Miami has two unlikely postseason routes depending on how the Dolphins and Buffalo Bills played out their regular-season matchup.
A victory would have guaranteed the team at least two home playoff games at Hard Rock Stadium as well as the team’s first AFC East championship since 2008. Rather, the Dolphins will probably be on the road for the remainder of a postseason run after their 21-14 home setback.
The loss also caused the weather for their first-round match to be extremely harsh.
When the Dolphins face the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium on Saturday night, it will likely be the coldest game the team has played in franchise history. The temperature at kickoff (7 p.m. Kansas City time) is expected to be around 12 degrees, said Jonathan Kurtz, a Kansas City-based meteorologist who works for the National Weather Service. By the time the game ends about three hours later, the temperature will have dropped closer to 8 degrees.
The current coldest game in Dolphins history is a matchup with Chiefs in Kansas City on Dec. 21, 2008. It was 10 degrees at kickoff. Miami defeated Kansas City, 38-31. HOW COLD WILL IT BE? Kurtz told the Miami Herald that winds will be traveling “anywhere from 15 to 20 mph,” which will result in wind chills of around -5 degrees and as low as -10 degrees. So, it will feel even colder than the temperature reads. The wind could also be a factor in passing and kicking the ball.
The Kansas City Chiefs are introduced prior to a Week 17 NFL football game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Kansas City Chiefs, Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023, at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo. Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK “I’m a meteorologist, not a football strategist, but you might make sure you have the right end zone you’re going to go for for the coin toss, especially in the second half,” Kurtz said. Kurtz said Dolphins fans traveling to Kansas City should make sure to have an abundance of cold-weather gear, including heavy gloves and coats, scarves, wool hats, thick socks, boots and even thermal wear. “I’d be really bundled up,” Kurtz said, “because standing around in the cold like that in an outdoor stadium, then you add in the northwest winds that are me 15, 20 miles an hour, making it feel even colder than it really is, you can easily get frostbite to set in pretty fast.
So if you’re for anyone that’s going to be game traveling up here, we really recommend — even if they’re not going to be at the stadium wherever they’re going to be — make sure you stay warm, get inside if you have to. If you have to go to the concourses of the stadium to get warm, make sure you know where you can go to get warmed up if you’re starting to feel cold or starting to feel a tingle in your fingers, things of that nature.” WILL THERE BE SNOW? The Kansas City metro area got its first big snowstorm of the season Tuesday morning, Kurtz said, with about 5 to 8 inches. The snow will likely still be around in the coming days because of how cold it is, but “the coldest temperatures are going to arrive that Saturday night.” Kurtz said additional snow will likely fall in Friday morning, with an accumulation of anywhere from 2 to 3 inches. However, “it’ll be probably be dry” by kickoff.
There’s a light chance of snow flurries around the time of kickoff, but a better shot for additional snowfall — possibly up to an inch — is Sunday afternoon after the game has concluded. HOW ARE THE DOLPHINS PREPARING? For comparison, the low temperatures in Miami Gardens on Saturday is expected to reach 59 degrees. Many narratives have followed the Dolphins this season, including their struggles against winning teams, and their struggles in cold weather are sure to surface this week. With Tua Tagovailoa, a Hawaii native, as starting quarterback, the Dolphins are 1-4 in games in which the temperature was 50 degrees or less at kickoff. Miami’s sole win was a road victory against the New York Jets on Black Friday. But Tagovailoa played well in a late-season game against the Bills in Buffalo in the 2022 season, a last-second defeat for the Dolphins.
Miami has also never won a playoff game where the kickoff temperature was 46 degrees or colder. The Dolphins have won two where that temperature was 47 degrees: A 1972 Christmas Day game in Kansas City and Super Bowl VIII against the Minnesota Vikings in January 1974 in Houston. The coldest temperature for a Dolphins home playoff win was 55 degrees on Dec. 23, 1973, a 34-16 win against the Cincinnati Bengals. . Like many teams traveling to cold weather cities for games, Miami will likely pack an assortment of gear, including heaters, heated sideline coats, thermal gear and hand warmer pouches for players. Coach Mike McDaniel and players on Monday downplayed the impact of the weather on their performance.
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