Freezer Bowl 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 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 ) Air temperature was , but the wind chill , factoring in a sustained wind of , was ( calculated as using the now outdated wind chill formula in place at the time ) .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 , it was expected to be a very thrilling and hard fought game between the two teams . 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 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 fellow 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 . Overview . The game was one of the few in NFL history where the same team kicked off to begin both halves . Cincinnati won the toss and instead of receiving , elected to have the brutally cold wind at their backs to start the game , believing it would neutralize San Diego ' s passing game and help the Bengals to build an early lead . The strategy paid off as Cincinnati built a 10 - 0 lead in the first quarter . San Diego would score their only touchdown in the second , but gave up another score to the Bengals and trailed 17 - 7 at halftime . Accordingly , San Diego used its option at the beginning of the second half to receive the kickoff , resulting in Cincinnati kicking off to begin both halves - - and in the same direction both times , using their second half option to again begin the half with the wind at their backs . Cincinnati scored first with a 31 - yard field goal from kicker Jim Breech . Then James Brooks lost a fumble on the ensuing kickoff , and the Bengals scored a touchdown on an 8 - yard pass from Anderson to tight end M . L . Harris , increasing their lead to 10 - 0 . In the second quarter , the Chargers cut their deficit to 10 - 7 with Fouts ' 33 - yard touchdown pass to Winslow . But on the Chargers next drive , Fouts was intercepted by Bengals defensive back Louis Breeden . Breeden ' s interception set up another Bengals touchdown on Johnson ' s 1 - yard run , giving them a 17 - 7 lead . The Bengals completely took over the game from that point on . Breech kicked another field goal in the third quarter to increase the lead to 20 - 7 . Then in final period , Anderson put the game away with a 3 - yard touchdown pass to receiver Don Bass . The Bengals won the game 27 - 7 and advanced to the first Super Bowl in franchise history ( Super Bowl XVI ) . Fouts completed 15 of 28 passes for 185 yards and a touchdown , with 2 interceptions . Muncie was the top rusher of the game with 94 yards . Anderson completed 14 of 22 passes for 161 yards and 2 touchdowns , with no interceptions , and rushed for 39 yards . Johnson rushed for 80 yards and a touchdown , while also catching a pass for 14 yards . As a sidenote , Cincinnati head coach Forrest Gregg had already participated in one of the coldest games in NFL history prior to this one . When he was a player for the Green Bay Packers in 1967 , Gregg played in the famous NFL championship game against the Dallas Cowboys that became known as the Ice Bowl . Another sidenote is that Brooks , whose fumble helped the Bengals win the game , would later go on to help the Bengals get to Super Bowl XXIII in the 1988 season , this time not as an opponent , but as a player for the team . After spending 2 more seasons with the Chargers , Brooks was traded to the Bengals in exchange for Pete Johnson , and remained on the team until 1991 . Brooks made the Pro Bowl 4 times with the Bengals ( 1986 , 1988 – 1990 ) and left Cincinnati as the team ' s all time leading rusher ( Jim ) .