Phins Facing Browns AND Nasty Weather!

Miami won’t face the cold, but rain and heavy wind isn’t a cake walk for this team

The Miami Dolphins must win there next two games so they can maybe make the postseason, depending on how the Chargers, Broncos, and Colts handle their last two games. While the Phins can’t control what other teams do, they can control how they play. What they can’t control is the weather and while it won’t be cold this week, it still will be very harsh, especially for how the Dolphins have built their team.

This problem of bad weather mojo for Miami in goes back to the wisdom of the team designer Chris Grier and how he built this team based on speed and finesse.

Don’t get me wrong, Miami should win this one, but if the weather comes into play and bites us hard in a loss, remember who designed us. While we clearly are a rough out on offense in good conditions, the AFCE is a bad weather division and so are the homefields of the top teams in the AFC. On top of this, Miami can get inclement weather too with storms always blowing in and the wrong storm in the post season could flip the winning script into a losing one. So, maybe we should have built a more balanced offense.

Let’s see if the Phins can get through week though in rough weather against a poor team. If not, it will be a brutal blow to this team’s future. But if Miami does win and handle the weather, it will at least be a small step forward towards proving they can maybe mix it up on a messy field against a good opponent and come out on top.

Phins must knock this monkey down a peg or two

You don’t need the best football software to know cold weather is always a little tougher for warm weather teams compared to cold weather teams, thankfully it will be a ‘balmy’ 50ish this week. But Miami isn’t completely out of the ‘bad weather’ woods because rain and strong winds are expected. Due to their reliance on speed, outside zone running, and passing they are especially susceptible to both wind and rain, and this week they’ll get both in abundance.

It’s certainly great news that they didn’t get all three, still this game will be a wild one and if they aren’t at their best the weather could turn a very winnable game into an upset

Miami has based their run game on edge runs and last week destroying the C-gap led to their win over the 49ers. This week it won’t be so easy to move without taking a little off to keep your footing. Speed and agility won’t be as much an asset this week on a wet field, size and straight runs will offer a little better return.

Can the Dolphins work the inside of the field this week?

The Browns are better designed for running in the A and B gap. It gives the Browns a small edge. I do like Miami’s screen game in bad weather though because one mistake by the Browns defense and Achane, Hill, Smith, and maybe Waddle if he plays, can take it to the house. This is why I like Miami to win.

Of course, you never know though, if the Browns can lock down the screen game and get the offense off schedule, they can make it a tough day or maybe worse for Tua. The strong wind and rain will act as a 12th man giving them have a shot in guarding against the deep pass, so they can focus more on the middle of the field and the edges.

It will take total disaster to lose this one

I expect it to be close and get a little ugly at some points for Miami, but the Browns are horrible on offense generating only 9 points a game over their last three with Dorian Thompson-Robinson as the starting quarterback. Cleveland also likes to turn the ball over a ton, so in the end, I expect us to pull away and win because of our speed and talent edge coming up big in a few moments.

Miami is the better team, and they need the win more, so bad weather or not they should win. If the Phins lose this one, it’s the death blow to this 2024 team… and for any fans who are in doubt that we must totally rebuild this offense. I don’t think a win here means we are ‘good as a team’ going forward, but there are no acceptable excuses for losing this one. None! Let’s see what we are made of! Go Phins!!!