Chiefs to host Miami Dolphins in freezing playoff game, history favors Kansas City

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (TND) — The Kansas City Chiefs will host the Miami Dolphins in 8-degree Fahrenheit weather Saturday night, raising questions over how the Florida team will fare.

The wind chill is projected to hit –14 degrees with 17 mile per hour winds.

“If we’re playing in any playoff game that isn’t at home, it probably will be cold,” Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel said, according to the Associated Press. “It will be the same for both teams. For us and for the individuals in the locker room, I know they will not use that as an excuse.”

Miami has played in 10 games below 40 degrees since 2017. It lost all of those games by an average of 17 points, and McDaniel coached three of those games.

Dolphins tight end Durham Smythe dismisses the trend, citing his teammates’ nationwide hometowns.

“I don’t think it means that we are soft or scared of the elements just because the weather is better down here,” Smythe claimed, according to the Associated Press. “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.”

Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is 0-4 in games where the kickoff temperature is below 45 degrees, according to CBS Sports. In those contests, he complied a 71.8 passer rating and 55.5 completion percentage. He also turned the ball over five times.

Dolphins linebacker David Long surmised cold weather emphasizes players’ motivations.

“A lot of people don’t want to get hit or hit in cold weather. It hurts a little more,” Long claimed, according to the Associated Press. “That’s when you see what types of players you have on your team. How much do you love it? How much do you want to get to that certain point as a team?”

Miami has played 74 times in temperatures below 40 degrees since 1966, according to Newsweek. It lost 48 of those games.

In the Chiefs’ last 10 home games in which the temperature was 40 degrees or lower, they have won nine times and tallied a 4-0 playoff record, according to CBS Sports.

Kansas City’s second-coldest game occurred in Jan. 2020 when it beat the Tennessee Titans 35-24 to move on to the Super Bowl. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw for 294 yards and three touchdowns.

“I’d rather be playing a football game than chasing my kid around the backyard,” Mahomes said, according to the Associated Press

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid dismissed expectations his team has an advantage over the Dolphins.

“You can’t bank on that. That’s where you get into trouble,” he remarked, according to the Associated Press. “We’re not having a snowball fight.”

The last time the teams matched up in freezing weather was in 2017, when Kansas City beat Miami 29-13 in a 23-degree Christmas Eve contest.

ncG1vNJzZmivmpawtcKNnKamZ56axLR7zZqroqeeYsSwvsudZpygmZqztHnTqGShp6Opeq61wKagZpyfob2ptc2sZKKmXZu%2FprHZoqWgZaChrrq7xZ9koJmdmnqptdKtpquxXZuut7vRrGSkmZ6orrR5wqKrsmWem7luss6oq5uZnKF6rrXKnmSmm5SWu6qxy6xkmqaUrnqzscidZKmZpKe2pLeMppihp52awG6t0aumsKCVlrE%3D