A Look Ahead to Wild Card Weekend
Before the ball gets kicked into the air on Saturday at 4:30 ET, most conversations will center around two things: the weather and rookie quarterbacks starting a playoff game. Both are not empty conversations as they factor into deciding the Wild Card winners. Let’s tackle the weather issue first.
In Kansas City, they are predicting -1 degrees at kickoff with 15 MPH wind. In Buffalo, the temperatures will be in the 20s, but the wind will be steady at over 20 MPH with gusts. In Tampa, rain and thunderstorms seem to be on tap, but at least it will be in the 60s.
In the last twenty years as a franchise, the Dolphins are 8-19 SU when the temperatures dip below 40 degrees. Tua Tagovailoa is from Hawaii, played at Alabama, and his coldest start was in Buffalo in 2022 when the temperature was 29 degrees, still a long way from -1.
When you read this trend, we understand that most players on the field aren’t involved with the past history. Many of the players have dealt with the cold in their careers, maybe not “East Antarctica” cold, but cold. The trend implies the Dolphins coming from a mild climate will not be able to adjust to the bone-chilling Midwest in 24 hours.