ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — There’s this perception that “every year the Bills play at Miami in the searing heat of the late summer and every year the Dolphins are at Buffalo in December.”
That would be, uh, wrong.
It’s not even true that each season the Bills play in South Florida before the Dolphins head for Western New York. Indeed, that scenario is slightly reversed.
For the record, Miami, in the franchise’s 57-year history, has played exactly 14 regular-season December games on Buffalo’s home field, including this week.
It’s a fun myth, though, imagining those sun-spoiled players from vacationland packing into a plane and getting off on a frozen tarmac as wind howls off Lake Erie with snow in tow.
Still, Bills fans could be forgiven for concluding that hosting the Dolphins in December or even late November was the perfect antidote for Dan Marino’s devastating passing arm.
And so, that thought process will be revisited tomorrow night at Highmark Stadium.
This Miami team has two of the NFL’s fastest wide receivers — Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle — who have been rendered even more potent by quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, whose maturation this season has been the talk of the league.
BUT, TO THE Buffalo faithful, it’s weatherman to the rescue or, in the immortal words of Hall-of-Fame coach Marv Levy, “When it’s too cold for them, it’s just right for us.”
A powerful winter storm has descended on the region with the southtowns directly in its path bringing high winds, chilling temperatures and a snow dump that even experienced meteorologists aren’t comfortable predicting.
Advantage Bills?
Not necessarily.
Buffalo’s biggest weapon is its own passing game, vulnerable to the same vagaries of the forecast.
And while the Bills are more used to that environment, it’s doubtful they enjoy it any more than the Dolphins.
As Buffalo coach Sean McDermott pointed out, “They’re going to be in the same conditions we’re in. It’s not as if we’re out every day practicing in six inches of snow (they do on occasion). I think, perceptually, people think we go out and practice in the snow every day (and we don’t).”
STILL, Bills quarterback Josh Allen finds an irony in that after playing in 100-plus degree heat at Miami Gardens in September, this meeting will be in brutal conditions.
“It’s a little poetic,” he mused earlier this week. “In terms of last game, we don’t really talk about that … we know it’s going to be snow. It’s going to be cold and snowy for them and cold and snowy for us, we’ll have to deal with it to the best of our abilities.
“Playing in Buffalo in December is not the easiest task. We get to practice in it, that’s one advantage that we do have, something we’ve played in before and we’ve got to use (that edge).”
Allen admitted after Wednesday’s practice,”I took my shoes off and my toes are still frozen. It’s just finding what works for you, whether it’s limited warm-up time in the cold, wearing long sleeves, wearing some under stuff just to keep that warmth up or icy-hot stuff to keep the circulation going.
“Every weather scenario runs a little different but staying on the heated benches and using the hand warmers as much as possible (is best).”
SAFETY Jordan Poyer, tied for the second-longest tenured Bill, now in his sixth season, has become an expert playing in inclement weather.
“When I was in Cleveland (2013-16) we came to Buffalo for a late December game (‘16) and when we got off the plane, when that wind-chill hits you for the first time … it plays a factor. It played a factor in my head and I was like, I don’t want to be here right now.”
The Browns were 0-14 at the time and lost 33-13 in wind-chills that hit 14-below.
“But learning how to play in these cold-weather games, I’ve tried to pass my knowledge off to some of the younger guys on how to prepare yourself,” Poyer said.
And he’s come to appreciate what he saw that frigid day because those fans are now his.
“You’re out here playing at home and it’s snowing sideways and it’s as cold as hell and you’ve got fans out there with their shirts off getting loud for third-down,” Poyer said. “I can’t say (playing in) it excites me. I think over the course of my career playing here in Buffalo, you learn how to prepare yourself to play in weather like this, obviously it’s a mindset early on in the week … this is what it’s going to be like. You’ve really got to embrace it.
“Our equipment guys do a great job of getting us ready. Other teams might not like coming here and playing in it, but it is what it is … we’ve got to deal with it and they’ve got to deal with it.”
Is there anybody who enjoys playing in those conditions?
“The bigger guys,” Poyer said, “they would rather have it negative 20 degrees out there than 100 degrees. It’s more of a mindset to me to understand and prepare yourself mentally, physically, emotionally, whatever it is you need to be able to go out there and play at a high level no matter what the conditions are.”
And the next test comes tomorrow night.
(Chuck Pollock, an Olean Times Herald senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@oleantimesherald.com)
