Miami Dolphins Schedule & Ticket Info: Weekly Matchup Analysis

The NFL schedule has been released and with that, it means that fans can start buying tickets for the 2020 season. Over the course of the next few weeks, we here at uSports will be dissecting the regular season schedules of each of the NFL teams, and tell you what games you are going to want to attend.

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After they were thought to be tanking for Tua Tagovailoa, the Dolphins ended up winning some games toward the end of the year, finishing 5-11 in 2019. Fortunately for them, an injury to Tagovailoa and the emergence of Joe Burrow, allowed the Dolphins to draft their quarterback of the future at the fifth overall pick in this year’s draft. Now, will Tagovailoa be the Week 1 starter for the Dolphins is a different question. The Dolphins have some nice pieces around Tagovailoa and Ryan Fitzpatrick, who will also be fighting for the starting QB job, on offense, with Jordan Howard and Matt Breida in the backfield, and DeVante Parker, Mike Gesicki, Allen Hurns and Preston Williams catching passes. Miami were huge spenders on defense this offseason, getting guys like Kyle Van Noy, Byron Jones, Emmanuel Ogbah and Shaq Lawson, to play alongside players from last season in Xavien Howard, Eric Rowe, Christian Wilkins and Bobby McCain. With a now more wide open AFC East division with the departure of Tom Brady from New England and the Jets just being the punching bag of the division, the only real competition for the Dolphins this season in their division are the Buffalo Bills. It will be on head coach Brian Flores to get his team to compete every single week and maybe they can be in the conversation for a playoff spot. 

Full Miami Dolphins Schedule:

Week 1: at New England Patriots

Week 2: vs. Buffalo Bills

Week 3: at Jacksonville Jaguars

Week 4: vs. Seattle Seahawks

Week 5: at San Francisco 49ers

Week 6: at Denver Broncos

Week 7: vs. Los Angeles Chargers

Week 8: vs. Los Angeles Rams

Week 9: at Arizona Cardinals

Week 10: vs. New York Jets

Week 11: BYE

Week 12: at New York Jets

Week 13: vs. Cincinnati Bengals

Week 14: vs. Kansas City Chiefs

Week 15: vs. New England Patriots

Week 16: at Las Vegas Raiders

Week 17: at Buffalo Bills

Looking at the Dolphins’ schedule, they will have some challenges, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they improve on their record from 2019 in 2020. Looking at the games prior to their Week 11 bye week, There are definitely some winnable games against the Patriots, Bills, Jaguars, Rams, and Jets. Do I think they will win all of these games, no but they can definitely win three or four of those games. The Dolphins will also play the Seahawks, 49ers, Broncos, Chargers and Cardinals. These games will not be easy, but there are opportunities present for the Dolphins to steal a game or two, especially against the Broncos, Chargers and Cardinals. How I am looking at the Dolphins’ first ten games, if they are 5-5 or 6-4, they will be sitting in a great spot in my opinion entering their bye week, with a significantly easier schedule after their bye. Diving into the games after their bye week, the only game that really scares me is Week 14 against Kansas City. I think the Dolphins can easily win their games against the Jets, Bengals, Patriots and Raiders, mainly because their defense I think can overpower the offenses of their opponents. If the Dolphins can win all four of those games, they would set themselves up nicely for the final week of the season where they might be fighting for a wild card spot. Week 17 against the Bills, in Buffalo, will be interesting because if the Bills have already secured their spot in the playoffs and are not in the conversation for a first-round bye, it wouldn’t surprise me that they rest some of their top players, which would give Miami a significantly higher chance of winning that game. If however the Bills could get a first-round bye with a win or for some reason have yet to clinch a playoff spot, I don’t see the Dolphins winning that game as the Bills on paper are a better team on both offense and defense. 

The Dolphins will be a very interesting team in 2020, regardless of whether or not Tagovailoa is the starter. The Dolphins have the potential from being the last place team in their division to making the playoffs and if things go really well for them, they win their division. Here are the five Dolphins’ games this season I will try to attend:

• Week 1: Dolphins at Patriots
• Week 4: Seahawks at Dolphins
• Week 10: Jets at Dolphins
• Week 13: Bengals at Dolphins
• Week 17: Dolphins at Bills

These games for the Dolphins all have their own storylines and the potential for wins for them. Week 1 versus the Patriots, a rematch of Week 17 from last season. Had the Patriots won that Week 17 game from a year ago, they would have gotten a higher seed in the playoffs and a first round bye, who knows what would have happened then in terms of the landscape of the NFL. If Miami wants to take a step toward making the playoffs, a win here would be a good start. Week 4 against the Seahawks, although the Dolphins probably won’t win this game, this will be a good litmus test for them to see how they stack up to a top tier team in the NFL. Week 10 against the Jets, this will be the start of a three week stretch for both teams where they play each other in Week 10, have their bye week Week 11, and then play each other again in Week 12. For the Dolphins, if they can win Week 10, go into their bye on a high note, they can carry that into the remainder of their season. Week 13 versus the Bengals, this game I am solely interested in, because if Tagovailoa is starting for the Dolphins, and Joe Burrow is the starter for the Bengals, it would be a matchup of the top two quarterbacks taken in the 2020 draft. Had Tagovailoa not gotten hurt his last season at Alabama, he would have most likely been the first pick in this year’s draft. This will be the first of hopefully many matchups between these two. Finally, Week 17 against Buffalo, the Dolphins can play the spoiler for the Bills as they did to the Patriots last season but also if the Dolphins are on the verge of making the playoffs, a win here could possibly be their ticket into the postseason. Plus, a game in Buffalo in December, there will probably be snow on the ground, it will just look awesome from a fan’s perspective. 

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Article by Tyler Melito