May 14, 2025 • 32 mins
Travis is here to unveil and breakdown the Dolphins 2025 schedule. We’ll look at everything from coaching continuity and playing teams at certain times, rest between games, weather impact and much, much more!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
What is up, Dolphins, and welcome to the Draft Time Podcast.
I am your host, Travis Wingfield, and on today's show,
the schedule is here. You have certainly seen the list
of opponents by now, but we're gonna go through this
and talk about how the schedule plays out in terms
of when the games are played, our rest and the
timing of the matchups, and all the quick hitting analysis
(00:30):
on the Miami Dolphins twenty twenty five schedule. If from
the Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
This is the Draft Time Podcast.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
So before we get going here, this is part one
of a two part schedule release podcast series we're going
to do. I was putting my pre show notes together
throughout the course of the week and realized you're gonna
have like an hour and fifteen minute episode here, bub
So let me go ahead and break it into two.
We're gonna really get into the nitty gritty behind the
actual skeedule itself, like how these were, how it plays
(01:02):
out in terms of the timing of these games, and
then tomorrow on the podcast, I'll drop it first thing
in the morning. We're going to do a week by
week prediction breakdown, matchup, all that stuff of the teams,
and give you a record for the eighteen week schedule.
Seventeen game schedule, so let's go ahead and just off
the top, give you the entire schedule. We opened the
season on the road in Indianapolis September seventh, Sunday, one
(01:27):
o'clock kickoff against the Colts. Week two, we're back home
for the opener against the Patriots on September fourteenth, also
a one o'clock kickoff, and then it's a short week
on the road in Buffalo to face the Bills excuse
me for an eight to fifteen kickoff on Thursday night football,
So you get Buffalo. We've gotten Buffalo early really every
(01:47):
single year recently. I mean, twenty twenty was back in
week two, twenty twenty one was later, but twenty twenty
two was in week three, twenty four was in week two,
and now twenty five was in week three again. Week four,
we're hosting the Jets on Monday now football, a September
twenty ninth game, a seven to fifteen kickoff, so it's
a nice little earlier start than usual. And then back
(02:08):
on the road on October the fifth for the Panthers,
and Week five a one o'clock kickoff, the first of
four consecutive one o'clock kickoffs. Week six, we're back home
for the Chargers on October the twelfth, a one o'clock
kickoff there, and then we're on the road for back
to back games at one o'clock. Week seven, October nineteenth
at the Cleveland Browns, Week eight, October twenty sixth at
(02:28):
the Atlanta Falcons, and then another short week for a
home game, this time against the Baltimore Ravens for an
eight to fifteen kickoff here in Miami on Thursday Night
Football the night before Halloween. And then a nice little
long layoff extended ten days rest for the Buffalo Bills
at home here, a one o'clock kickoff on November the
ninth for Week ten, and then week eleven we're on
(02:49):
the road in Spain for a home game to face
the Commanders, the last international game of the season. I'd
say nine to thirty am kickoff here in the East.
Week twelve is the bye, that's the Sunday, November twenty third,
will be off that week also the week before Thanksgiving,
so you get a game international game, you get the
(03:09):
next Sunday off, and then you roll into Thanksgiving, so
you're gonna get a lot of football between that Commander's
game and your next Miami Dolphins game, which is the
Week thirteen game November thirtieth against the New Orleans Saints
a one o'clock kickoff. Then we're on the road for
back to back games December the seventh and Week fourteen
at the Jets for one o'clock game, and then another
Monday night football game in Week fifteen, December the fifteenth
(03:31):
against the Pittsburgh Steelers eight fifteen kickoff there on Monday
Night Football, and then another primetime game here a home
game Week sixteen, twelve twenty one, the week of Christmas
at home against the Bengals on Sunday Night Football, and
then a one o'clock kickoff the following Sunday against the
Buccaneers here at home as well. That's twelve twenty eight,
Week seventeen, and we finish up on the road in
(03:53):
New England, the first time finishing the season in New
England since the twenty nineteen season when Ryan Fitzpatrick Company
led that big time upset win there in Foxborough. So
at Colts Home, Patriots at Bills home Jets at Panthers,
Home Chargers at Browns at Falcons home Ravens Home Bills
home Commanders in Madrid home Saints at the Jets at
(04:16):
the Steelers home Bengals home Buccaneers at the Patriots, And
of course that Patriots game can be flexed to whatever
time they deem Necessarily, there's always a double header on Saturday,
and we also get the Sunday Night flex there, which
is usually the last game of the year, which has
playoff implications, So we'll see when that game winds up
getting played. Let's go ahead and go through the entire
thing here and talk about how these games impact the
(04:38):
Dolphins from a timing standpoint. Starting with Week one, September seventh,
at the Indianapolis Colts one o'clock Lucas Oil Studium.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
That was me.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
So they have a new defensive coordinator, with a new
starting cornerback and potentially two new starting safeties, and early
in the season I try to look at those types
of parts of rosters to forecast where things could possibly
go wrong in a season opening game or even Week two, because,
(05:12):
like going back to the Week two game in twenty
twenty two, a lot of those big plays that led
to the one of the best comebacks in NFL history
happened because the Ravens had communication busts on the back end,
and we took advantage of that and won the game. Accordingly,
you get that sometimes when you have new parts working
in together. And let me just first say that I
think that lou An a Arumo was one of the
(05:33):
best hires of the entire offseason or the best gets
by anybody, coach, personnel or otherwise. So I don't say
that to disparage the Colts for that, but early on
with you know, cam bind them their new kind of
signal caller in the back end there with Tarvarius Ward,
with potentially you know, a younger cornerback if Juju Brants
is not up to is not ready to go yet
(05:53):
like there.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Could potentially be a whole new.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Nucleus being built into that secondary and with the offense
and continuity, that could be a bad recipe for an
opposing defense, especially in an indoor fast track like that.
This does remove the potential of a late game, a
late season road game that would get you out of elements. Right,
you want to play at the Colts in December because
there's no weather element to that. Also, who's their Week
(06:18):
one quarterback going to be? I have a feeling it's
going to be Anthony Richardson, But they also benched him
last year pretty early in the season when he needed
those reps right, and that was a decision they probably
didn't take lightly. I imagine we'll come back with him,
But is he going to have the confidence and get
ready to roll here right away? I don't know, but
I think it's I don't want to think there's an
advantage to either starting quarterback between him and Daniel Jones.
