49ers vs. Packers: Cold NFL weather will grace Lambeau during playoffs

The 49ers must prepare themselves for some awfully cold NFL weather when they visit the Packers in the divisional round of the NFL playoffs.

Few warm-weather teams enjoy the prospects of traveling to Lambeau Field and having to take on the Green Bay Packers on the frozen tundra during the NFL playoffs.

Yet that’s precisely what the San Francisco 49ers will have to do on Saturday, Jan. 22 for the NFC divisional round after knocking off the Dallas Cowboys in last Sunday’s Wild Card game.

The last time the Niners had to do something of this nature was way back in January of 2014 for another Wild Card game, one which then-head coach Jim Harbaugh helped engineer a 23-20 victory amid some awfully frigid conditions.

The temperature for this next installment of the San Francisco-Green Bay playoff rivalry might not be that cold, but it’ll still be unfavorable for the 49ers, who’ll have to deal with below-freezing temperatures for the first time this season.

49ers vs. Packers: NFL weather calls for sub-freezing conditions

Again, nothing new for that part of Wisconsin where playoff football at Lambeau Field is epitomized by freezing temperatures.

While there aren’t any calls for sleet and snow, the NFL weather prediction at kickoff calls for mostly cloudy skies with a temperature of 14 degrees Fahrenheit.

Read More: 49ers’ biggest studs, duds from Wild Card win over Cowboys

Cold.

Additionally, to make things a bit more challenging (particularly in the kicking game), winds are going to be westerly at 13 miles per hour.

49ers must prepare for cold weather more than Packers

Perhaps some teams from warmer climates downplay it, and there are surely plenty of players who’ve played in cold conditions elsewhere during their collegiate and pro careers.

At least according to head coach Kyle Shanahan, cold weather isn’t as bad as inclement weather, as he explained to NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco:

"Wind is a much bigger factor. Rain is a bigger factor. But the cold weather, you could do something about that, and I believe it also helps when you’re out there playing football because when you’re running and hitting, you don’t stay too cold."

Some of the players, too, don’t feel as if the cold weather is too big an obstacle to overcome, particularly quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo who grew up in the greater Chicago, Illinois, area and spent the first few years of his NFL career dealing with the often-frigid conditions the New England Patriots experience in Massachusetts:

"I’ve lived in it my whole life, so there’s just different ways. I think people who have grown up in it and played in it for a long time, there’s ways to prepare for it, things that you kind of know going into it."

Garoppolo is dealing with both a thumb and shoulder sprain, though, so there’s always going to be the possibility of the cold weather affecting both of those injuries.

The Niners and Packers kick off from Lambeau Field on Saturday, Jan. 22 at 8:15 p.m. ET.