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Cold Weather Adjustments

Austin Tatious

Austin Tatious

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Miami was not ready to play, particularly on defense. They looked shell shocked from the cold. It does not matter that Suh played at Nebraska or Lippett at MSU or that Rambo and Alonso are former Bills. They did not look ready *at the moment*. If your body has gotten accustomed to 77 degrees, and now you're supposed to play when it feels like 1 degree, it's a shock to your system.

It sounds like Gase and Joseph decided that cold is just a mental issue. That's not what I saw. I saw a group of guys not ready to compete and play hard in that weather.

Going forward for cold weather games, I would get the team up there and practice in it for a few days. It is similar to the way Miami stayed out on the west coast for back to back games. Miami got accustomed to the situation and went 2-0 on the west coast.

I would take a similar approach for games below freezing. JMO. I really hope Gase considers this.

Thoughts?
 
with the practice time so restricted currently by the NFL I don't think another day out in it for 2 hours or whatever it is would have mattered. It's home field advantage and if we won enough it would have been in 80 degree weather. Look at the Giants, hamming it up with no shirts on, and they're from the northeast and they laid an egg. We did what we do, start slow and paid the price...oh and we have few playmakers on D and Oline
 
The defense looked that way the last several games. Had nothing to do with the cold.
 
Austin Tatious said:
Miami was not ready to play, particularly on defense. They looked shell shocked from the cold. It does not matter that Suh played at Nebraska or Lippett at MSU or that Rambo and Alonso are former Bills. They did not look ready *at the moment*. If your body has gotten accustomed to 77 degrees, and now you're supposed to play when it feels like 1 degree, it's a shock to your system.

It sounds like Gase and Joseph decided that cold is just a mental issue. That's not what I saw. I saw a group of guys not ready to compete and play hard in that weather.

Going forward for cold weather games, I would get the team up there and practice in it for a few days. It is similar to the way Miami stayed out on the west coast for back to back games. Miami got accustomed to the situation and went 2-0 on the west coast.

I would take a similar approach for games below freezing. JMO. I really hope Gase considers this.

Thoughts?
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I thought the same thing during the game, but there are definitely trade offs to be weighed with those kinds of arrangements. Sucks being an 80-degree year-round team in a league dominated by teams accustomed to sub-20 degree temps. It's going to be a topic every year, however it's not news. This team has played through worse conditions. Our defense suffered more from attrition than from the cold.
 
Well the Dolphins went to Pittsburgh in December a couple years ago when it was cold (and snowing!) and beat the Steelers with Tannehill at QB. I dont know if I buy too much into the cold weather stuff. The healthier and more talented team won playing on their home field. Thats how I see it.
 
They won in NY and Buffalo and those were "cold weather" games.
I was at the NYJ game and that was cold and it was in the mid 30s.
I was at Sunday's game in Pittsburgh and after a while your body adjusts. The wind is the thing that makes it feel really cold. The sun was out for most of the game and by the end, I didn't feel cold at all as long as the wind wasn't blowing.
I don't think it had any impact on our players.
 
Shell shocked from the cold? What the heck happened against the Pats last game of the season? I was there, it was 82 degrees and we still got smacked. Defense just sucked man. Last 7 games of the season everyone had Vance Joseph figured out...we were giving up 1st downs with regularity on 3rd down...and every other down. It was only made worse by the number of players we were losing to injury.
 
I take it you have never been in the cold much.
 
I guess we saw two different games, and we can leave it at that. I saw a defense that was stiff and cold, with no heart at the start of the game. They were not ready for the cold. Playing in 30's is one thing. When it feels like "2" that is an entirely different thing. They normalized later on in the game but the start of the game was Mickey Mouse time for the Dolphins. The Steelers acted normal. The Dolphins did not come close to that. It was embarrassing.

I would hate to play on the road in biting cold (not balmy 30's) and have the same thing happen again. 2 degrees and 32 degrees are two totally different beasts. The Dolphins can kid themselves all they want, but they looked soft and not ready for the cold. You can't blame them. If you're sitting in 77 degrees and then thrown into a 2 degree situation, it is a shock to your system. We have seen it from not just the Dolphins, but the Bucs over the years. Warm weather team on the road late? Ugly football.