(06:41):
I just mention it for a potential storyline for us
to track as you watch the Colts this preseason and
see who wins that battle. But really, the lack of
continuity in the secondary is probably the best part about
drawing this matchup early on in the season. Week two,
September fourteenth versus the New England Patriots, one o'clock kickoff
(07:01):
at hard Rock Stadium. I thought getting them early was
one of the quote unquote breaks that we could get,
just because it's a massive overhaul for them this offseason,
the same way as for the Colts on the back end,
tons of new talent, breaking in a new system with
a new coaching staff. They have a new receiver one
and receiver two and Kyle Williams Stefon Diggs. It's how
I think it's going to go. A new running back
(07:23):
one in Traveon Henderson, in a new offensive system and
a new defensive system. The Patriots have traditionally struggled down here,
even with Brady, especially early on in the season. We
beat them here in twenty twenty two on opening Day.
It's our home opener that usually comes with a bit
of a little added boost.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
For the home side.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
It's a short week on the horizon though for us
after this game with our biggest foe the last handful
of years in the Buffalo Bills. And it was a
while back that I checked this, But it's the records
and the records against, like spreads and whatnot that kind
of determine who's the favorite to win the game. It's
not great for the team that has the short week
(08:01):
coming up. And also when there is a international trip
coming up is a big one to look at too.
But when you play on Sunday before a Thursday game,
that can kind of be like a trap game spot
just something to keep an eye out here as you
look into that one. But man, if you get that
win against the Colts and then you're a win against
the Patriots at home away from starting off two to zero,
that could be a pretty nice landing end of the season.
(08:23):
To kick things off Week three, September eighteenth at the
Buffalo Bills for an eight to fifteen kickoff on Thursday
night football. Going there on a short week is brutal
playing in front of that crowd in primetime, which is
already raucus, one of the most in the entire league.
Not much else to doing Buffalo besides get drunk and
go to a football game, right, but now they have
(08:44):
all day to drink a posted just drinking until one
o'clock in the afternoon, with their five am wake up
calls and getting after the tail getting early in the morning.
It does mean, though, we are not going to have
to go up there in the cold weather. And if
you find a way to steal this, it means you
get a chance to sweep them at home in November,
which is obviously would be fantastic. You'll also catch them
(09:05):
sans Joey Bosa and Michael Hoyt, who were kind of
two of their massive additions off the edge, trying to
replace Leonard Floyd uh and Von Miller who wasn't very
good for them. But they're I mean, they're going to
be pretty short on edge guys in that Week three
game because two of their big offseason acquisitions were suspended
for the first six games of the season. Week four,
(09:25):
September twenty ninth versus the New York Jets seven point
fifteen kickoff Monday Night Football. Bet Up it up long
rest coming into this game eleven days between the previous game,
which is always a nice thing to have. Still going
to be hot and human for a team from the Northeast.
It's the first primetime test for a new Jets regime
(09:45):
and on the road against Arrival. The pressure is kind
of on them in that spot in my opinion, especially
if we're two to one or maybe even three and no.
Probably probably more accurate to predict two and one going
into this game, and the Jets have a pretty rough
h to start the season with, so maybe they're kind
of reeling a little bit here. It's still pretty early
in the season for a new head coach, offensive coordinator,
(10:07):
a defensive coordinator, quarterback combination, so maybe they haven't hit
their stride quite yet.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
And by the way, with.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
This game, depending on how the Cowboys schedule works, the
Dolphins will surpass the Cowboys in terms of the all
time Monday Night appearances. Our ninetieth appearance on Monday Night
football or I think the second oneild be the ninetieth appearance.
But us and the Cowboys the most Monday Night games
in NFL history. We get two more of them this year,
so we'll probably surpass the Cowboys. I'll take it back
(10:33):
and on and on and on. We have three home
primetime games this year. It's the most enfranchised history. Week five,
October fifth at the Carolina Panthers, one o'clock kickoff from
Bank of America Stadium. I don't know what do they
call the state of change every year these days?
Speaker 2 (10:49):
This could have been a warm weather, late road game.
That's all I really have here.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
Their secondary has a bunch of changes, but they're a
month in the season at this point with the same dcs,
I don't expect continuity issues to really exist there, but
I will mention this is kind of where the first
quarter of the season ends. To me. I like to
now that we don't have sixteen games. I like to
add one to the first quarter of the season and
go five four four four. So if you make it this,
this is an opportunity for a hot start, right. I mean,
(11:17):
the Panthers picked what was it, eighth, the Jets picked seventh,
the Patriots picked fourth, and the Colts picked fourteenth. So
you have three teams that were in the top eight
of the draft, one team in the top half of
the draft.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Those are teams you should be.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
And the only reason that we were ahead of the
Colts was because we missed our quarterback for six games.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
And I will get into that.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
My whole point is you should be a better team
on paper than four of the first five teams that
you play. And if you chalk up a short week
road trip to Buffalo on Thursday night as a scheduled loss,
which you know every team kind of has a couple
of those in their schedule here and there. But you know,
if you steal that one like you should have done
(11:56):
last year, if not for that Jordan Puler late hit,
you could start off five and oh and I'm not
gonna get like you know, they should be five to oh.
Just it's a possibility. There's only one playoff team in
my opinion, in the slot I mean, coming off last year,
there's one playoff team. But to me, only one of
these teams will be back in the playoffs this year.
It's the Buffalo Bills. As long as we have our quarterback,
I think we win those games. And before you bring
(12:16):
up a Titans game in twenty twenty three, please go
back and I have a tweet about this. I have
to update from last year. But go back and look
at Twoa's whole career and tell me our record in
games where we are favored, Professor lewis not gonna go
well for you, my man.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Everyone points like the Dolphins could lose any game.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
It's like, well, they really can't because they've been very
good in those spots. So can you contest that we
need to play better against the better opponents. Absolutely, But
I hate the argument that the Dolphins are no sure
bet against anybody, because they have been a very sure
bet against bad teams for a long time. Now, okay,
if kicking off quarter number two, let's go ahead and
take our first break. Come back and do that on
the other side. Draft Time Podcast, your host Travis Wingfield,
(12:53):
brought to you by Auto Nation first quarter of the
season in the books here for our schedule review and
quarter number two kicks off on week number six, October twelfth,
first of Los Angeles Chargers a one o'clock kickoff at
hard Rock Stadium, early home game at one o'clock, our
(13:14):
second of the season. Two out of the first three
so far as not bad, but we pretty much only
get two of these before November, so that's not great.
