The last time the New England Patriots traveled to Florida, they were soundly beaten 35-6 by the Jacksonville Jaguars. One of the contributing factors to that loss appeared to be the team struggling with the heat and humidity.
At least one of the two might not have that big an impact come Sunday’s game against the Miami Dolphins. According to NFL Weather, temperatures at Hard Rock Stadium will not exceed 78°F during the Week 8 contest between the two division rivals. The National Weather Service,
meanwhile, projects highs near 82°F for the day.
What will differentiate that game from the Jaguars one, however, is the precipitation. Whereas that Week 3 contest was played in sunny conditions, this one won’t: the chance of rain has been calculated at 80% with showers and thunderstorms an option.
In addition, wind gusts of up to 26 mph are projected for the area (although in-stadium conditions may vary).
All in all, however, the weather could have an impact on the contest — as could the Patriots’ conditioning.
“We have to be conditioned,” said head coach Mike Vrabel this week. “The better that we play, the more we possess the ball, the fresher we’ll stay defensively. Hopefully we get the receivers into a rotation. The backs, we rotate. I don’t think that the offensive linemen will necessarily rotate. We may play a couple guys based on who’s available. That remains to be seen. The edge guys, we rotate. We try to rotate along the defensive line. We like to have our best players available to help us win.”
Kickoff between the Patriots and Dolphins on Sunday is scheduled for 4:25 p.m. ET.
