By: Jovian Kwong

Photo by All-Pro Reels by CC by 2.0 on Wikimedia Commons

The Divisional Round for the NFL Playoffs is just around the corner, but the Wild Card weekend that led to our divisional matchups was crazy! In summary, we had a team who had to postpone their game day due to too much snow in the stadium. As well as, another team who had arguably one of the coldest playoff games in NFL history. Not to mention, teams who had a better record and chance to win, loosing to lower ranked teams.

Let’s look at two of these games!

First, the Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers. The Bills’ Wild Card game was supposed to be played on a Sunday night, but due to a huge blizzard, the New York State governor and the NFL pushed the game to Monday night to avoid having to play in a huge snowstorm. And it didn’t stop there! After the huge snowstorm in the area, the entire Highmark Stadium, including the field and the seats, were covered with a thick white blanket of snow. It was so much snow that the Bills called in fans who were 18+ to come into the stadium and help shovel the snow for a payworth of $20/hour that includes free food and breaks. This process went on from the entire Sunday, the middle of the night and even hours before the game began. The Bills game ended up happening, thanks to the snow shovellers, as the Bills went on to win 31-17 against the Steelers. According to YahooSports, the same snow shovelling process is going to continue again for the Bills Divisional Round game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Now the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs played their Wild Card game in Kansas City against the Miami Dolphins in arguably one of the coldest games in NFL history. The weather during the game was -9 F (-22 C) with a windchill of -28 F (-33 C), yet the game wasn‘t even postponed. The weather was so bad that it caused 15 people to be hospitalised, dozens treated with hypothermia, and some players even getting frostbite. Fans had their beers frozen, icicles formed on the Chiefs’ head coach’s moustache, and Chiefs’ quarterback, Patrick Mahomes had his helmet chip off after running near the goal line. The Chiefs ended up winning 26-7 against the Dolphins and will face the Buffalo Bills in the Divisional Round.

These are just two of the events that have occurred during the WIld Card round. There are many other crazy events that happened, but these two games were definitely the most highlighted moments.

Works Cited

Chasan, Aliza. “Buffalo Bills Ask for Help Shoveling Snow out of Stadium Ahead of Delayed Steelers Wild-Card Game.” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 15 Jan. 2024, http://www.cbsnews.com/news/buffalo-bills-shoveling-snow-highmark-stadium-steelers-wild-card-game-new-york/. 

“File:Chiefs 190 (51615696893).JPG – Wikimedia Commons.” Wikimedia Commons, 17 Oct. 2021, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chiefs_190_(51615696893).jpg. 

Kasabian, Paul. “15 People Hospitalized, Dozens Treated for Hypothermia after Dolphins vs. Chiefs Game.” Bleacher Report, Bleacher Report, 17 Jan. 2024, bleacherreport.com/articles/10105560-15-people-hospitalized-dozens-treated-for-hypothermia-after-dolphins-vs-chiefs-game

Owens, Jason. “Bills Send out Call for More Fans to Shovel Snow Ahead of Chiefs Game after Another Big Storm.” Yahoo! Sports, Yahoo!, 18 Jan. 2024, ca.sports.yahoo.com/bills-send-out-call-for-more-fans-to-shovel-snow-ahead-of-chiefs-game-after-another-big-storm-232140075.html. 

Thompson, Scott. “15 Fans Hospitalized after Sitting through Freezing Chiefs-Dolphins Game.” Fox News, FOX News Network, 18 Jan. 2024, http://www.foxnews.com/sports/15-fans-hospitalized-sitting-through-freezing-chiefs-dolphins-game. .