I'd hate to see the Dolphins continue to hide their head in the sand on this issue in future years. The "same ole, same ole" is not working. Creativity, forward thinking. Learn from the mistake of yesterday, going forward. If they don't, put your money on the home team regardless of the point spread, because Miami is not going on the road to a cold city and winning in the playoffs.
 
Austin Tatious said:
I guess we saw two different games, and we can leave it at that. I saw a defense that was stiff and cold, with no heart at the start of the game. They were not ready for the cold. Playing in 30's is one thing. When it feels like "2" that is an entirely different thing. They normalized later on in the game but the start of the game was Mickey Mouse time for the Dolphins. The Steelers acted normal. The Dolphins did not come close to that. It was embarrassing.

I would hate to play on the road in biting cold (not balmy 30's) and have the same thing happen again. 2 degrees and 32 degrees are two totally different beasts. The Dolphins can kid themselves all they want, but they looked soft and not ready for the cold. You can't blame them. If you're sitting in 77 degrees and then thrown into a 2 degree situation, it is a shock to your system. We have seen it from not just the Dolphins, but the Bucs over the years. Warm weather team on the road late? Ugly football.

I'd hate to see the Dolphins continue to hide their head in the sand on this issue in future years. The "same ole, same ole" is not working. Creativity, forward thinking. Learn from the mistake of yesterday, going forward. If they don't, put your money on the home team regardless of the point spread, because Miami is not going on the road to a cold city and winning in the playoffs.
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The Buccaneers pummeled the Eagles in frigid weather in Philly when the Bucs won the Superbowl. Cold had no effect on them.
 
315DolphinsFan said:
They won in NY and Buffalo and those were "cold weather" games.
I was at the NYJ game and that was cold and it was in the mid 30s.
I was at Sunday's game in Pittsburgh and after a while your body adjusts. The wind is the thing that makes it feel really cold. The sun was out for most of the game and by the end, I didn't feel cold at all as long as the wind wasn't blowing.
I don't think it had any impact on our players.
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You only get cold if you're standing around. If you're out on the field running around and your adrenaline is pumping you're okay.

---------- Post added at 02:26 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:25 PM ----------
PerfectFinz72 said:
Well the Dolphins went to Pittsburgh in December a couple years ago when it was cold (and snowing!) and beat the Steelers with Tannehill at QB. I dont know if I buy too much into the cold weather stuff. The healthier and more talented team won playing on their home field. Thats how I see it.
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And that day the temp was only like 20 degrees and the Dolphins were fine in it.
 
I remember the Bucs game because it was such an outlier. Until then, they had never won a game under something like 35 degrees. Warm weather teams winning in really cold temps = not common. But, sure, keep your heads in the sand.

I am not talking about games in snow or at 30 degrees, guys. I am talking about yesterday. "Feels like 1." That's different than 27 degrees and snow, which is relatively easier to deal with. You guys may not recognize the difference, but I grew up in the Midwest and know the difference.
 
There's no doubt we'd have been a much better team at Pittsburgh with a healthy Reshad Jones, Byron Mawell, Isa Abdul Quddus, Koa Misi, Tannehill and Pouncey.

---------- Post added at 02:35 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:34 PM ----------
Austin Tatious said:
I remember the Bucs game because it was such an outlier. Until then, they had never won a game under something like 35 degrees. Warm weather teams winning in really cold temps = not common. But, sure, keep your heads in the sand.

I am not talking about games in snow or at 30 degrees, guys. I am talking about yesterday. "Feels like 1." That's different than 27 degrees and snow, which is relatively easier to deal with. You guys may not recognize the difference, but I grew up in the Midwest and know the difference.
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Yes there's a difference but BOTH teams have to play in the "feels like 1 degree" weather. The Steelers haven't been outside practicing in 1 degree weather either.
 
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