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Sunday Could Be Hottest Cincinnati Bengals Home Game in Franchise History

Jay Morrison|
Bengals safeties Clayton Fejedelem (42) and Jesse Bates III (30) drink water on a hot day at the Cincinnati Bengals practice at Paul Brown Stadium Tuesday, August 6, 2019. 20190806 Bengalspractice0109
Bengals safeties Clayton Fejedelem (42) and Jesse Bates III (30) drink water on a hot day at the Cincinnati Bengals practice at Paul Brown Stadium Tuesday, August 6, 2019. 20190806 Bengalspractice0109 | Jeff Dean/The Enquirer via Imagn Content Services, LLC

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Cincinnati Bengals

CINCINNATI – The forecast for Sunday could result in the Cincinnati Bengals’ home opener being the team’s hottest home game in franchise history.

The weather.com forecast currently calls for a high of 90 degrees Sunday.

The hottest game in Cincinnati history was Sept. 8, 2002, in the season opener against the Chargers, with the game time temperature listed at 90 degrees, per ProFootballReference.com.

The Bengals lost 34-6.

The second warmest home game in team history also was the windiest.

That was Sept. 14, 2008, when the temperature was 88 degrees at kickoff and the remnants from Hurricane Ike produced sustained winds of 50 mph and gusts up to 74 mph.

The Bengals lost to the Titans that day 24-7, and while the power never went out at the stadium, many fans returned home to find dark homes with outages lasting for days in some areas.

There have been four other Bengals home games with the temperature at kickoff being at least 82 degrees.

On Oct. 7, 2008, the Bengals staged one of the biggest comebacks in team history, rallying from 17 points down to beat the Dolphins 27-17 in a game with a kickoff temperature of 87 degrees.

Joe Burrow’s debut in the 2020 opener on Sept. 13 had a gametime temperature of 83 degrees. The Chargers beat the Bengals 16-13.

The 2018 opener had a temperature of 82 degrees despite kicking off at 8:20 p.m. on Sept. 13.

The Bengals beat the Ravens that night 34-23.

The Ravens also were the opponent in the Sept. 10, 2007, opener when the temperature at kickoff was 82 degrees.

And the Bengals won that one, 27-20.

The hottest game of any sort in Bengals history is listed as Oct. 8, 2023, in Phoenix with a temperature of 95 degrees. But that was the outside temperature, and the game was played in the enclosed State Farm Stadium.

There have been two outdoor road games in Bengals history with a kickoff temperature of 89 degrees.

The first was Sept. 24, 2017, a 27-24 overtime loss at Green Bay.

The second was last year on Sept. 15, a 26-25 loss at Kansas City.

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Jay Morrison
JAY MORRISON

Jay Morrison covers the Cincinnati Bengals for Bengals On SI. He has been writing about the NFL for nearly three decades. Combining a passion for stats and storytelling, Jay takes readers beyond the field for a unique look at the game and the people who play it. Prior to joining Bengals on SI, Jay covered the Cincinnati Bengals beat for The Athletic, the Dayton Daily News and Pro Football Network.