 14, 2012 (away, New England Patriots): 24 degrees/12 degrees
2005/2006:
- Jan. 14, 2006 (home, New England Patriots): 45 degrees
- Jan. 22, 2006 (home, Pittsburgh Steelers): 27 degrees/17 degrees
2004/2005:
- Jan. 9, 2005 (away, Indianapolis Colts): Indoors
2003/2004:
- Jan. 4, 2004 (away, Indianapolis Colts): Indoors
2000/2001:
- Dec. 31, 2000 (away, Baltimore Ravens): 28 degrees/14 degrees
1998/1999:
- Jan. 9, 1999 (home, Miami Dolphins): 29 degrees/18 degrees
- Jan. 17, 1999 (home, Kansas City Chiefs): 30 degrees/20 degrees
- Jan. 31, 1999 (Super Bowl, Miami, Atlanta Falcons): 74 degrees
1997/1998:
- Dec. 27, 1997 (home, Jacksonville Jaguars): 27 degrees/13 degrees
- Jan. 4, 1998 (away, Kansas City Chiefs): 30 degrees/20 degrees
- Jan. 11, 1998 (away, Pittsburgh Steelers): 33 degrees/26 degrees
- Jan. 25, 1998 (Super Bowl, San Diego, Green Bay Packers): 59 degrees
1996/1997:
- Jan. 4, 1997 (home, Jacksonville Jaguars): 36 degrees/ 27 degrees
1993/1994:
- Jan. 8, 1994 (away, Los Angeles Raiders): 54 degrees
1991/1992:
- Jan. 4, 1992 (home, Houston Oilers): 30 degrees/23 degrees
- Jan. 12, 1992 (away, Buffalo Bills): 33 degrees/25 degrees
1989/1990:
- Jan. 7, 1990 (home, Pittsburgh Steelers): 37 degrees
- Jan. 14, 1990 (home, Cleveland Browns): 47 degrees
- Jan. 28, 1990 (Super Bowl, San Francisco 49ers): Indoors
1987/1988:
- Jan. 10, 1988 (home, Houston Oilers): 28 degrees/19 degrees
- Jan. 17, 1988 (home, Cleveland Browns): 29 degrees/21 degrees
- Jan. 31, 1988 (Super Bowl, San Diego, Washington Redskins): 56 degrees
1986/1987:
- Jan. 4, 1987 (home, New England Patriots): 43 degrees
- Jan. 11, 1987 (away, Cleveland Browns): 30 degrees/21 degrees
- Jan. 25, 1987 (Super Bowl, Pasadena, Calif., New York Giants): 58 degrees
1984/1985:
- Dec. 30, 1984 (home, Pittsburgh Steelers): 33 degrees/28 degrees
1983/1984:
- Dec. 24, 1983 (away, Seattle Seahawks): Indoors
1979/1980:
- Dec. 23, 1979 (away, Houston Oilers): Indoors
1978/1979:
- Dec. 30, 1978 (away, Pittsburgh Steelers): 38 degrees/24 degrees
1977/1978:
- Dec. 24, 1977 (home, Pittsburgh Steelers): 44 degrees
- Jan. 1, 1978 (home, Oakland Raiders): 13 degrees/4 degrees
- Jan. 15, 1978 (Super Bowl, Dallas Cowboys): Indoors
—Image courtesy of Shutterstock