What likely will be the last outdoor NFL game played in Minnesota (at least until the next time the team is building another new stadium on the site of its current one) could be one of the coldest games ever played in NFL history.
Via Chris Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the local forecast calls for a high of zero degrees at TCF Bank Stadium.
Indeed, Weather.com predicts a high of zero and a low of minus-10, with 11 mph winds.
For the Vikings, the coldest home playoff game came in 1970, when it was nine degrees against the 49ers. In 1972, the Vikings and Bears played in temperatures of minus-two during the regular season.
Regardless of temperature, it’ll be the first outdoor playoff game in Minnesota since the 1976 season, when Fran Tarkenton and the Vikings beat the Rams 24-13 in the NFC championship game. That day, it was a balmy 12 degrees.
The Vikings could still host the NFC title game, with a win on Sunday and a victory the following Saturday at Arizona -- but only if the winner of the Washington-Green Bay game upsets Carolina in the divisional round.