CINCINNATI – In addition to being Joe Burrow’s birthday, Wednesday was 30-year anniversary of the fifth coldest home game in Cincinnati Bengals history.
And the 48th anniversary of the second coldest.
Could Sunday’s home game against the Baltimore Ravens crack that top five list?
It doesn’t look like it according to the current forecast, with weather.com calling for a high of 13 degrees.
Every Bengals fan knows the record for the coldest game ever played in Cincinnati.
The Freezer Bowl, the 1981 AFC Championship Game played on Jan. 10, 1982, has taken on folklore status. And for good reason as it’s one of the two coldest games in NFL history with an air temperature of minus-9 degrees and a wind chill of minus-59.
But even the most ardent fans of the team might struggle to name the other four coldest games in team history.
Here’s the list, per the official gamebooks and pro-football-reference.com.
Dec. 10, 1977
The game-time temperature was 2 degrees when the Bengals took on the defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers.
The 7-5 Bengals beat the 8-4 Steelers 17-10 on a Lemar Parrish 47-yard interception return for a touchdown and a tiebreaking 43-yard scoring strike from Ken Anderson to Pat McInally late in the third quarter.
Dec. 17, 1989
The game is remembered for more the weather as Sam Wyche and the Bengals ran up the score on Jerry Glanville and the Houston Oilers, including a successful onside kick while leading 45-0.
The Bengals went on to win 61-7 in a game that featured a temperature of 9 degrees at kickoff, putting it in a tie for third-coldest game in Cincinnati history.
Dec. 17, 2000
The coldest game in Paul Brown/Paycor Stadium history came in the building’s inaugural season.
It was 9 degrees at kickoff, and the Bengals twice rallied from seven-point deficits on the way to a 17-10 win.
Peter Warrick returned a punt 82-yards for Cincinnati’s first touchdown, and quarterback Scott Mitchell added a 12-yard scoring run with 1:15 left to tie the game.
The Jaguars fumbled the ensuing kickoff, and Neil Rackers hit a 27-yard field goal at the gun to up the team’s record to 4-11.
Dec. 10, 1995
The Bengals were 5-8 while the Bears were 7-6 and still in the playoff race.
It was 9 degrees at kickoff with a wind chill of minus-9, and there were no touchdowns until late in third quarter when Jeff Blake hit Darnay Scott for a 38-yard score.
The Bengals won 16-10.
Did you notice a theme?
The Bengals are 5-0 in the five coldest home games in franchise history.
Cincinnati has played 10 games when it’s 20 degrees or colder.
They are 8-2 in those games.
The others:
Dec. 21, 1980 – Browns 27, Bengals 24; 18 degrees
Dec. 26, 1993 – Bengals 21, Falcons 17; 19 degrees
Dec. 19, 2004 – Bills 33, Bengals 17; 19 degrees
Dec. 30, 2001 – Bengals 26, Steelers 23, OT; 20 degrees
Nov. 27, 1977 – Bengals 30, Giants 13; 20 degrees
The Ravens have played six games in 20 degrees or colder.
They are 2-4 in those games and have lost four in a row, including the 2017 season-finale against the Bengals in Baltimore.
That was the Andy Dalton to Tyler Boyd game on New Year’s Eve, where their 49-yard touchdown pass with 44 seconds remaining knocked the Ravens out of the playoffs and put the Bills in, making Dalton a folk hero in Buffalo.
