Bills vs. Dolphins weather: Tua Tagovailoa, Mike McDaniel downplay history of Miami’s cold-weather struggles

You’ve probably heard that the Dolphins‘ sideline included bench heaters during Sunday night’s game against the Chargers, despite the temperature being in the mid-50s. The extra heat didn’t register a win, however, as Miami fell behind early before being on the short end of a 23-17 score.

In many ways, the heaters represent Miami’s lingering issues in cold-weather games. Specifically, Tua Tagovailoa has not had success in cold-weather games in his three years as the Dolphins’ quarterback. He is winless in the four coldest games he has started, with a passer rating of just 61.4. In those games, Tagovailoa has scored just three total touchdowns while turning the ball over six times, according to CBS Sports senior research editor Doug Clawson.

Coldest Games in Tua Tagovailoa’s Career

As you can see, two of Tagovailoa’s cold weather losses have come against the Bills, who will host the Dolphins in what will be Tagovailoa’s coldest NFL game to date. Saturday’s expected temperature is between 25-28 degrees, making it Tagovailoa’s first NFL game in freezing conditions. Snow showers are also in the forecast, which will likely make throwing downfield more difficult.

Coach Mike McDaniel downplayed talk of the Dolphins’ cold-weather struggles this week, telling reporters “it is the same field, the same elements” for both teams in Week 15, and wearing a T-shirt to practice that read, “I Wish It Were Colder.” 

Tagovailoa also did not put much stock into the frigid and snowy forecast, which calls for a low of 27 degrees, 15 MPH winds and 80% chance of precipitation, according to Weather.com.

“It snowed in Alabama my first year. So it snows in Alabama, guys,” Tagovailoa said during his press conference Wednesday. “People don’t know that. Some people just think it gets cold, but it does snow.”

“It’s a mindset thing,” he said. “If I’m too focused and worried about if it’s too cold, can I grab the ball, can I not, then I would say I’m focused on the wrong things. It would be hard to play that way going over there against a really good team.”