Kickoff for the Tennessee Titans’ game against the Houston Texans on Saturday will be postponed one hour as the city of Nashville deals with power cutbacks related to extremely cold temperatures in middle Tennessee.
The Titans (7-7) will now host the Texans (1-12-1) from Nissan Stadium at 2 p.m. ET. The Titans had tarps on the playing surface to blow hot air onto the field to try to thaw out the ground early Saturday. Scattered ice was on the sidelines and near the end zones, but the parts of the playing field visible appeared mostly thawed.
Nashville mayor John Cooper requested on social media earlier Saturday that kickoff be pushed back. In a post on Twitter, Cooper said: “I’ve been informed that (Tennessee Valley Authority’s) unilateral rolling blackouts will continue. All non-essential businesses should reduce power usage. I’ve asked the Titans to postpone their 12pm game in solidarity with our neighbors. TVA needs to invest in infrastructure to withstand extreme temps.”
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The TVA has directed local power companies to “reduce load” and have planned intermittent interruptions to power supply due to high demand with sub-freezing temperatures roving through the area. As of publication, the “feels like” temperature at Nissan Stadium sits at negative-1 degrees.
This figures to be one of the coldest games in Nissan Stadium history, if not the coldest. The previous record for lowest actual temperature at kickoff in Nashville was 23 degrees, and the coldest “feels like” temperature factoring in wind chill was 14 degrees.
Contact Nick Suss at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on Twitter @nicksuss.
