Do frigid temperatures at Lambeau really benefit the Packers?
(AP Photo/Mike Roemer)
The Frozen Tundra. With a temperature of -5 expected at kickoff of Sunday's game between the San Francisco 49ers and Green Bay Packers, Lambeau Field will certainly live up to its infamous moniker.
But will the brutal cold actually benefit the Packers on the field? It's apparently enough to steer even some of the diehard Cheesehead fans away from the stadium this week. But the conventional wisdom in Lambeau has always seemed to be that the colder the weather, the bigger advantage for the home team, especially against an opponent from a warmer climate.
However if you look at Green Bay's last five home playoff games in 20 degree or below weather, they've gone 3-2. When the Packers won their most recent Super Bowl three years ago, they did it as the NFC's sixth seed - winning four straight road games.
The Pack have played five playoff "Ice Bowls" in the past 21 years. Here's how they fared. (Thanks to Pro Football Reference for the data).
January 20, 2008
New York Giants 23, Green Bay Packers 20 (OT)
NFC Championship
Weather: -7 degrees (-27 windchill)
January 4, 2004
Green Bay Packers 33, Seattle Seahawks 27 (OT)
NFC Wild Card Round
Weather: 20 degrees (6 windchill)
(AP Photo/Darren Hauck)
January 4, 2003
Atlanta Falcons 27, Green Bay Packers 7
NFC Wild Card Round
Weather: 20 degrees (16 windchill)
January 12, 1997
Green Bay Packers 30, Carolina Panthers 13
NFC Championship
Weather: 3 degrees (-16 windchill)
January 8, 1983
Green Bay Packers 41, St. Louis Cardinals 16
NFC Wild Card Game
Weather: 20 degrees (10 windchill)
Now on to the five people who could have an even bigger impact than the weather (especially in Indianapolis) on this weekend's playoff games.
Carlos Rogers, CB, San Francisco 49ers
The starting cornerback injured his hamstring against the Cardinals in Week 17 and hasn't practiced all week. The team likely won't announce his availability until Sunday, but the loss of a key member of the secondary against a Packers receiving corps that now has all of its principle threats back would be a big disadvantage for the Niners.
Alex Smith, QB, Kansas City Chiefs
The former top overall pick had been benched in favor of Colin Kaepernick by the time the 49ers reached the playoffs last season, but in his two postseason starts the year before, Smith threw five touchdowns and no interceptions and compiled a 101.0 QB rating. The Chiefs will need that type of presence against the Colts rather than the guy who faced Indianapolis two weeks ago. Smith was somewhat ineffective in the Colts' 23-7 win, throwing a pick and losing a fumble while throwing for 153 yards and no touchdowns.
Marvin Lewis, Head coach, Cincinnati Bengals
He won't be wearing a uniform but the pressure on the Bengals coach to win Sunday's game versus the Chargers is massive. The team hasn't won a playoff game in 23 years. In his 11 seasons in Cincinnati, Lewis is 0-4 in the postseason. The Bengals will be hosting a 9-7 team that needed assistance from the officials to beat Kansas City's backups in order to clinch last week. No matter his regular season track record, if Lewis can't break that streak on Sunday, there has to be a strong consideration in the team's front office whether he ever will.
LeSean McCoy, RB, Philadelphia Eagles
Cold temperatures and lingering snow don't really favor a high-powered passing game, which is why the league's leading rusher will be such a huge advantage to the Eagles in Saturday night's game versus the Saints. While both teams thrive in an uptempo offense, the Saints don't really have a dominant running threat. The Eagles have McCoy, whose 1,607 rushing yards led the NFL in 2013. As his franchise record 217-yard day versus the Lions in a snowstorm proved in Week 14, the elements don't seem to have much impact on his effectiveness.
(AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
Dean Blandino, NFL vice president of officiating
After a regular season where it seemed Blandino was stuck explaining officiating gaffes on a weekly basis - here's looking at you, Jeff Triplette - the best possible outcome to this weekend's quartet of games would be silence from the man in charge of the league's refs. If Blandino gets through Sunday or Monday without having to publicly justify, explain or offer a mea culpa for something that an officiating crew did on the field, it'll be a banner weekend for the NFL.