Titans Battle Rare Cold in Addition to Packers

For just the second time since the start of the 1999 season, Tennessee has to play in sub-30-degree conditions before December.

The Tennessee Titans rarely play in the type of conditions they faced Thursday this early in a season.

Their matchup with the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field – the first game on the Week 11 schedule – officially is the second coldest pre-December game of the Titans era (1999-present). The temperature at kickoff was 26 degrees, and there was light snow at the start.

“It is just part of playing in the NFL,” quarterback Ryan Tannehill said this week. “There are a lot of cold games, and this will be one of them. You make sure you're staying loose and staying warm as best you can on the sideline. As a quarterback, keep the hands somewhat warm and be good to go.”

The coldest pre-December game during the Titans era actually took place at Nissan Stadium. It was 25 degrees at kickoff when Tennessee hosted the Pittsburgh Steelers on Nov. 17, 2014, eight years earlier to the day.

A rundown of the Tennessee Titans’ coldest October/November games (1999-present):

• Nov. 17, 2014 vs. Pittsburgh-*: 25 degrees (wind chill: 16), L 27-24

• Nov 17, 2022 at Green Bay-*: 26 degrees (wind chill: 16), TBD

• Nov. 28, 2021 at New England: 37 degrees (wind chill: 32), L 36-13

• Nov. 9, 2008 at Chicago: 37 degrees (wind chill: 28), W 21-14

• Nov. 28, 1999 at Cleveland: 38 degrees (wind chill: 29), W 33-21

• Oct. 18, 2009 at New England: 39 degrees (wind chill: 31), L 59-0

(*-night game)

The last two times the Titans played at Lambeau Field, it was December – and it was cold. Things did not go well in either case.

On Dec. 23, 2012, it was 24 degrees for the noon kickoff with a wind chill that made it feel like 14 degrees. Tennessee lost 55-7 and avoided a shutout only when wide receiver Kenny Britt caught a 2-yard touchdown pass with 1:39 to play.

On Dec. 27, 2020, it was 28 degrees for a 7:22 p.m. kickoff with a wind chill that made it feel like 16 degrees. The Titans gave up the first 19 points of that one and eventually lost 40-14.

“Every time you get up there, you want to take advantage of the opportunity,” Tannehill, who was not the quarterback for either of those games, said. “It is a special place. You kind of feel it driving up to the stadium. Definitely one of my favorite places to play.”