Open Letter: The Miami Dolphins Have No Idea What They’re In For

You may have heard that there's a snow game happening in the NFL this weekend.

It's happening this weekend in Orchard Park between the Miami Dolphins at Highmark Stadium. Kickoff is at 8:15 pm and will be aired nationally on The NFL Network, along with locally on channel 7 in Buffalo.

There will be a lake effect snow warning that will go into effect tonight and lasts through the weekend.

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Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa made some headlines earlier this week, with soundbites about the weather.

McDaniel said he will do "zero monitoring" of the weather in Buffalo and then wore a shirt that said "I wish it were colder," as a funny reference to the impending forecast in Orchard Park.

Tagovailoa, when asked about the forecast calling for snow, said to the Miami media, "it snows in Alabama, guys." That was in reference to his college football playing career at Alabama. Tua also said how he threw a football with his brother with snow on the ground in Maryland in the off-season.

It really does feel like the Dolphins (and their fans) think that they're getting cold and an inch or two of snow on Saturday; maybe 3-4 inches is their mindset. They might even think they will be able to run their offense as if it's a normal game.

That is absolutely not what they're getting tomorrow.

The entire Dolphins team, coaches included, have never experienced a lake effect snowstorm. I say this all the time to friends who live in other parts of the country (Nashville, Florida, Chicago, California, etc.), when it comes to lake effect snow: I could go on and on about how bad these events are, but until you have lived it, you don't know what you are in for.

Sure, many Bills players grew up in Florida or the south and didn't grow up with snowstorms...but every Bills player and coach lived through the lake effect snowstorm from a month ago, and saw first hand the worst case scenario.

A few prominent Bills players were here in 2017 for that snow game against the Indianapolis Colts, where a foot of snow fell: Tre'Davious White, Matt Milano, Micah Hyde, Jordan Poyer, Reid Ferguson.

The Dolphins don't know what they're in store for. They have never seen a lake effect snow band firsthand. The snow falls much faster than general snowfall. The 15-20 mph winds with 30 mph gusts will blow the snow around. The wind chills mess with your head. It messes with mine if I'm throwing the garbage out and have to walk through it, imagine spending 3-4 hours straight in this weather? And trying to play a professional football game?

The Dolphins won't be able to run their usual passes; even screens will be difficult. You don't want to risk a fumble or turnover because of the weather.

10-24 inches will fall in Western New York and the worst is expected to be over Orchard Park, where two feet of snow could fall.

6-9 inches is expected to fall during the game. 10-12 inches after the game, plus the snow which has already fallen before the game.

McDaniel likely won't ever wear a shirt again that says "I wish it were colder" after Saturday...

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