Sunday's Divisional Round showdown between the Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens has all the makings of a classic battle between two heavyweights.
They might need to wear some extra layers for it, too.
Temperatures in Orchard Park, N.Y., are projected to dip as low as 8 degrees Fahrenheit with a forecast high of 33 on Sunday, , with wind gusts of up to 23 mph expected to make it feel closer to 0 degrees as afternoon becomes night. Most everyone should brace for a frigid environment near the 6:30 p.m. ET kickoff Highmark Stadium.
Bills fans, of course, are no stranger to the cold weather, but the arctic air rolling through the Midwest into the East Coast has already affected the Ravens' week of preparation as Baltimore practiced indoors on Wednesday and will do the same on Thursday due to frozen practice fields.
"There's a big difference as far as the temperature because I'm out there, I can vouch for that," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said on Wednesday when asked about the differences between temperatures near freezing and both the current and projected conditions.
"As for the game itself, no. We got it as cold as we can in here right now. It'll be colder in here tomorrow when I've got the water shut off in here so the pipes don't freeze. So we can be colder. Would love to be outside (for practice), but we just can't. Fields are too hard and too frozen. But we'll get the work in.
"We've had a lot of work in the cold, a lot of work in the wind. The elements are a part of it. The other thing is going to be the footing on their field, we're thinking about that, too. Want to make sure we've got food footing on that field (at Highmark Stadium). It's a turf field and it'll be hard and frozen. Trying to think about all that. But really what we're thinking about is just executing our plays at the highest level we possibly can."
After rushing for 299 yards in its Wild Card Round romp over Pittsburgh, Baltimore appears to be built for the elements. Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson have already caused enough chaos for opposing defenses and should be viewed as a major threat to Buffalo's resistance. But if the Ravens are forced to pass, things could get dicey. It isn't easy to catch a football with frozen hands, and the hits hurt more once the temperature drops below freezing.
As tight end Mark Andrews sees it, the weather is just another reminder that football in January is different.
"It's like it's war time. It's time to go to war," Andrews said of suiting up for a frigid environment. "It's accepting anything and everything."
Jackson has seemingly prepared his attire for months, habitually wearing a balaclava under his helmet for quite a while. He'll need the insulation provided by the headgear in Buffalo and is hoping he and his teammates are supplied with sideline heaters and enough extra clothing for Antarctica, because he's not interested in wearing gloves.
"No. I tried that in practice and was horrible," Jackson said of playing with gloves. "Leave that up to Teddy Two Gloves. Teddy Bridgewater."
Those who were raised in the regions of the United States that see snow and chilly temperatures will likely tell you it isn't quite playoff football if it isn't cold enough to feel it in your bones. Both the Bills and Ravens will find out firsthand Sunday evening.
