Here's a little thought experiment - since heat can hinder brain performance, could Miami have a tough time getting players to be smarter than colder weather teams? https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/warm-weather-makes-it-hard-think-straight/
I personally feel awful, and my thinking is slowed when I'm in hot, humid weather. But that only applies when I'm currently in that weather. When I leave it and go somewhere more comfortable, I think and do everything better. Given that the Dolphins generally play pretty well at home but terrible on the road, their problem would seem to be the opposite.
Their home record was great, but the road record was awful. I don't see how the heat as the reason. Plus, the Dolphins's bench is in the shaded part of the stadium. The road team has to endure baking in the sun.
Have you been to the stadium after renovations... because the heat isnt even a favtor.. used to be a home field advantage having teams come down here and deal with the intense humidity
It's not an answerable question, ultimately. The effect would mean that no matter how well they do they could do better. I suppose someone could attempt to look at the careers of players who played in Miami and cold weather locations. But I imagine that would require a lot of adjustment for variables.
The article itself qualifies the findings: They're only talking about a transient change in temperature.
Well, I don't think that this particular weather issue is a problem. However, there are weather problems today that didn't exist for most of Shula's career. In 1972, the final regular season game was played on December 16th. The Divisional Round and Conference Title games were played in December. The Super Bowl was on January 14th. In 1984, in a 16-game season, the final regular season game was played on December 17th. The Divisional Round game was in December, the Conference Title game was the first week of January, and the Super Bowl was on January 20th. Then the league started pushing the calendar back until the regular season ended in January. Then they started forcing teams to play divisional opponents at the end of the schedule, meaning mandatory road games in cold climate every season. People try to minimize those things, but they have absolutely effected the Dolphins, probably more than any other franchise.
It still is, I don't know what you've been watching. You should have watched the Oakland game at the beginning of the season. They were puking on the sidelines.
As a former prison guard, I can tell you that jails are kept at 60-65 degrees nationwide because it's a scientific fact that you are more calm and docile in cold weather. Once the temperature rises, people become more active, quicker to anger and tend to be more prone to violence. In other words, that's why we DOMINATE the 4th quarters in Miami...we are conditioned to embrace the heat instead of fear it. The heat is DEFINITELY an advantage and our 40+ year home record speaks for itself. The only time we weren't successful at home for a stretch of time was under Ross in our "disco era" while he focused on celebrities and nightclubs over football. The awning was just the latest example of his stupidity.
I think the most interesting factor here would be decision making - so QB and play callers, perhaps. Would be interesting to see some tests done attempting to see if people think slower in warmer temperatures, and whether or not they make more mental errors.
Extreme heat and extreme cold sucked to play football in. But as a football player you suck it up. Cold is worse as the ground is real hard. And the hits seem to hurt more. You just sweat more in the heat. Hydration is a big key to the heat. Guaranteed most players would rather play in 90 degrees than 20 degrees. Now the humidity. That makes it harder on other teams when they come here. Just like going to cold weather seems to be hard on the dolphins. It’s all about what you’re used to. We went undefeated in miami. We’re thay hindered from the heat?
