Miami Dolphins Vs. N.E. Patriots: Weather Report

At 1pm eastern time, the Miami Dolphins will kick off the regular season with their AFC East Rival, the New England Patriots. The New England Patriots are the visiting team and will quickly find out on this South Florida afternoon, that they are no longer in the North East.

The weather forecast for the game in the Miami Gardens area at Sun Life Stadium is 88 degrees with a heat index of 96 degrees and a 40% chance of rain from the scattered thunderstorms projected compliments of www.weather.com.

The heat alone can have a heavy impact on the visiting team, eventually wearing them down in the second half, and this is something Miami Dolphins Head Coach Joe Philbin has even opined on. Having grown up in the North East, Philbin is aware of what kind of advantage can be gained from training in this kind of heat on a regular basis.

Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick, even planned a bit for this heat and had joint practices with the Washington Redskins in Virginia earlier this off season, hoping to give his team an extra edge.

With the strong likelihood of rain for this opening game, I must say Coach Philbin has had a better philosophy with the rain than the previous Head Coach, Tony Sparano. As long as there isn’t lightning, Philbin has had his players practice in the rain, as opposed to Sparano who frequently ran his players into the practice bubble at the first sense of impending rain. Pointing out that the elements are part of the game and you have to take advantage of those opportunities to prepare when they arise.

Fortunately this shouldn’t be a sloppy one with heavy rain, as the projections allude to just scattered thunderstorms, but look for it to affect the game if the rain comes and goes in spurts. The handling of a wet ball can impact a game in so many ways, from drops, to handoffs, to fumbles, and not to mention bad footing.

With an exhibition soccer game and University of Miami football game played in the last two days in Sun Life Stadium, be on the lookout for the field conditions, as rain will make the turf even softer and easier to come and create hazards for players.

Either way, Dolphins fans will come out in full support, ready to fire up the grills, get the music pumping, tapping beers together in cheers to a dry afternoon, with a poncho in their pocket just in case! Fins Up!