Freezing conditions are forecast for a slew of NFL games this weekend, and Sunday's meeting between the hosting Bears and Green Bay Packers in Chicago could set a bone-chilling record low.
The Bears and Packers are scheduled to kick off at 1pm local time at Soldier Field where the temperature is predicted to climb no higher than minus 16C.
This week, the Chicago players have been trying to replicate Sunday's likely temperatures during training sessions, though coach John Fox felt it was impossible to ever get accustomed to Arctic-like weather for a league game.
"I've known a lot of people that grew up in very cold-weather places," Fox was quoted as saying on the Bears website.
"I don't think they've gotten used to it. You just deal with it.
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Chicago defensive end Akiem Hicks, who played college football at the University of Regina in Saskatchewan, Canada, said: "You've just got to push through. It's going to be cold. You're just going to have to suck it up."
The coldest league game played at Soldier Field took place on December 22, 2008 when the temperature at kickoff was minus 16.7C before the Bears went on to clinch a 20-17 overtime win over the Packers.
As for the coldest ever league game in Chicago, that is believed to have occurred on December 16, 1951 when the mercury dipped to minus 18C at Wrigley Field for a 24-14 loss to the Chicago Cardinals.
Other games this Sunday where freezing temperatures have been forecast include the match-ups between the New England Patriots and the Broncos in Denver and the meeting between the Tennessee Titans and the Chiefs in Kansas City.