It was similar last year we had the Jags for
the opener. Then Buffalo is a night game, Titans a
night game, Like it seems like that's kind of something
they want to do across the league, primetime games early
down here in Miami. But I don't love it because
(13:36):
our biggest advantage is playing those games at one o'clock.
But playing the Chargers are only West Coast team at
a one o'clock kickoff, ten am body clock game for them.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
I like that quite a lot.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
This figures to be a pretty big factor for a
Chargers team who plays in a pretty cool climate, plays indoors.
They have a long travel A five hour flight to
get over here is going to be a lot more
human here than it is in Los Angeles. And yeah, again,
the West Coast team coming for a ten am body
clock start. That used to be like a pretty big deal.
Maybe not so much anymore, but it's a factor. I
wouldn't want to wake up at five o'clock in the
(14:10):
morning my body clock time to get ready for a
football game. That's a bubbly guts if you asked me.
But I digress. Week seven, October nineteenth at the Cleveland
Browns one o'clock kickoff from First Star Stadium. I don't
know the stateium names they change every year.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
I feel like.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
This could have been a cold weather game. Maybe it's
rainy and windy, but it's not going to be freezing temperatures.
It's not going to be like it was last year,
which was pretty cold. A decent chance there's a quarterback
change at this point in the season, because who the
hell knows who opens the season. Will it be one
of the two rookies, will it be freaking can you
pick it? Or will it be Joe Flacco? Who I
My money is kind of on Joe Flacco because Kevin
(14:49):
Stefanski's best version of his offense was run through Joe
Flacco a post. When he had to adjustice system for
Deshaun Watson, who was not a West Coast style, quick
trigger quarterback. He's a big play hunter, hold football and
take big shots in the pocket type of quarterback. I
think that Flacco could have the Browns offense, maybe surprising
early on, but will he be there in week seven?
Will they be winning enough games to justify going with
(15:11):
him over a Dylan Gabriel or a Shador Sanders or
even a Kenny Pickett who still has I guess some
developmental upside. Does Flacco stay healthy for six weeks? I
also think there's a pretty good chance that we start
to see this Browns team deteriorate at this point of
the schedule because they have in the past. We'll talk
about on the preview podcast tomorrow, but their offensive line injuries,
(15:31):
it's the same guys coming back have just wiped out
the last couple of seasons in terms of like having
eighty percent of their ow line down. Does that attrition
begin for a group of offensive lineman who's all pretty
much on the wrong side of thirty that's worth tracking here.
Week eight, October twenty sixth at the Atlanta Falcons one
o'clock kickoff from Mercedes Benz Stadium, I know that one.
(15:52):
This is another game that could have been late in
a dome on a road game, which could have reduced
a cold weather game for you. It's also another game
that comes before a short week, as we have a
Thursday game after this.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
That's really all I have here.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
I think you kind of have to get fat on
these five games post Buffalo, because you go Buffalo for
a short week on Thursday, but then you're home for
the Jets, at the Panthers, home for the Chargers, at
the Browns, at the Falcons. I think you're a better
football team than all of those teams except maybe the Falcons.
And we can argue with the Chargers building who they
are for you know, until we're blue in the face,
but that I think we're a better team. Plus the
(16:29):
fact that we have that game at home on the
ten am body clock time for the Chargers, that I
like that advantage. So those five games is a good
chance to really kind of get yourself fat for the
stretch because it gets tough right here.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
If you get past.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Buffalo four and one, you know minimum hopefully a two
and oh start, and then maybe you drop the Buffalo game,
win the next couple of games and you go into
the stretch at no less than five and two, hopefully
maybe six and one.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
Hope hopefully, because.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
At week nine, October thirtieth, first the Baltimore Ravens at
eight to fifteen on Thursday nine football. It's a tough game.
I think it's the best team to play this year.
I always love getting a good team when you're hosting
them on a short week. It's a big advantage, I think.
And last time we played them in the spot right
around this time too, back in twenty twenty one, we
(17:15):
upset them. Now, sometimes I'd probably rather play teams like
this early in the season, just because they tend to
find themselves later on. I think the best teams, you know,
the old Patriots, the current Chiefs and Bills do this.
They get tougher as the year goes on. And for
the Ravens, they seem to find their defensive like mojo
this time of year every single year. Last year they
struggled early on, just like in twenty twenty two when
we beat them with forty four points whatever. It was like,
(17:38):
this is a team that usually finds itself, you know,
past October and plays their best football beyond that.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
So that's not great.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
But I think if you look at this quarter as
another like three to one after hopefully a four to
one stretch to kick things off, you know, in terms
of the teams that you're favored against and the game,
I assume where Dogs in is at home on a
short week, This Ravens game, the Chargers in that early win.
So the Browns are, you know, they're kind of a
disaster going into the season right now. The Falcons, I'm
not really sure what they are yet, but I think
(18:07):
we can score on them in that dome and then
a real test against the Ravens. But this quarter ends
with a test and leads to another massive test and
a bigger game than the Week three game in my opinion,
because you're home for the Buffalo Bills for a one
o'clock kickoff, and if you can win this one, you
will at least split.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
That season series.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
I think if you win this game, you'll I would
venture to guess you'll get at least four division wins
if you can pull that off. But it's a week ten,
November ninth, kickoff against the Buffalo Bills, one o'clock at
hard Rock Studium. It's nice to get them coming off
of ten days rest for ourselves because we had a
Thursday game previously. I like being done with Buffalo by
November ninth. We were done with them last year in
(18:45):
week nine. This year it's week ten. So if you
can get one of those games and split that series,
you know you don't have to play them for the
final what is it, eight games of the season. It's
pretty nice and the weather starts to cool down, but
this could be I mean, it gets hot in early
November and on that sideline it could be hot for
the Bills, so maybe we have an advantage there. Week eleven,
November sixteenth, first the Washington Commanders for a nine to
(19:06):
thirty am kickoff from Madrid at San Diego Bernabal Stadium
in Madrid, Spain. I think the best thing for us
here is we have a pretty recent experience making this trip.
