Old Man Winter Goes On Vacation
By Brian Miller
“Old Man Winter” stirred up a grand old northern storm for Santa Claus leading into the holidays. From record snow falls to record lows, the northern states were blasted last week from Portland, Oregon to Portland, Maine. It seems that all that work took it’s toll on the “Old Man”. So much so that it seems he has headed out on vacation.
Tomorrow’s Dolphins vs. Jets game in East Rutherford, NJ was supposed to be a chilly 48 degrees with some rain. By kick-off tomorrow at 4, last weeks predictions had the game temp dipping closer to the 40 degree mark by the 4th quarter. Now, it seems that those predictions were not only wrong, but the reprieve could be as big a development as the return of Channing Crowder and Will Allen…who will be playing in tomorrows game.
According to Weather.com, the kick-off temps will be in and around a balmy 64 degrees with a 30% chance of showers on and off throughout the late afternoon into early evening…during the game. Winds are expected to be around 14 MPH and the temp itself will fluctuate from 64 to 60 in the hours the game is scheduled. “Feels like” temperatures are only a couple degrees lower.
Night will begin to fall shortly after 4:30 about 15 minutes after kickoff but the low ceiling and clouds will work to keep the temperatures unseasonably mild at the above temps. In fact, the temp is only supposed to drop to 51 around 8PM Eastern time.
After the weekend that was in KC, some concern was paid to the weather expected in NY this weekend. The rain favors the running game and if it’s hard, that would put Brett Favre at a disadvantage as Chad Pennington rarely throws the deep ball. It will however set NY up well for the Leon Washington screens that they run so well on Miami.
Look for the Jets to use Leon Washington to Joey Porter’s side drifting into the flats after Porter commits to the blitz. The Phins would be smart to use Yeremiah Bell one on one with the speedy back to keep him from gaining too many yards after the catch.
All in all, it looks like this game will not be decided on weather but instead, by who wants it most.