Here is what the Dolphins said about playing the Chiefs in Wild Card Round
This isn’t exactly a newsflash considering it’s January in Kansas City, but it is supposed to be really cold during Saturday’s Chiefs-Dolphins AFC Wild Card Game.
Still ... it could be the coldest game ever played in Kansas City.
Dolphins offensive tackle Terron Armstead told reporters after Miami’s 21-14 loss to Buffalo that he’s not too concerned about the forecast.
“It’s part of playoff football,” Armstead said in a news conference. “You go to the outdoor stadiums everywhere in January and February. It’s gonna be on the colder side. But these NFL stadiums have heated benches, heaters on the sideline. The weather doesn’t really affect the guys as much as people think.”
However, Miami running back Jeff Wilson may not get his wish for the game.
“Playing in the snow has been a dream of mine,” Wilson told the Palm Beach Post.
As for the game, which is a rematch of the Chiefs’ 21-14 win in November, the Dolphins expect coach Andy Reid and his staff to change things up from that game in Germany.
“Kansas City is going to have their wrinkles,” fullback Alec Ingold told the Post. “They’re going to change things up. We have ballers. We don’t quit. We’ve had tough losses and it hurts. Coach talked about supreme accountability. Feeling sorry for yourself isn’t going to help against the Chiefs.”
The Dolphins missed a chance to play a postseason game at home by losing their last two games of the regular season, including Sunday’s defeat.
They know there is no time to wallow in despair.
“I‘m very confident that our players and coaches will turn their attention full bore to Kansas City because that’s all we can do,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said in a postgame news conference. “And this is a feeling that I can’t console or fix it with the team. It hurts. It should.”
McDaniel also expects the rematch with the Chiefs to be different in some ways from the game in Germany.
“The Kansas City Chiefs play their style of defense. I think there’ll be a fair amount (of similarities), but things change during the season,” McDaniel said. “Different players come in, there’s injuries. There’s evolution to what you’re doing. So it’s not like it’s ever the exact same thing when you play someone in the middle of the season and then play them in the postseason.
“It’s a same starting point, but both teams are going to be competing to get a playoff win. So there’s usually some bells and whistles attached to the scheme and game plan, so you’ve got to be ready for a lot.”
Ingold told the Associated Press the Dolphins are confident they can bounce back from Sunday’s defeat.
“I believe we have the right people in the building to respond to adversity,” Ingold said. “I think that’s what we’re trained to do.”
This story was originally published January 8, 2024 at 12:34 PM.