I mean Tua Freak, Wattle, Zach, JP Chubb, mostly coaching
staff has done this. All these guys made that Germany trip.
Right the Commanders, this is their second international game, which like, hey,
(19:29):
welcome to the club, right, we had two before before
their first one. Their first one was in twenty sixteen
and they haven't been back since. Their current roster has
zero players that have made an international trip with the Commanders.
They probably have had guys that made it with other teams,
but nobody has made this trip with the Commanders, So
that's good for our experience sake. And you know, we
saw the Commanders had been of a loll last season
(19:51):
before coming back out of that lole, and it was
like deemed the Cliff Kingsbury Cliff that was a thing
for him in Arizona where the Cardinals would start super
high and then fade towards the down the stretch, and
they had that middle season loll and then they came
out of that and became one of the hottest teams
in football down the stretch. But maybe you catch them
in that similar vein right here Week twelve. Wait, hang on,
(20:11):
got one more thing here, I put my in my
pre scheduled notes reveal notes that it might be better
to get them early because they're working in a pretty
new offensive line. They have two new tackle starters probably
and potentially one new start on the interior. So maybe
that could be a good thing early in the season.
But now we get them later in the year and
they should be tuned up braty to rock and roll.
But also, you know, Tunzel's got an injury history. Jayden
(20:32):
Daniels has an injury history, so maybe, you know, maybe
we catch a break here. I feel like it's been
a long time since we played like a backup quarterback.
It feels like we always get every team's best shot.
So maybe this is the year we catch some breaks
that way where it seems to have gone against us
for three years running knock on wood though, because I'm
not trying to wish out on anybody. Week twelve bye,
that's the Sunday, that would be November twenty third. We
have that week off. It's the week before Thanksgiving. It
(20:53):
is my favorite time to have a buy on the
entire schedule. And we come out of that buy with
Week thirteen. Week thirteen, November thirtieth, first, the New Orleans
Saints one o'clock kickoff at a hard rock studio. And
although Madrid is technically a home game, and with that mind,
this marks the end of a five week stretch where
we don't have a true road game. Yeah, we do
(21:15):
have to make a long travel over to Spain, but
you're not playing in anybody else's home environment for five
straight weeks. You go home for Baltimore, home for the Bills,
You go h Madrid for the Commanders by a week,
and then you're home for the Saints. And what a
nice kind of like soft landing that is off the
exhausting trip over there off of the bye week. It's
a long week and we'll have a We'll catch a
(21:36):
team who's probably at this point of the season I
think will be in contention for the top pick of
the draft, because right now their best quarterback is a
guy that didn't look good last year and was a
fifth round pick and went ohen six as a starter.
And uh, you know, if we start off the game slow,
like can happen sometimes off the bye week, it's a
good team to have that happen against Forere. Maybe the
defense can hold the fort for a couple of series
(21:57):
while you get your rush shaken off there after the
buy week, and then after that game a week fourteen,
December seventh, at the New York Jets for a one
o'clock kickoff at Metlive Stadium. If and who knows, just
saying this, if they start slow, this could be a
much different looking team than the one you saw in
Week four like they'll be hyped up for that game regardless.
(22:18):
But if they struggle and they're like four and nine,
or maybe they're five and eight coming into this game,
it could be a little bit more of a mentally
defeated team. And that's just peer speculation. Maybe justin fields
didn't quiet work out and they want to get a
young quarterback some reps. I don't know, but just trying
to make the point that your divisional opponents, when they're
this far apart, can typically be two entirely different teams
(22:40):
from when you play them. It'll be the first of
a few cold weather games, potentially here December game in
the meadowlands.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
Sometimes it's balmy and nice.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
I'd never forget the two thousand and eight division clinching
game when it was like fifty five degrees up there
in late December. Or it could be horrible, miserable, sideways
rain and win.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
You never know. So that's the end of the third quarter.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
If you can get those two or one of those two,
I should say, before the bye, and then come back
and beat two teams I think you're better, then that
would put you on a really nice course into what
I think is probably the toughest quarter of the schedule,
and for me, I like it when the toughest part
of the schedule is the back part, because like, teams
could be down key players due to injuries and stuff.
(23:18):
You never know, So I like getting fat early and
trying to ride that wave and success in December. I
don't know how you guys feel about that, but that's
how the schedule sets up to me. And I want
to prove people wrong with cold weather wins and a
Monday night primetime game on the road in Pittsburgh, like
beating the Bengals at home and sending Joe Burrow home
with a lot like I want those opportunities to help
(23:40):
prove folks wrong. And let's say we hit my metric
and expectations here and we'll toss in one additional just
for the hell of it. That makes, you know, one
more loss for the hell of it, you know, compared
to what I had, that would be nine and four.
Going into a Monday night football game in Pittsburgh, a
team is probably going to be on the fringe of
the playoffs. And if Aaron Rodgers goes score, ear think
be it's differently. But I don't know who's going to
(24:02):
be the quarterback in this game. I don't know, but
I do think this is a good chance to go
into the final quarter of the season with nine, maybe
ten wins and see how the chips fall from there.
Let's go ahead and take our last break right here,
come back and talk about the final four games and
the whole schedule, comprehensive thoughts as a whole. That's next
Draft Time podcast, brought to you by Autnation Week fifteen,
(24:27):
December fifteenth at the Pittsburgh Steelers from Hinz Field, Agrosure Field,
Mustard Field, eight to fifteen Monday night football as the
autumn leaves blew in from John Fasudenda. I don't know,
man like the Dolphins and Steelers on primetime, just feels
like classic NFL, A tough place to play in primetime.
(24:50):
We talked about the Buffalo Bill's crowd being a little
bit raucous and rowdy, and same goes for Pittsburgh playing
renegade after the third quarter, waving those yellow toiles around.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
Great crowd, great fan base.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
Probably going to be a cold game, night game in
the bad weather, which I welcome the opportunity. And who
the hell is gonna be the quarterback. I really I
think it'll be Rogers. I can't imagine you go into
this offseason and pass on the entire veteran market, pass
on really the entire rookiet class outside of Will Howard,
who I like, but not as a starter. In twenty
twenty five, it's Mason Rudolph and Skyler Thompson. Like, it's
(25:22):
got to be Rogers, right, And for that reason, I
was kind of hoping to get Pittsburgh early because like
we would have a whole spring worth of an advantage
over Rogers probably not being there until like he before
training camp, right signs in June or July or some point,
and that gives you the entire off season program of
advantage of having your quarterback in the building for that
(25:43):
whole process. But it's not going to be that way.
