CHICAGO – Monday's matchup against the Bears took cold temperatures to a historic level.
The Cowboys set their regular season record for the coldest game in franchise history in the loss in Chicago, as the temperature fell to 8 degrees at kickoff and the wind chill made the field feel 9 degrees below zero.
It also marked the second coldest game overall in team history, trailing only the "Ice Bowl" in 1967, when the Cowboys fell to Green Bay, 21-17, in temperatures that reached minus-13 degrees.
The previous coldest regular season game in franchise history also occurred in the '60s, when the Cowboys went to St. Louis and won, 28-24, with the temperature at 16 degrees.
Monday's frigidity knocked that temperature in half, but it didn't seem to affect Bears quarterback Josh McCown or receivers Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery. McCown went 27-of-36 despite the conditions and threw for 348 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions.
"I felt coming into the game, pregame warm-up, we felt like it was going to be a lot of quick game stuff because of the weather," said safety Barry Church. "But in Chicago, I guess they're used to this. They threw it up top a lot to their big guys and they were able to make plays."
It had been a while since Church remembered playing in a game even close to that cold during his college days at Toledo, but he admitted he felt the full effects of the weather in this one despite going with short sleeves to start the night off.
"It's been a long time," Church said. "My junior year we played in about two of those really cold guys. But it's been a long time, been used to that Texas weather. It was cold out there today."
Though the Bears' offense would be the story of the night, the Cowboys' offense also didn't have as much trouble with the elements as many predicted going in. Tony Romo didn't need to throw much with the Cowboys averaging 7.1 yards per carry on 28 rushing attempts, but he also didn't throw an interception and tossed three touchdown passes.
"I thought they handled the weather well and I thought we handled the weather well, to be honest with you," said head coach Jason Garrett. "The field was good. It was cold, but it seemed like everyone handled the ball pretty well. The quarterbacks threw fairly well and were accurate. There weren't a lot of balls dropped or coming out of guys' hands. I thought collectively both sides did a good job with the ball." [embedded_ad]
The Bears ended up doing much better with the ball, bringing the Cowboys' all-time record down to 2-3 in regular season games that are 20 degrees or colder.
After falling to the Bears, the Cowboys now own a 2-3 regular season record in games of 20 degrees or colder.
"They made more plays, they handled the conditions better and they came ready to play," said Orlando Scandrick. "They were a better football team than us tonight."
