Rain, Not Cold, Could Be Challenge in Cleveland

The Miami Dolphins are expected to play in relatively warm weather for their Week 17 game against the Browns

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) calls signals prior to the snap against the Buffalo Bills during the second half at Highmark Stadium in December 2022. / Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

The Miami Dolphins' Week 17 game at Cleveland won't be a snow game after all; in fact, the temperature is expected to be downright balmy for this time of year in Ohio.

Depending on which weather service you favor, the temperatures in Cleveland late Sunday afternoon are expected to be around 50 degrees, which means we can skip the tired narrative of the problems the Dolphins and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa have had in cold games, with their poor record in such games having as much to do with losing against quality opponents than just the weather.

The latest example of that was the Thanksgiving night game against the Green Bay Packers, where it was 27 degrees at kickoff with a wind chill of 18, but the Dolphins simply were handled by a better team.

The weather conditions aren't expected to be completely ideal for the Cleveland game Sunday, however, because there's rain in the forecast throughout the day along with some wind.

And that, more than the cold, is what Tagovailoa says would be the concern, if any.

Tagovailoa hasn't played in a lot of those games in his career, but there is one that stands out, the Week 17 game of the 2021 season when he and the Dolphins struggled in a 34-3 loss against the Tennessee Titans when the kickoff temperature was 36 degrees and rain fell during the game.

As Tua pointed, though, that was almost three years ago.

“What I remember was I didn’t have a good game," Tua said. "Another thing I remember was we lost. And that’s never a good feeling, but I think with this being Year 5 for me, just what I know now that I didn’t then as far as preparation, just getting my mind right, getting wet ball drills in during practice; all of that is definitely going to be a good thing for us to prepare for this game.”

Tagovailoa ended up putting up big numbers in that Thanksgiving night game against the Packers a few weeks ago, though 240 of his 365 passing yards came after the Dolphins were down 27-3 halfway through the third quarter.

In the snow at Buffalo in the December 2022 game, Tagovailoa had a very solid performance, even though the Dolphins came up short against the Bills, losing 32-29 on a last-second field goal.

So the cold never was going to bother Tua anyway — those who have seen the movie "Frozen" will get the pun — and it's not even going to be a factor, which probably wouldn't have been the expectation when the 2024 schedule came out.

If there's a weather issue that's going to be a problem, it will be the rain and maybe the wind.

But the Dolphins aren't facing the Green Bay Packers in this game, and that's one part of the equation that can't be overstated.