The New England Patriots will face the AFC East champions, the Buffalo Bills, in single-digit temperatures during Saturday's Wild Card game.
NBC10 Boston Meteorologist Matt Noyes said the temperature will be around five degrees at game time with a wind chill making it feel more like five below zero throughout the course of the game. Flurries are highly unlikely, but not impossible.
The team prepared for the AFC playoff game on the practice field Thursday.
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Saturday will be the third time New England faces Buffalo this season. The Bills won their last meeting at the end of December.
“They’re a good offense. They’re well coached, they have a good quarterback, they have good skill players… they’re hard to stop," head coach Bill Belichick said.
The Patriots and Bills split their two games during the regular season.
The Patriots defeated the Bills in a snowy, windy win in Buffalo when quarterback Mac Jones threw only three passes and they ran the ball to victory. Then New England fell to Buffalo the day after Christmas.
With a 10-7 record, the Patriots will go head-to-head with their division rivals in single-digit temperatures.
Patriots wide receiver Kendrick Bourne said the players will do what they can to combat the cold air.
"Just trying to stay warm on the sidelines and stay by the heaters, have the coat on," Bourne said. "Just keeping my body warm and trying to keep the heat in my body because when it’s cold like that your body can go ice really fast.”
Fans will rally at Patriot Place and in Worcester to send off the Patriots Friday ahead of Saturday's playoff game.
