RENTON — The Seattle Seahawks are checking their supply of puffy jackets and hand warmers. They’re making sure they’re fully stocked in earmuffs and mittens.
In two days they’re embarking on the NFL equivalent of a journey to the Arctic Circle.
Seattle’s wild-card playoff game against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday is projected to be one of the coldest in NFL history, and the Seahawks are doing everything within their power to make sure the extreme cold doesn’t affect their play.
“They always say, ‘Think warm thoughts,’” Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman said. “I’ll be on a beach in Tahiti somewhere.”
As of Thursday, the National Weather Service was forecasting the temperature at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis to be a chilly 2 degrees Fahrenheit at the game’s 12:05 p.m. Central Standard Time kickoff.
To put that in perspective, there have been just nine games in NFL history in which the temperature never rose above 0 degrees, with the most extreme of those being the famed Ice Bowl NFC Championship Game between Green Bay and Dallas at Lambeau Field in 1967, when temperatures plunged to minus-13 degrees with wind chills at minus-48. The most recent sub-zero game was in 2008, again at Lambeau Field, as the Packers hosted the New York Giants in the NFC Championship Game.
The Seahawks, in their 40 seasons of history, have never experienced cold like they’re projected to face Sunday. The coldest game in franchise history came on Dec. 3, 2006 in Denver, when the temperature was 16 degrees.
“One of the things I’ve taken from it over the years is once you’re out there playing you’re not worried about the weather, you’re worried about those 11 guys trying to take your head off,” said Seahawks running back Fred Jackson, who played in his share of cold-weather games during his eight seasons with the Buffalo Bills. “You’ll forget about the weather soon enough.
“The only thing I’ll say is the coldest part of the game is when you’re standing on the sideline not doing anything,” Jackson added. “As long as you’re out there moving around you’ll be OK.”
The Vikings are more used to dealing with the cold temperatures than the Seahawks, and they’ve acclimated in recent weeks. Two weeks ago, Minnesota’s 49-17 home victory over the New York Giants was played in 12-degree temperatures, while last week the Vikings won 20-13 at Green Bay with the thermometer sitting at 23 degrees.
“We’ve had a lot of these kind of games, actually,” Minnesota coach Mike Zimmer said. “We played Carolina last year when it was pretty cold, played the Giants on Sunday night when it was pretty cold. Last week in Green Bay was not as cold, but it was still a little cold. We talked to the team about the way the elements affect us and the things that we have to adjust to.”
The Seahawks, meanwhile, have yet to play a game in freezing conditions this season. The coldest game Seattle experienced was the last time the Seahawks played in Minnesota, when the Seahawks prevailed 38-7 at TCF Bank Stadium on Dec. 6 when it was 36 degrees.
Therefore, the cold could play to Minnesota’s advantage.
“If it’s really as cold as it might be, I think that could affect the game just as far as making the ball a little bit slicker and things like that,” Vikings safety Harrison Smith said. “Being a defensive guy, it’s not quite as bad. You’ve just got to deal with the cold. But that’s on both teams. So to me, being the Vikings, we should be excited about playing outside in the cold.”
Playing in the cold presents some unique challenges, particularly when it comes to ball security.
“It’s the handling of the ball (that’s affected most by the cold),” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. “It always seems to make the coaches feel like it’s going to be a more vulnerable situation, because of the feel and touch and that kind of stuff. Certainly, it does affect the travel of the ball in the kicking game, it doesn’t go as far.”
However, the Seahawks don’t plan on changing their offense just to suit the colder conditions.
“We’re going to go out and just do our thing,” Seattle offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said. “We’re going to play ball the way we normally do. We’re kind of built for it. We’re a running team, running philosophy, so we know that to hand the ball to the running back 25, 30 times is exactly how we want to play the game. We can still throw the ball in that, you just have to protect the ball, be smart with it, and that’s what we plan on doing.”
The player who handles the ball the most is the quarterback, so Russell Wilson is the Seahawks player who faces the biggest challenge with the cold. Wilson does not wear a glove on his throwing hand, but he doesn’t anticipate the cold being a problem.
“I wear a hand warmer and put my hands in the hand warmer between plays and all that,” Wilson said. “I think also on the sideline, it’s just staying warm as much as possible. But when you’re moving around you get pretty warm quickly. I don’t think it will be a problem at all, I’m looking forward to it.
“Fortunately I have big hands, so that helps, too.”
And if needed, Wilson and the rest of the Seahawks can always join Sherman on that virtual beach in Tahiti. Anything to help take the sting out of the cold expected Sunday.
Check out Nick Patterson’s Seattle Sidelines blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/seattlesidelines, and follow him on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.
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