Lake Forest, Ill. (670 The Score/WGR 550) - Football coaches and players prepare for every circumstance they possibly can before games, but it's going to be hard to prepare for the elements that the Chicago Bears and Buffalo Bills are expected to face Saturday afternoon at Soldier Field.
The weather forecast for Chicago on Saturday projects a high temperature of 10 degrees, according to The Weather Channel. However, wind chills could sit near 20 degrees below zero.
The wind is expected to sustain at 20-to-30 miles-per-hour, and could occasionally gust at more than 40 miles-per-hour. And all of that is expected to come after a massive winter storm system is projected to dump around one foot of snow on the region across Thursday and Friday.
There’s the potential for Saturday to be the coldest game in Soldier Field history, in terms of wind chill. In 1983, the Bears and Green Bay Packers played in a minus-15 degree wind chill.
“I am excited,” Bears quarterback Justin Fields said. “It’s going to be my first time playing in that weather. It’s going to be fun.”
The Bears held an indoor walk-through Tuesday afternoon and planned to work outdoors Wednesday, when the forecast calls for a balmy 30 degrees. As for Thursday – when the winter storm is expected to begin dropping significant snowfall – the Bears haven’t yet formed their practice plan.
The Bears plan to simulate the conditions for Saturday as much as possible, head coach Matt Eberflus said. A game plan will also be created to work around the hazardous winds.
The coldest game that Eberflus has ever been a part while coaching came in 2013, when as the Dallas Cowboys’ linebackers coach, he stood on the sidelines of Soldier Field for a frigid game against the Bears played through 8-degree weather and a minus-9 wind chill.
“Just bitter cold,” Eberflus recalls of that game. “It was bitter cold. You had to really make sure all your skin was covered, because you would potentially get frostbite and all that, so you had to make sure you used Vaseline on your face to make sure everything’s covered up right. It was cold and the helmets sound weird when they hit. It was cold.”
Given the weather forecast, tickets on the secondary market have fallen significantly for Saturday. Tickets can be purchased for as low as $19 on StubHub.
The Bills are no strangers to extreme weather conditions, especially this season.
Buffalo's game against the Cleveland Browns on Nov. 20 was moved to Detroit, as around 80 inches of snow fell in Orchard Park. The Bills also played through snowfall in the fourth quarter during their 32-29 win over the Miami Dolphins this past Saturday night at Highmark Stadium.
The Bears (3-11) and Bills (11-3) kick off at 1 p.m. EST on Saturday from Soldier Field.
Chris Emma covers the Bears, Chicago’s sports scene and more for 670TheScore.com. Follow him on Twitter @CEmma670.