And you know, he's what is he forty one forty two?
If he is on the team, does he make it
to fifteen games? Like, you know, the body can betray
you at times. And that's also something else to talk
about in terms of this is a defense that is
aging and is often banged up. I mean Mega Fitzpatrick, TJ. Watt,
(26:04):
Cameron Hayward has missed a bunch of time. All those
guys have missed games. They're all getting closer or are
already on the other side of thirty, So getting them
late in the year. Like every year, this defense kind
of gets decimated by injuries, and I think the age
probably has something to do with that, and it's not
allowed to change this offseason. So maybe you go into
this game without a TJ. Watt, without a Cameron Hayward.
(26:25):
Maybe it's a different type of game than it looks
right now. But Pittsburgh Week fifteen, Week sixteen, December twenty First,
first the Cincinnati Bengals for an eight to twenty kickoff
on Sunday Night Football. That's a big spot man second
Tua and Burrow matchup, and the second time they're putting
it in primetime. It'll be a short week for us
off the Monday game, which is a bit of a bummer,
(26:45):
but six weeks six days is better than a four
day rest, whatever it is in the Thursday games. The
Bengals were a team that I kind of wanted early
because they have a new DC and they're going to
be very rookie reliant on defense this year. And as
we talked about earlier. That can cost some some gaps
in your coverage and whatnot. Now all that said, I
mean Burrow has an injury history. T Higgins has an
(27:05):
injury history. The offensive line seems to get banged up
every single year, and playing them late in the season,
who knows what they look like at that time of year.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
So maybe that's an advantage from Miami.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
But all these things work for us too, so like
it's not like this is all just our favor because
the Dolphins have their own injury history too, right, I'm
just telling you the positives of the schedule and how
it could benefit the Dolphins with this schedule release Week seven,
Week seventeen, December twenty eighth. First, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
one o'clock kickoff, hard Rock Stadium. You think i'd get
that down by now seventeen games into this. I don't
(27:37):
know if I have a single note here. I really
like the Buccaneers this year. I think they're gonna be
a good football team. They do have a new OC
so the continuity would have been something to look for
early in the season. But it's Week seventeen, so they
should be rocking and rolling by then. And then Week eighteen.
The Sunday is January the fourth, but that date is
to be determined at the New England Patriots Gillett Stadium
(28:01):
field at a time that is also to be determined.
I think both teams could be in the mix. Hears
maybe it's a primetime flex, maybe maybe a Saturday game,
you could get one of those. I think the same
thing applies as the Jets here. The Patriots could be
a much better version of themselves. In fact, I think
the Week two game is a great spot to get them.
But getting them here, I think you might see a
team that's really on the rise. Maybe they're like seven
(28:23):
and nine going into this game, and a lot of
those wins came down the stretch, and they're a team
that's really looking forward to twenty twenty six, and this
is kind of like their last you know, let's go
beat the Dolphins and ruin their season. I could see
it being kind of like that. But I think the
Patriots will be a better version of themselves in Week
eighteen than they were in Week two.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
So there you go.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
I mean, those those late season home games to me
are nice. The Burrow and Tua SNF Week sixteen game
is pretty nice.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
That's a big, big spot, man.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
I think putting us on that stage there for our
fifth primetime game and you know, could be six if
you count Commanders as a primetime game where there's a
standalone game, but that kind of tells you what the
league expects from us this year. The Bucks and the
Bengals are two of the best offenses will face this year,
and I think the Patriots could be a playoff team
for you know, or could be a spot, could be
fighting for a playoff spot in that game. But I
(29:12):
do think they're a year away from that. But this
final quarter of the season kind of it's it could
go either way for in terms of how tough it is,
I think, but my cumulative reaction to the schedule what
I like, what I think is tough, et cetera. The
divisional chunk early on is either a chance to get
off to a great start or a horrific start if
you play well or don't. But Patriots Jets, Bills, you know,
weeks two through four, I'm not sure that's ever happened
(29:34):
before in our schedule, not in at least modern times.
Jets and Bills in primetime, great chance to get off
to a great start in the conference and the division
in the first quarter of the season. If we if
we're three and one with a two in one record
in the division and a three and one record in
the Conference, that could be a pretty nice little start
to the season. Five primetime games six if you count Madrid.
You know, that used to be the max before they
(29:55):
recently changed it. But I think some teams have like
seven to eight primetime games now, so maybe it's not
as crazy. But yeah, Madrid a global spotlight game as well,
that would be six primetime games. Kind of cool that
we're still thought of in that way. And I know
this isn't a big deal for non NFL employees, but
the seven to fifteen kickoff on Monday night in the
Jets game is very very nice. One extra hour of
sleep that night, And in an ideal world, those Jets
(30:18):
Stealers and Patriots games would have been earlier, with Colts,
Falcons and like maybe the Panthers in December, you know,
dome teams or warm weather cities. We also only have
two one o'clock kickoffs in Miami before November. I don't
love that. So it didn't get the best draw on
the weather aspect. Of the schedule, but hey, good chance
to prove The point here is that I would love
(30:38):
to see this season unfold.
Speaker 2 (30:40):
For the Miami Dolphins, we.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
Were done with Buffalo by week nine last year, done
with them by week ten this year. Those games were
seven weeks apart, same as this year, and the Patriots
and Jets have massive gaps between those two games. Our
first back to back games one way or the other
is Week seven and Week eight on the road for
the Browns and Falcons, because the schedule starts road home
road home home, road home road, and then road again
(31:03):
before home home home by home, and then one more
back to back road trips in week fourteen and fifteen
to the Jets and Steelers, followed by back to back
home games. So the longest road trip is two games,
and it's twice with a five game homestand or five
week homes. Now I should say in that stretch again,
although not all games at home and the furthest we
(31:23):
travel west is to Indianapolis. We do have the twelfth
most travel miles, but over one third of that is
the single trip to Spain, and the only West Coast
team we face is a one o'clock kickoff so there
you go. We'll have another brand new episode of There
Was a Labor of Love that I is going to
be like a fifty minute episode dropping tomorrow morning, where
I go through every single game, talk about the matchups,
(31:45):
the x's and o's, the interesting facts about those games,
and I'll predict the games and predict the schedule and
the record. It's a landmark on the calendar as we
pivot out of the team building portion and into analyzing games,
my favorite thing to do here on the podcast. I
will also go through and pick all the those games
and give you my first twenty twenty five record prediction.
