Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes had his helmet shattered by a hit from Miami Dolphins safety Deshaun Elliott during the AFC wild-card playoff game on Saturday night. The Chiefs still won 26-7.
With game time temperature -4 degrees Fahrenheit, the game was the fourth coldest in NFL history, and it was unclear whether the temperature made the shell of Mahomes' helmet more fragile than usual. Regardless, the league's reigning MVP was left with a fist-sized piece of plastic missing from just above his left eye after a helmet-to-helmet collision 13 yards deep in Dolphins territory.
Helmets rarely fail this way. But then again, you rarely get below zero at the start of a football match.
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Mahomes ran two more plays before officials made him get a spare helmet from the sideline. He threw another incomplete pass and Kansas City scored a field goal on fourth down to take a 19-7 lead, and Mahomes spent Miami's ensuing possession fiddling with the replacement helmet on the sideline trying to make it comfortable.
High winds were blowing at over 25 miles per hour and dropping the wind chill to minus 27 degrees, making the weather truly miserable for almost everyone.
This included pop star Taylor Swift, who popped back in to see her boyfriend, Travis Kelce.
She should at least watch from a closed wing. Most fans gathered outside wearing jackets, goggles and snow pants, and players huddled around heaters on the sidelines as if they were an oasis in the cold. The National Weather Service issued a warning about what it described as “dangerously cold” weather blanketing the Midwest.
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Icy winter weather has covered most parts of the United States of America, and New York State Governor Kathy Hochul has warned of a “dangerous storm.” As announced The NFL playoff game between the Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers has been postponed from Sunday to Monday. Residents of the county that includes Buffalo were told to stay off the roads starting at 9 p.m. Saturday, with forecasts calling for 2 feet or more of snow and wind gusts of up to 65 mph.
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