MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The Miami Dolphins‘ reward for blowing a three-game AFC East lead with five weeks to go?
A trip to Arrowhead Stadium Saturday night to face the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs in what is expected to be the coldest game in the Dolphins’ 58-year history.
Miami Dolphins. vs. Kansas City Chiefs Weather Forecast
It’s rarely comfortable in Western Missouri in January, but this weekend will be particularly cold due to a polar vortex expected to impact much of America, with temperatures in some areas a staggering 50 degrees below normal.
It won’t be quite that extreme Saturday at Arrowhead, but the temperatures will still be downright frigid.
According to the latest forecast from Weather Underground, it’ll be 5 degrees at kickoff, with 10 to 20 mph winds that’ll make it feel like 10 below. There’s a slight chance of snow that increases later in the night.
By way of comparison, it’ll be a cloudy 74 degrees with a moderate chance of rain at 1 p.m. in Miami Gardens, when and where the Dolphins’ playoff opener would have been had they beaten the Bills Sunday night.
10 Coldest Games in Miami Dolphins History
- Dec. 21, 2008, at Kansas City W 38-31 10 degrees, sunny
- Dec. 11, 1977, at New England L 10-14 14 degrees, clear
- Jan. 8, 2017, at Pittsburgh L 12-30 17 degrees, partly cloudy
- Dec. 12, 1982, at New England L 0-3 22 degrees, snowy
- Dec. 17, 2017, at Buffalo L 16-24 22 degrees, mostly cloudy
- Dec. 8, 1985, at Green Bay W 34-24 23 degrees, cloudy
- Dec. 18, 1988, at Pittsburgh L 24-40 23 degrees, overcast, light snow
- Dec. 3, 1989, at Kansas City L 21-26 23 degrees, clear
- Dec. 27, 1992, at New England (OT) W 16-13 23 degrees, clear
- Dec. 24, 2017, at Kansas City L 13-29 23 degrees, cloudy
Can the Dolphins Win in the Cold?
A 3-7 record when it’s 23 degrees or colder should be no surprise for a franchise more concerned with hurricanes than blizzards. It’ll be by far the coldest game their quarterback — the Hawaiian Tua Tagovailoa — has ever played.
And yet …
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“No sleeves,” Dolphins defensive tackle Christian Wilkins pledged Monday, a mind-over-matter approach that many NFL tough guys take when the mercury drops.
Added linebacker David Long Jr., who grew up in Ohio and played collegiately at West Virginia: “That’s football weather. It’s cold weather. That’s when I like to see who’s going to break. Who’s going to turn down those hits? Who’s going to push through it? That’s when you see what the love for the game is at that point.”
Will Austin Jackson, the Dolphins’ right tackle from California, follow Wilkins’ lead?
“I doubt it. I doubt it. I probably will have like thermal tights on for sure and some Vaseline.”
The Dolphins are 3.5-point road underdogs Saturday, with just a 37% chance of winning, based on the moneyline’s (+164) implied odds.
Most are giving the Dolphins little, if any, chance to win.
“I get the narrative there, but I think you’re kind of overlooking the guys in the locker room,” said Dolphins tight end Durham Smythe. “Just because the narrative has been all year that we are the fast, flashy team, I don’t think it means that we are soft or scared of the elements, just because the weather is better down here.
“The guys in that locker room, obviously we come from all over too. It’s not like we all lived here in Miami our entire lives. We’ve dealt with elements before, and like I just mentioned, it’s a playoff game, and if you can’t get up for that, regardless of the weather, then this isn’t for you.”
Will Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel use the familiar “us-against-the-wall” rallying cry to motivate his team this week?
“The noise I anticipate will be loud enough and pointed enough that I won’t necessarily have to bring it up,” he said.
“I will say this team, in my opinion, set their expectations and standards for what they wanted to do way before people said they could do it. There’s a lot of people littered on the team that have been outrightly told that they can’t.
“I don’t see that as surprising as that would be said, nor do I worry about it. I think it’s something that our — the individual players across the board in the locker room — our locker room is littered with people that have found success in the face of people saying they can’t. People say we can’t until we do.”
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