Two wild card games are likely to take place under adverse conditions. It’s freezing cold in Kansas City and snowing heavily in Buffalo. In addition, there are wintry winds in both places. Former professional Mark Nzeocha has already played his playoff game in the fridge. It wasn’t pretty. But successful

Cold, colder, Kansas City – at least as far as the hosts of the Wild Card Games in the NFL are concerned, the city of the defending champions is serving up the iciest temperatures this weekend. Including the expected winds, it is expected to feel as cold as -31 degrees Celsius around the Arrowhead Stadium.

Much to the chagrin of the fans. The Chiefs. But especially the Miami Dolphins, who have to travel from warm Florida to Missouri for the game. “It’s definitely going to be a factor,” “The home team has an advantage, they’re used to the climate, the players have had a week to train and adjust in this climate.”

The ex-pro, who played for the Dallas Cowboys and the San Francisco 49ers between 2015 and 2021, almost feels a little sorry for Tua Tagovailoa, Tyreek Hill & Co.: “Then you have the guys from South Beach who aren’t used to this weather. They are very reliant on their passing game, which is simply more difficult.”

The 33-year-old speaks from experience. Because in the 2021 Divisional Round, he had to play in a Niners jersey in the icebox at Lambeau Field against the Green Bay Packers. “That was really cold too. It was definitely over -10, maybe even -15 degrees,” he recalls.

And he continues: “We went in there as underdogs and destroyed the thing. As the home team, you think you have the advantage because you train in these conditions all week.” The Californians won 13:10 in a laborious game with less than 500 total yards.

Nzeocha on cold weather game: “Routine pulled off “

Nzeocha emphasizes that the team didn’t make any major changes in preparation: “Head coach Kyle Shanahan didn’t make a big issue of it. He just said we can’t change the weather conditions, we’re here to win a playoff game. So don’t worry about it. It is what it is. We arrived as normal and went through our routine.”

The Ansbach-born player believes it is only important to prepare mentally for the conditions. And to dress properly: “You have to have the right cleats on, you wear thicker socks and thicker compression shirts to keep your body temperature warm. On the sidelines, you have the warm benches and heat turbines, or even the warm jackets.”

Another tip from the linebacker and special teamer, who currently lives in Texas, is: “If you don’t have your helmet on, put it on a heater so that it’s still soft inside when you put it back on. If you sit in the cold with your helmet on, the pads inside get hard as a rock.”

He doesn’t remember whether he played with long sleeves back then, but: “A lot of guys play without sleeves, so arm-free. Then you put Vaseline on your arms to close the pores and then you don’t feel the cold at all.”

Speaking of not feeling the cold: that also applies when you’re in the game. “Then it’s secondary,” explains Nzeocha.

Nzeocha thinks back to Green Bay: “It was really cool “

He remembers the game not only because of the icy cold, but also because of his own performance: “That was one of the top 3 or top 5 games of my career. It was really cool. It was a really good year for me, we just slipped into the playoffs and then to go to Green Bay in these extreme weather conditions and get a huge upset there was really cool.”

It’s more the offenses that have to deal with extreme temperatures and snowfall. Because they have to move the ball and work their way towards the end zone. “You’re one-dimensional, you can’t throw the ball properly,” Nzeocha points out: “But as a defense, you have to stop the run. That wasn’t the worst game for me.”

In that respect, the defenses that will be in action in Kansas City and Orchard Park for the Buffalo Bills’ probably snowy home game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, which was moved to Monday due to the weather, might even be secretly happy about the onset of winter.

Extreme weather in the USA: “Playing in snow and ice “

The adverse conditions are also being discussed in the USA, reports Nzeocha: “You turn on ‘ESPN’ here, every sports program is talking about Kansas City, how cold it can get there. They’re saying it might even be one of the coldest games in NFL history.”

Cancellations are not really an option, however. “American football is played in wind, weather, snow, ice, whatever,” he makes clear, referring to the organization of a game, which makes it almost impossible to cancel at short notice.

In the case of the Bills and the Steelers, however, the NFL has now jumped over its shadow. Although it is expected to continue to snow and wind on Monday, it will be much more humane overall.

Nzeocha wouldn’t swap places with his colleagues in Kansas City and Orchard Park: “It’s a playoff game, a huge game in any case. But are you looking forward to it? No, I wouldn’t say so. “