Getty Tua Tagovailoa #1 of the Miami Dolphins takes the field prior to playing the Buffalo Bills at Hard Rock Stadium on September 25, 2022 in Miami Gardens, Florida.
The Buffalo Bills (10-3) are looking for revenge in more ways than one when they face the Miami Dolphins (8-5) on Saturday, December 17. Not only do they want to make up for their 21-19 loss against the Dolphins back in Week 3, but the forecast in Buffalo this weekend is giving Bills Mafia a good laugh.
WGRZ chief meteorologist Patrick Hammer predicts temperatures to fall to the 20s with wind gusts up to 30 miles an hour. With the lake effect snow heading straight toward Highmark Stadium, the question is not if it will snow, but how many inches will fall.
This is the latest thinking of where a lake snow band sets up Saturday evening. It looks like it splitting the uprights at Highmark Stadium. @wgrz #Stormteam2
However, Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is not worried. “Could be snowing, could rain, I don’t know,” Tagovailoa said, as reported by Pro Football Talk‘s Michael David Smith. “It’s a mindset thing, really, and if I’m too focused and worried about, Is it too cold? Can I grab the ball or not? Then I’m focused on the wrong things and it’ll be hard to play that way.”
Smith noted after addressing several questions about the weather in Buffalo, “Tagovailoa began to take issue with the idea that he can’t handle snow, saying that last winter he visited his brother, who plays quarterback at Maryland, and did an outdoor workout there, and that he saw snow in college, too.”
The former No. 5 overall pick from the 2020 NFL Draft said, “It snowed in Alabama my first year. So it snows in Alabama, guys. People don’t know that,” — a comment which Bills fans and analysts had a field day with on Twitter. If the 24-year-old thinks snow in Tuscaloosa the snowstorms in Western, New York — he’s in for a rude awakening.
13WHAM‘s Dan Fetes tweeted out the GIF of quarterback Josh Allen’s viral “okay” response after seeing Tagovailoa’s comments, while One Bills Live host Chris Brown retweeted how the most snow seen in Tuscaloosa is seven inches, while the Buffalo record is 77 inches.
It snows in Alabama, guys – Tua Tagovailoa
One fan tweeted, “It’s easy to not think about… until that cold Buffalo wind comes over that sideline and cuts through you like a knife, while another person responded, “That’s like Buffalonians comparing a heavy rain to Hurricane Andrew.”
Tua says he’s not worried about snow this week. 😅
New York Upstate‘s Matt Parrino reported, “The three lowest QBR games of Tagovailoa’s career have come in games with temperatures below 45 degrees, including in 2020 in Buffalo when it was 35 degrees at kickoff.”
Dolphins Head Coach Mike McDaniel Wore an ‘I Wish It Were Colder’ T-Shirt at Practice
Mike McDaniel strutting around with his pants rolled up wearing a “i wish it were colder” t-shirt is priceless😭
Fueling the discussion over the weather in Buffalo, Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel boldly rocked a t-shirt that read, “I wish it were colder,” during practice on Wednesday.
McDaniel said that he’ll be doing “zero monitoring” of the weather this weekend, per ESPN‘s Marcel Louis-Jacques. Mirroring Tagovailoa’s mind-over-matter sentiment, “You don’t really prepare for it besides mentally deciding if it’s going to matter to you or not,” McDaniel said, per NFL.com.
“There’s certain things that become harder when there’s moisture or it hits a certain level of frigidness. But the good news is that there’s not different atmospheres on both sidelines. We will be playing the game in the same elements.”
On Friday, McDaniel was asked if the t-shirt worn at practice was an attempt to troll Buffalo. “That was not intended to be anything but something that’s just a mentality for the team,” he said, per Jacques. “That’s a way, I think, of emphasizing something but not obsessing about something.”
The Bills Basically Melted on the Dolphins’ Sideline in Week 3
The weekly picture of the sun’s performance to remind how opposing players are architecturally encouraged to have Heat illness like the Bills RT
While McDaniels noted to reporters about how both the Bills and Dolphins “will be playing the game in the same elements” on Saturday, the same can’t be said for when Buffalo played in Miami earlier this season in 110-degree weather. At Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, the away team’s bench gets baked under the sun while the Dolphins’ home bench remains in the shade.
Wide receiver Stefon Diggs, along with several other Bills players, were forced to exit the game due to heat illness, receiving fluids in the locker room before being able to return to the field. Diggs said during an appearance on Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz that it was an exhaustion level that the eight-year NFL veteran has never felt.
“Hell no. I’ve never been that tired in my life. I had full-body cramps after the game. I’ve never experienced that before. Probably laid on the table and was like ‘Yeah, this is it for me.'” Le Batard said the Bills “played in inhumane conditions” and the two-time Pro Bowler didn’t disagree.
“Yeah, I think it’s set up that way,” Diggs said. “Because if you ever notice on that Miami field, the majority of the Miami side is under the shade, and our side? It’s in the sun that ya know, turns those grapes into raisins. It was real fun out there. Full body cramps is when your hamstrings, quads, arms, stomach — all the good stuff cramps up. It’s just part of the game.”
“I definitely think [the cold weather] is an advantage that we have… Miami’s got a weather advantage too, the opposing sideline is in the sun.”
@JoshAllenQB discusses each team’s home field advantage ahead of the Dolphins-Bills game in Buffalo.
More recently, Allen admitted during an appearance on Kyle Brandt’s Basement on December 12, that the Bills’ ability to play in the cold is an advantage but said, “Miami’s got a weather advantage, too. The opposing sideline is in the sun. It’s 20 to 30 degrees hotter on the away side than the home side. but having the cold here, kinda evens stuff out.”