Cold weather has traditionally been an Achilles’ heel for the Miami Dolphins, with Buffalo and Kansas City serving as graveyards for the NFL team’s offense in late-season and playoff games.
In Cleveland on Sunday, the Dolphins won’t have to deal with low temperatures, but the weather still will be less than ideal for a diversified offensive showing against the Browns.
The National Weather Service forecast calls for a kickoff temperature of 68 degrees with winds at 24 mph, gusting to 41. If not raining at the start of the game, the NWS said, it will be before halftime, and that will continue for the rest of the game.
“It’s going to be a great challenge,” Miami wide receiver Jaylen Waddle said. “The sport we play in, it can be any type of weather, any type of day, so just going out there, you know, playing it. We’ll be good.”
Another former Alabama star, Dolphins safety Minkah Fitzpatrick has played five games at the Factory of Sadness on the south shore of Lake Erie as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers. In three, the kickoff temperature was 38 degrees or colder. In the other two, the wind was blowing at least 20 mph.
“At the end of the day, we got to go out there and play whether it’s rain, snow, sleet, hail, whatever,” Fitzpatrick said. “So it’s the game of football. It’s unpredictable. You can’t control the conditions, and so I can’t really say whether it’s harder or not. It’s the game of football.”
Cleveland’s Quinshon Judkins said bad-weather games “can be fun,” especially for players at his position of running back.
“I think for myself, you can’t really put the ball in the air a lot in rain games,” the rookie from Pike Road High School said, “so just being able to run the ball a lot.”
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Miami coach Mike McDaniel said the trick is to play the opponent, not the weather.
“My philosophy is to make sure not to make the weather the opponent that the Browns are,” McDaniel said. “So with weather, like, case in point last year when we were playing the Cleveland Browns, all week -- I can’t remember if it was rain, sleet, snow or hail -- but there was a lot of lot of things that were talked about during the week that didn’t show up on Sunday. So I think for me, I prepare and kind of weave it into the conversation. Closer to the game, the night before the game is when the weather predictions are a little more accurate. We all know weather predictions are an inexact science.
“So I think you make the opponent the team you’re playing, not the weather. And then as you get closer, you start talking about the details and fundamentals of what your plan will be when that’s closer to reality. But until it is, you try to focus on the opponent and nothing else.”
Last season, the Dolphins beat the Browns in Cleveland 20-3 on Dec. 29, with a kickoff temperature of 54 degrees and wind at 15 mph.
“I remember the freaking field was kind of slippery,” Waddle said. “But outside of that, it was really good.”
The Dolphins and Browns square off at noon CDT Sunday at Huntington Bank Field.
Each team has a 1-5 record and the stats to back that up – with one exception. While Cleveland is 28th in yards gained and 32nd in points scored and 22nd in points allowed among the NFL’s 32 teams this season, only two teams have yielded fewer yards than the Browns defense. Miami ranks 27th in yards gained, 18th in points scored, 30th in yards allowed and 29th in points allowed.
The Dolphins lost eight-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Tyreek Hill in the fourth game of the season. McDaniel credited Waddle with keeping Miami’s offense afloat with 12 receptions for 205 yards and one touchdown in the past two games.
“You got to be your best when your best is required,” McDaniel said. “I think Jaylen Waddle is one of the major reasons that we’ve been able to uphold some offensive production. If not the biggest reason, he’s close to one of the biggest because he was ready for the moment. He’s been ready to receive not just targets, but timing of targets as well. And in big moments, he’s running his best routes, and that’s what you need from your No. 1 wide receiver.
“Like I’ve said, I’ve always kind of looked at him as a No. 1 just by his skill set and his mindset. And I think the details of his game have been on point the last couple weeks, which we and the Dolphins need as a team and as an offense. But there’s been a lot of guys that have contributed to that. That wasn’t one man’s role, and I think the guys are looking to take that another step and help it lead to a win.”
Waddle is among 10 former Alabama wide receivers on current NFL rosters, and he’s looking forward to seeing former Crimson Tide teammate Jerry Jeudy when the Dolphins visit Cleveland.
“That’s my guy,” Waddle said. “We got a lot of memories back from Bama. We spent a lot of time there. But I can go on and on about Jeudy. I’m excited to see him play and work. …
“We still got that same group message (among the Alabama wide receivers). We talk almost every day in there, so everybody still keeps in contact.”
Waddle said the group chat would be busy on Saturday night, when Alabama plays Tennessee in an SEC game.
“It’s a lot of talking going on rooting for our guys back in T-town good and bad,” Waddle said.
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