But until then, you all please be sure subscribe, rate review,
(32:07):
follow me on social at Wingfold NFL. For all the
team at Miami Dolphins, check out the fish Tank Podcast
with Seth and Juice, the YouTube channel for Dolphins, HQ,
Media Availabilities, and so much more, and last but not least,
Miami Dolphins dot Com. Until next time, fins up Carolin Cameron,
Daddy's coming on
What is up, Dolphins, and welcome to the Draft Time Podcast.
I am your host, Travis Wingfield, and on today's show,
the schedule is here. You have certainly seen the list
of opponents by now, but we're gonna go through this
and talk about how the schedule plays out in terms
of when the games are played, our rest and the
timing of the matchups, and all the quick hitting analysis
(00:30):
on the Miami Dolphins twenty twenty five schedule. If from
the Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
This is the Draft Time Podcast.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
So before we get going here, this is part one
of a two part schedule release podcast series we're going
to do. I was putting my pre show notes together
throughout the course of the week and realized you're gonna
have like an hour and fifteen minute episode here, bub
So let me go ahead and break it into two.
We're gonna really get into the nitty gritty behind the
actual skeedule itself, like how these were, how it plays
(01:02):
out in terms of the timing of these games, and
then tomorrow on the podcast, I'll drop it first thing
in the morning. We're going to do a week by
week prediction breakdown, matchup, all that stuff of the teams,
and give you a record for the eighteen week schedule.
Seventeen game schedule, so let's go ahead and just off
the top, give you the entire schedule. We opened the
season on the road in Indianapolis September seventh, Sunday, one
(01:27):
o'clock kickoff against the Colts. Week two, we're back home
for the opener against the Patriots on September fourteenth, also
a one o'clock kickoff, and then it's a short week
on the road in Buffalo to face the Bills excuse
me for an eight to fifteen kickoff on Thursday night football,
So you get Buffalo. We've gotten Buffalo early really every
(01:47):
single year recently. I mean, twenty twenty was back in
week two, twenty twenty one was later, but twenty twenty
two was in week three, twenty four was in week two,
and now twenty five was in week three again. Week four,
we're hosting the Jets on Monday now football, a September
twenty ninth game, a seven to fifteen kickoff, so it's
a nice little earlier start than usual. And then back
(02:08):
on the road on October the fifth for the Panthers,
and Week five a one o'clock kickoff, the first of
four consecutive one o'clock kickoffs. Week six, we're back home
for the Chargers on October the twelfth, a one o'clock
kickoff there, and then we're on the road for back
to back games at one o'clock. Week seven, October nineteenth
at the Cleveland Browns, Week eight, October twenty sixth at
(02:28):
the Atlanta Falcons, and then another short week for a
home game, this time against the Baltimore Ravens for an
eight to fifteen kickoff here in Miami on Thursday Night
Football the night before Halloween. And then a nice little
long layoff extended ten days rest for the Buffalo Bills
at home here, a one o'clock kickoff on November the
ninth for Week ten, and then week eleven we're on
(02:49):
the road in Spain for a home game to face
the Commanders, the last international game of the season. I'd
say nine to thirty am kickoff here in the East.
Week twelve is the bye, that's the Sunday, November twenty third,
will be off that week also the week before Thanksgiving,
so you get a game international game, you get the
(03:09):
next Sunday off, and then you roll into Thanksgiving, so
you're gonna get a lot of football between that Commander's
game and your next Miami Dolphins game, which is the
Week thirteen game November thirtieth against the New Orleans Saints
a one o'clock kickoff. Then we're on the road for
back to back games December the seventh and Week fourteen
at the Jets for one o'clock game, and then another
Monday night football game in Week fifteen, December the fifteenth
(03:31):
against the Pittsburgh Steelers eight fifteen kickoff there on Monday
Night Football, and then another primetime game here a home
game Week sixteen, twelve twenty one, the week of Christmas
at home against the Bengals on Sunday Night Football, and
then a one o'clock kickoff the following Sunday against the
Buccaneers here at home as well. That's twelve twenty eight,
Week seventeen, and we finish up on the road in
(03:53):
New England, the first time finishing the season in New
England since the twenty nineteen season when Ryan Fitzpatrick Company
led that big time upset win there in Foxborough. So
at Colts Home, Patriots at Bills home Jets at Panthers,
Home Chargers at Browns at Falcons home Ravens Home Bills
home Commanders in Madrid home Saints at the Jets at
(04:16):
the Steelers home Bengals home Buccaneers at the Patriots, And
of course that Patriots game can be flexed to whatever
time they deem Necessarily, there's always a double header on Saturday,
and we also get the Sunday Night flex there, which
is usually the last game of the year, which has
playoff implications, So we'll see when that game winds up
getting played. Let's go ahead and go through the entire
thing here and talk about how these games impact the
(04:38):
Dolphins from a timing standpoint. Starting with Week one, September seventh,
at the Indianapolis Colts one o'clock Lucas Oil Studium.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
That was me.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
So they have a new defensive coordinator, with a new
starting cornerback and potentially two new starting safeties, and early
in the season I try to look at those types
of parts of rosters to forecast where things could possibly
go wrong in a season opening game or even Week two, because,
(05:12):
like going back to the Week two game in twenty
twenty two, a lot of those big plays that led
to the one of the best comebacks in NFL history
happened because the Ravens had communication busts on the back end,
and we took advantage of that and won the game. Accordingly,
you get that sometimes when you have new parts working
in together. And let me just first say that I
think that lou An a Arumo was one of the
(05:33):
best hires of the entire offseason or the best gets
by anybody, coach, personnel or otherwise. So I don't say
that to disparage the Colts for that, but early on
with you know, cam bind them their new kind of
signal caller in the back end there with Tarvarius Ward,
with potentially you know, a younger cornerback if Juju Brants
is not up to is not ready to go yet
(05:53):
like there.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Could potentially be a whole new.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Nucleus being built into that secondary and with the offense
and continuity, that could be a bad recipe for an
opposing defense, especially in an indoor fast track like that.
