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Patriots Don't Seem Too Concerned With Arctic Temps In Kansas City

BOSTON (CBS) -- When the Patriots invade Kansas City to take on the Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday, there's a good chance the two teams will be taking part in the coldest game ever at Arrowhead Stadium. The current forecast calls for highs in the teens, though there's a good chance that temperature dips into single digits before the game concludes.

Coming from New England, the Patriots are used to partaking in some chilly games. And playing in such cold weather usually means you're playing for something important. The thought of getting back to the Super Bowl is all the Patriots will need to keep them warm on Sunday (along with some heavy jackets, face masks, a giant heater and hand warmers, of course).

"We're getting ready for the Chiefs, whatever it is it is," Bill Belichick said Wednesday. "I love to play in a championship game; schedule it anyway you want."

"For us, no factor. It could be cold but at the end of the day you've got to play football," said safety Duron Harmon. "You've got to tackle, you've got to catch the ball, you've got to block, you've got to run. You've got to do everything you can to win the game. For us, you just have to block that cold out because at the end of the day you might not get this opportunity to be in this game again and you don't want to think about it down the road that you let the cold [have] an effect on how you played.

"It's going to be cold. They're going to be cold, everybody is going to be cold," continued Harmon. "The guy that understands it and is mentally tough enough to get through it and fight through it and help [give their team a chance to win] is going to be the team that's standing at the end."

"I don't think it will be much of a factor because it's not like we're playing in 10 [degrees] and they're playing in 50 [degrees]," said receiver Phillip Dorsett. "We're both playing in the same temperatures so we both have got to adjust and both have to be ready for it."

Pre-game "warm ups" will probably be a little difficult, and it may take players longer than usual to get loose. But once the game kicks off, the Patriots won't be thinking about the thermostat.

"From my experience, there's not really much you can do with the cold," said linebacker Dont'a Hightower. "Give us a ball and a field and we'll be there. I'm sure it's going to be a great environment. I'm sure the cold is going to be part of it, but we're just looking forward to getting out there and competing."

The Patriots are coming off a convincing divisional round victory over the Los Angeles Chargers, but they've been a completely different team on the road this season. The Pats were just 3-5 away from Gillette Stadium during the regular season, losing three of their last four road tilts.

Now they have to head to Arrowhead, which is one of the loudest and most hostile places to visit in the NFL. Chiefs fans will be bundled up, but the Patriots know they're going to bring it in the stadium's first-ever AFC Championship Game.

"I think this team thrives on it," Dorsett said of the hostility that awaits the Patriots. "Obviously, there's no elephant in the room, we're 3-5 on the road and everybody is going to criticize us for that. We've got our backs against the wall and we've just got to go out there and play our best game. That's the only thing that really matters."

"It's definitely one of the hardest places to play. But, at the end of the day, it just comes down to executing," said Hightower. "It comes down to football and executing plays. They're a high-powered offense and they're real good on defense, so obviously defensively, we're going to have to eliminate big plays. Obviously, they have that every which way, whether it's a run or pass, and if it's a pass, it doesn't matter who it's going to – they're all capable of big plays. So, it's going to have to come down to eliminating those big plays for us."

The Patriots will have their hands full with the Chiefs on Sunday, so they aren't going to waste any time worrying about something they can't control in their biggest game of the season.

Tune in to Sunday's Patriots-Chiefs AFC Championship Game on WBZ-TV -- the flagship station of the New England Patriots. Coverage begins at 11:30 a.m. with a special 90-minute edition of Patriots GameDay, kickoff is set for 6:40 p.m., and after the game stay tuned for full reaction and analysis on Patriots 5th Quarter!

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