KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Records were made to be broken. But unfortunately for the Chiefs, avenging their Super Bowl loss to the Eagles could include another opponent: Record temperatures.
Two seasons ago in the 2023 AFC wild-card playoffs, the Chiefs hosted the Dolphins in the fourth-coldest NFL game on record. But on Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium (3:25 p.m. CT, FOX/WDAF Channel 4, 96.5 The Fan), temperatures will take a swing toward the other end of the spectrum.
According to the National Weather Service, the highest-recorded temperature in Kansas City for Sept. 14 was 100 degrees, in 1939. And according to Stathead.com, the highest kickoff temperature ever for a game at Arrowhead Stadium – the venerable facility that opened in 1972 — was 89 degrees on Sept. 15, 2024.
Sunday’s forecast calls for a high of 93 degrees, right about the time the Chiefs are scheduled to kick off with the Eagles in front of 100 percent of the country on FOX.
Last season in that record-breaking Week 2 game against the Bengals, late-game drama matched the unseasonably hot temperatures. Harrison Butker nailed on a walk-off, 51-yard field goal to secure Kansas City’s 26-25 win over Cincinnati.
Despite the win, the heat clearly affected the Chiefs. Their offense managed to covert just 1 of 8 third-down snaps, and penalties plagued the team at inopportune times.
Coldest game, Arrowhead history
Ironically, just seven months earlier at Arrowhead Stadium. the Chiefs beat the Dolphins, 26-7, in the fourth-coldest NFL kickoff, Jan. 13, 2024. The minus-4 temperature at kickoff was nothing compared to the minus-18 wind chill, however.
The Chiefs parlayed that win over Miami into a pair of improbable road victories – at Buffalo in the divisional round and at Baltimore in the AFC championship – on their way to a second straight Super Bowl triumph, in overtime over the 49ers.
Sunday could also establish the Chiefs’ franchise record for hottest kickoff temperature overall, including road games. Entering the weekend, the hottest game the team has ever played was 91 degrees. Patrick Mahomes led Kansas City to a season-opening, 40-26 win at Jacksonville, Sept. 8, 2019.
In 2016, when Mahomes was in his final season at Texas Tech, the Chiefs lost a game at Houston under a closed retractable roof. Kickoff temperature outside NRG Stadium was also 91 degrees.
On Sept. 12, 2021, the Chiefs beat Cleveland, 33-29, in a rematch of the prior season’s wild-card playoff. Temperature that day at kickoff was 88 degrees.