This does remove the potential of a late game, a
late season road game that would get you out of elements. Right,
you want to play at the Colts in December because
there's no weather element to that. Also, who's their Week
(06:18):
one quarterback going to be? I have a feeling it's
going to be Anthony Richardson, But they also benched him
last year pretty early in the season when he needed
those reps right, and that was a decision they probably
didn't take lightly. I imagine we'll come back with him,
But is he going to have the confidence and get
ready to roll here right away? I don't know, but
I think it's I don't want to think there's an
advantage to either starting quarterback between him and Daniel Jones.
(06:41):
I just mention it for a potential storyline for us
to track as you watch the Colts this preseason and
see who wins that battle. But really, the lack of
continuity in the secondary is probably the best part about
drawing this matchup early on in the season. Week two,
September fourteenth versus the New England Patriots, one o'clock kickoff
(07:01):
at hard Rock Stadium. I thought getting them early was
one of the quote unquote breaks that we could get,
just because it's a massive overhaul for them this offseason,
the same way as for the Colts on the back end,
tons of new talent, breaking in a new system with
a new coaching staff. They have a new receiver one
and receiver two and Kyle Williams Stefon Diggs. It's how
I think it's going to go. A new running back
(07:23):
one in Traveon Henderson, in a new offensive system and
a new defensive system. The Patriots have traditionally struggled down here,
even with Brady, especially early on in the season. We
beat them here in twenty twenty two on opening Day.
It's our home opener that usually comes with a bit
of a little added boost.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
For the home side.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
It's a short week on the horizon though for us
after this game with our biggest foe the last handful
of years in the Buffalo Bills. And it was a
while back that I checked this, But it's the records
and the records against, like spreads and whatnot that kind
of determine who's the favorite to win the game. It's
not great for the team that has the short week
(08:01):
coming up. And also when there is a international trip
coming up is a big one to look at too.
But when you play on Sunday before a Thursday game,
that can kind of be like a trap game spot
just something to keep an eye out here as you
look into that one. But man, if you get that
win against the Colts and then you're a win against
the Patriots at home away from starting off two to zero,
that could be a pretty nice landing end of the season.
(08:23):
To kick things off Week three, September eighteenth at the
Buffalo Bills for an eight to fifteen kickoff on Thursday
night football. Going there on a short week is brutal
playing in front of that crowd in primetime, which is
already raucus, one of the most in the entire league.
Not much else to doing Buffalo besides get drunk and
go to a football game, right, but now they have
(08:44):
all day to drink a posted just drinking until one
o'clock in the afternoon, with their five am wake up
calls and getting after the tail getting early in the morning.
It does mean, though, we are not going to have
to go up there in the cold weather. And if
you find a way to steal this, it means you
get a chance to sweep them at home in November,
which is obviously would be fantastic. You'll also catch them
(09:05):
sans Joey Bosa and Michael Hoyt, who were kind of
two of their massive additions off the edge, trying to
replace Leonard Floyd uh and Von Miller who wasn't very
good for them. But they're I mean, they're going to
be pretty short on edge guys in that Week three
game because two of their big offseason acquisitions were suspended
for the first six games of the season. Week four,
(09:25):
September twenty ninth versus the New York Jets seven point
fifteen kickoff Monday Night Football. Bet Up it up long
rest coming into this game eleven days between the previous game,
which is always a nice thing to have. Still going
to be hot and human for a team from the Northeast.
It's the first primetime test for a new Jets regime
(09:45):
and on the road against Arrival. The pressure is kind
of on them in that spot in my opinion, especially
if we're two to one or maybe even three and no.
Probably probably more accurate to predict two and one going
into this game, and the Jets have a pretty rough
h to start the season with, so maybe they're kind
of reeling a little bit here. It's still pretty early
in the season for a new head coach, offensive coordinator,
(10:07):
a defensive coordinator, quarterback combination, so maybe they haven't hit
their stride quite yet.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
And by the way, with.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
This game, depending on how the Cowboys schedule works, the
Dolphins will surpass the Cowboys in terms of the all
time Monday Night appearances. Our ninetieth appearance on Monday Night
football or I think the second oneild be the ninetieth appearance.
But us and the Cowboys the most Monday Night games
in NFL history. We get two more of them this year,
so we'll probably surpass the Cowboys. I'll take it back
(10:33):
and on and on and on. We have three home
primetime games this year. It's the most enfranchised history. Week five,
October fifth at the Carolina Panthers, one o'clock kickoff from
Bank of America Stadium. I don't know what do they
call the state of change every year these days?
Speaker 2 (10:49):
This could have been a warm weather, late road game.
That's all I really have here.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
Their secondary has a bunch of changes, but they're a
month in the season at this point with the same dcs,
I don't expect continuity issues to really exist there, but
I will mention this is kind of where the first
quarter of the season ends. To me. I like to
now that we don't have sixteen games. I like to
add one to the first quarter of the season and
go five four four four. So if you make it this,
this is an opportunity for a hot start, right. I mean,
(11:17):
the Panthers picked what was it, eighth, the Jets picked seventh,
the Patriots picked fourth, and the Colts picked fourteenth. So
you have three teams that were in the top eight
of the draft, one team in the top half of
the draft.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Those are teams you should be.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
And the only reason that we were ahead of the
Colts was because we missed our quarterback for six games.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
And I will get into that.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
My whole point is you should be a better team
on paper than four of the first five teams that
you play. And if you chalk up a short week
road trip to Buffalo on Thursday night as a scheduled loss,
which you know every team kind of has a couple
of those in their schedule here and there. But you know,
if you steal that one like you should have done
(11:56):
last year, if not for that Jordan Puler late hit,
you could start off five and oh and I'm not
gonna get like you know, they should be five to oh.
Just it's a possibility. There's only one playoff team in
my opinion, in the slot I mean, coming off last year,
there's one playoff team. But to me, only one of
these teams will be back in the playoffs this year.
