The Bears are playing one of the coldest home games in franchise history.
When their game against the Bills kicked off Saturday, the temperature was 9 degrees. That’s the fifth-coldest home game the Bears have played at Soldier Field.
The Bears’ coldest home game ever was Dec. 22, 2008 — a game against the rival Packers when the kickoff temperature was 2 degrees. Wind chill was -13.
Wind chill was -12 at kickoff Saturday — that’s tied for the third-coldest in the history of Bears home games — with the wind blowing 22 mph.
The crowd at Soldier Field was sparse in the moments leading up to kickoff. Some Bears and Bills players chose not to wear sleeves in the frigid temperatures. Quarterback Justin Fields, though, wore a long navy blue shirt on underneath his pads.
The Bears spent the week preparing for inclement weather, practicing outdoors on Wednesday and Thursday. The Bills flew to Chicago on Thursday night — one day earlier as usual — for fear of their travel plans being affected by snow and cold.
