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In NFL lore, the Freezer Bowl (January 10, 1982) was the 1981 AFC Championship Game between the San Diego Chargers and the Cincinnati Bengals. The game, won by the Bengals, 27–7, was played in the coldest temperature in NFL history in terms of wind chill. (The coldest in terms of air temperature was the Ice Bowl.) Air temperature was , but the wind chill, factoring in a sustained wind of , was (calculated as using the now outdated wind chill formula in place at the time). The game was played at Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium, and televised by NBC with announcers Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen. ==Background== Despite the Bengals' dominating 40–17 win over the Chargers during the season, their meeting in the championship was expected to be a very thrilling and hard fought game. The Chargers' offense featured three future members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame: quarterback Dan Fouts, receiver Charlie Joiner and tight end Kellen Winslow. San Diego also had two superb running backs, Chuck Muncie, who led the NFL with 19 touchdowns, and multi-talented rookie James Brooks, who finished the season with 2,093 all-purpose yards. Cincinnati also had several stars on offense. Quarterback Ken Anderson (1996 and 1998 Pro Football Hall of Fame finalist) was the top rated passer in the NFL, and had won both the NFL Most Valuable Player Award and the NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award. Tight end Dan Ross, running back Pete Johnson, and rookie receiver Cris Collinsworth were widely considered to be among the best players in the NFL at their positions. The Bengals offensive line featured future Hall of Fame left tackle Anthony Muñoz, who was selected by NFL coaches as the NFL Lineman of the Year Award winner during the season. () Both teams were coming off extremely narrow wins in the divisional playoffs. A week earlier, the Bengals won their first ever playoff game by defeating the Buffalo Bills 28–21 after forcing Buffalo to turn the ball over on downs during their final drive. Meanwhile the Chargers narrowly defeated the Miami Dolphins in overtime 41–38, in a game that set playoff records for most points scored in a playoff game (79), the most total yards by both teams (1,036), and most passing yards by both teams (809). That game, which became known as "The Epic In Miami", was played in the heat and humidity of Miami, and the Chargers found themselves dealing with nearly the exact opposite conditions in the AFC title game. Before the Chargers took the field, Running back/Special teamer Hank Bauer tested the field conditions. Bauer recalled: "when I came out of that tunnel... man, it (the wind) just hit you-like somebody threw 100 knives at you." When he returned to the locker room, he told his teammates: "Whatever you got on, take it off. Number one-you won't be able to move (with all the layers) and number two-it ain't gonna help." The Bengals offensive line played the entire game with bare arms. A number of them played with bare hands as well. They placed hot water bottles inside their cups (athletic supporters) and between plays they walked around with their hands in their pants which many people found amusing. It was so cold icicles started to form on Fouts' beard early in the game. Within one week, the Chargers went from playing an overtime game in Miami in 88 degree, high humidity weather to playing in the −37 wind chill in Cincinnati, an effective difference of 125 degrees. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Freezer Bowl」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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