By Colin Dwyer
A fan braves the chill outside U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, before Super Bowl LII. With temperatures in the single digits Sunday, it is expected to be the coldest Super Bowl ever, though thankfully, the game will be played in balmy temperatures indoors.
Jeff Roberson/AP
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Jeff Roberson/AP
Nearly five months and more than 260 games since the NFL season kicked off with the New England Patriots hosting the opener, here we are once more: the Patriots, back in familiar territory after last year’s historic Super Bowl comeback, are set to square off with the Philadelphia Eagles to defend their title.
And while the Eagles enter the game as underdogs, only the betting line is offering clear-cut answers. In nearly every other respect, this game is riddled with questions.
Will Nick Foles, the Eagles’ oft-maligned backup quarterback, repeat his masterful NFC Championship performance and manage to do what seemed impossible just a few week’s ago — derailing yet another dream season from Tom Brady, Greatest of All Time™? Will a flexible, athletic Eagles offense find holes in a Patriots defense that has looked spotty at times this year? Will Justin Timberlake break out a hologram of Prince during his halftime show? (Signs on that one are now pointing to no.)
Will this Philly superfan sweat through his full-body dog costume by halftime?
Eagles fan who couldn’t find mask bought whole underdog costume #amazon#superbowlpic.twitter.com/cBLzNhRhdA
— Tom MacDonald–WHYY (@TMacDonaldWHYY) February 4, 2018
Anyway, we’ll be here to answer these questions — and more! — all night. Follow along with our live-blog once the game kicks off at 6:30 p.m. ET. NPR and member station reporters will be covering all the action, both on the field and off.
Live Blog
Update at 5:45 p.m. ET
And then there were two — and we’re not talking about the two teams taking the field this evening. Nope: In this instance, at least, we’re talking about a much more pressing numeral: 2 degrees F.
Ahhhh….the glamorous life of a Super Bowl reporter…waiting outside in security line when it’s 1 degree out, thinking of fans who might have long walks to stadium and long waits. Nearby hospital preparing for cases of hypothermia. pic.twitter.com/CDsONt4rcZ
— Shira Springer (@ShiraSpringer) February 4, 2018
That was what the thermometer was reading outside U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, even at the height of midday Sunday. It’s expected to continue to hover in the single digits or possibly even drop into the negatives as night falls.
All of this sets this game on a course to be the coldest Super Bowl on record. Quartz explains only the Super Bowl game day in Detroit in 1982 had an average temperature anywhere close, at 12 degrees F.
Happily for fans and players, the Minnesota Vikings had the good sense to put their home field under a dome — and pipe plenty of heat into the building while they were at it. It is positively balmy once fans make it indoors.
Martin Kessler of WBUR has spotted at least one fan in a tank top, another in shorts. It is unclear, though, how much warmth this, um, rather unconventional hardhat offers.
The side view… pic.twitter.com/KOaEdoL7Up
— Shira Springer (@ShiraSpringer) February 4, 2018