Denver won’t see the significant snowfall expected in New England Sunday, but the bitter cold could still have an impact on the AFC Championship between the New England Patriots and the Denver Broncos.
By the time the game kicks off at Mile High Stadium (3 p.m. EST, 1 p.m. local), temperatures will rest somewhere in the low 20s. Winds of about 10 to 15 miles per hour, however, will drop the feels-like temperature into the single digits.
“We have a high (Risk of Weather Impact) for the game,” FOX Weather meteorologist Ian Oliver, who is from Massachusetts and grew up a Patriots fan, said Friday morning. “Passing efficiency when we’re into this temperature threshold and feels-like temperature, with that wind, typically dips.
“Drake Maye throws one of the most beautiful deep balls in the league. He’s been one of the most efficient passers in the game this season. Obviously (the Pats) are tested — they had a bad weather game last week.”
Maye finished the season as the most accurate quarterback in Patriots franchise history, completing the regular season with a 72.0 completion percentage, breaking Tom Brady’s franchise record of 68.9 from the 2007 season.
Oliver also added that the bitter cold could impact one of the few benefits visiting teams experience in Denver’s high altitude.
“(The players) are still going to feel the actual impacts (of the high altitude) … that’s not changing,” Oliver said. “But the lesser air density as you move up to Mile High typically allows longer field goals and things of that nature.
“For the kicking game, I don’t think it’s going to be like in September when NFL record field goals are getting broken and they’re kicking from 65. The ball’s going to be hard as a rock with a feels-like temperature of like five. … The typical pluses aren’t going to be there — it’s all mitigated by the cold and wind.”
The Patriots have never won a postseason game in Denver — dating back to their first time playing the Broncos in the playoffs in 1987.
