My Dad used to tell us the story that as a kid he and his friends would run their tongues along the railing after the first snow. He grew up in Chicago, and the picture in my mind of kids laughing while doing this was always abruptly ended when he told about his buddy Donald, whose tongue got stuck to the railing and he lost a layer of it in the removal.
End of game.
We grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, so snow days and running out tongues along a frozen railing was never an issue. But cold weather and trying to win when the temperature is below 40 degrees have proven just as much of a problem for the Miami Dolphins as Donald’s tongue on the railing.
Tua Tagovailoa has never won an NFL game when the game time temperature is below 40 degrees. He is 0 and 7 in such encounters. The Dolphins, even before Tua came on the scene, have a horrible record in cold weather.
Why?
I mean, I know they are from Florida where the wealthy from New York go to spend their winters in conditions not too much different than their summers in the East. But a football team is not a collection of locals who have grown up in warm weather conditions, they are athletes drawn from college teams that played throughout the country. The Dolphins have athletes on their roster from schools located in cold weather sites including Northern Iowa, Washington, Notre Dame, Virginia Tech, Wisconsin and Michigan.
How did these athletes who were used to playing in cold weather during their college years suddenly turn into pussies when joining the Dolphins?
Okay, the uniforms don’t help. White doesn’t exactly shield the cold. But still, this is a trend that one might think could be upset under the right circumstances.
Tonight, in Green Bay, when the Dolphins meet the Packers at Lambeau Field, the game time temperature is forecasted to be 26 degrees.
Bad weather for the Dolphins. Right?
Right.
Take the Packers and laugh all the way to the bank?
Not necessarily.
Both these teams are in need of a win to keep their playoff hopes alive. The Packers are chasing the Detroit Lions in the NFC North Division which likely will reduce their path into postseason competition through the Wild Card route.
The Dolphins, while their quarterback and a number of other players were sidelined with injuries, almost buried their season beyond redemption. The Dolphins lost six of seven games early in the season while injuries played a major role. Now, as healthy as they have been all season, Miami has rebounded with four straight solid performances including a trio of wins to vault them back into the postseason conversation.
If it was 56 degrees, I’d take the road team in this one.
At 26 degrees, I’m not tempted to go against the Dolphins but certainly am not going to bet on them doing something they have never done with Tagovailoa at quarterback.
Win out in the cold.