It's the Buffalo Bills. As long as we have our quarterback,
I think we win those games. And before you bring
(12:16):
up a Titans game in twenty twenty three, please go
back and I have a tweet about this. I have
to update from last year. But go back and look
at Twoa's whole career and tell me our record in
games where we are favored, Professor lewis not gonna go
well for you, my man.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Everyone points like the Dolphins could lose any game.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
It's like, well, they really can't because they've been very
good in those spots. So can you contest that we
need to play better against the better opponents. Absolutely, But
I hate the argument that the Dolphins are no sure
bet against anybody, because they have been a very sure
bet against bad teams for a long time. Now, okay,
if kicking off quarter number two, let's go ahead and
take our first break. Come back and do that on
the other side. Draft Time Podcast, your host Travis Wingfield,
(12:53):
brought to you by Auto Nation first quarter of the
season in the books here for our schedule review and
quarter number two kicks off on week number six, October twelfth,
first of Los Angeles Chargers a one o'clock kickoff at
hard Rock Stadium, early home game at one o'clock, our
(13:14):
second of the season. Two out of the first three
so far as not bad, but we pretty much only
get two of these before November, so that's not great.
It was similar last year we had the Jags for
the opener. Then Buffalo is a night game, Titans a
night game, Like it seems like that's kind of something
they want to do across the league, primetime games early
down here in Miami. But I don't love it because
(13:36):
our biggest advantage is playing those games at one o'clock.
But playing the Chargers are only West Coast team at
a one o'clock kickoff, ten am body clock game for them.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
I like that quite a lot.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
This figures to be a pretty big factor for a
Chargers team who plays in a pretty cool climate, plays indoors.
They have a long travel A five hour flight to
get over here is going to be a lot more
human here than it is in Los Angeles. And yeah, again,
the West Coast team coming for a ten am body
clock start. That used to be like a pretty big deal.
Maybe not so much anymore, but it's a factor. I
wouldn't want to wake up at five o'clock in the
(14:10):
morning my body clock time to get ready for a
football game. That's a bubbly guts if you asked me.
But I digress. Week seven, October nineteenth at the Cleveland
Browns one o'clock kickoff from First Star Stadium. I don't
know the stateium names they change every year.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
I feel like.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
This could have been a cold weather game. Maybe it's
rainy and windy, but it's not going to be freezing temperatures.
It's not going to be like it was last year,
which was pretty cold. A decent chance there's a quarterback
change at this point in the season, because who the
hell knows who opens the season. Will it be one
of the two rookies, will it be freaking can you
pick it? Or will it be Joe Flacco? Who I
My money is kind of on Joe Flacco because Kevin
(14:49):
Stefanski's best version of his offense was run through Joe
Flacco a post. When he had to adjustice system for
Deshaun Watson, who was not a West Coast style, quick
trigger quarterback. He's a big play hunter, hold football and
take big shots in the pocket type of quarterback. I
think that Flacco could have the Browns offense, maybe surprising
early on, but will he be there in week seven?
Will they be winning enough games to justify going with
(15:11):
him over a Dylan Gabriel or a Shador Sanders or
even a Kenny Pickett who still has I guess some
developmental upside. Does Flacco stay healthy for six weeks? I
also think there's a pretty good chance that we start
to see this Browns team deteriorate at this point of
the schedule because they have in the past. We'll talk
about on the preview podcast tomorrow, but their offensive line injuries,
(15:31):
it's the same guys coming back have just wiped out
the last couple of seasons in terms of like having
eighty percent of their ow line down. Does that attrition
begin for a group of offensive lineman who's all pretty
much on the wrong side of thirty that's worth tracking here.
Week eight, October twenty sixth at the Atlanta Falcons one
o'clock kickoff from Mercedes Benz Stadium, I know that one.
(15:52):
This is another game that could have been late in
a dome on a road game, which could have reduced
a cold weather game for you. It's also another game
that comes before a short week, as we have a
Thursday game after this.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
That's really all I have here.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
I think you kind of have to get fat on
these five games post Buffalo, because you go Buffalo for
a short week on Thursday, but then you're home for
the Jets, at the Panthers, home for the Chargers, at
the Browns, at the Falcons. I think you're a better
football team than all of those teams except maybe the Falcons.
And we can argue with the Chargers building who they
are for you know, until we're blue in the face,
but that I think we're a better team. Plus the
(16:29):
fact that we have that game at home on the
ten am body clock time for the Chargers, that I
like that advantage. So those five games is a good
chance to really kind of get yourself fat for the
stretch because it gets tough right here.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
If you get past.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Buffalo four and one, you know minimum hopefully a two
and oh start, and then maybe you drop the Buffalo game,
win the next couple of games and you go into
the stretch at no less than five and two, hopefully
maybe six and one.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
Hope hopefully, because.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
At week nine, October thirtieth, first the Baltimore Ravens at
eight to fifteen on Thursday nine football. It's a tough game.
I think it's the best team to play this year.
I always love getting a good team when you're hosting
them on a short week. It's a big advantage, I think.
And last time we played them in the spot right
around this time too, back in twenty twenty one, we
(17:15):
upset them. Now, sometimes I'd probably rather play teams like
this early in the season, just because they tend to
find themselves later on. I think the best teams, you know,
the old Patriots, the current Chiefs and Bills do this.
They get tougher as the year goes on. And for
the Ravens, they seem to find their defensive like mojo
this time of year every single year. Last year they
struggled early on, just like in twenty twenty two when
we beat them with forty four points whatever. It was like,
(17:38):
this is a team that usually finds itself, you know,
past October and plays their best football beyond that.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
So that's not great.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
But I think if you look at this quarter as
another like three to one after hopefully a four to
one stretch to kick things off, you know, in terms
of the teams that you're favored against and the game,
I assume where Dogs in is at home on a
short week, This Ravens game, the Chargers in that early win.
So the Browns are, you know, they're kind of a
disaster going into the season right now. The Falcons, I'm
not really sure what they are yet, but I think
(18:07):
we can score on them in that dome and then
a real test against the Ravens. But this quarter ends
with a test and leads to another massive test and
a bigger game than the Week three game in my opinion,
because you're home for the Buffalo Bills for a one
o'clock kickoff, and if you can win this one, you
will at least split.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
That season series.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
I think if you win this game, you'll I would
venture to guess you'll get at least four division wins
if you can pull that off. But it's a week ten,
November ninth, kickoff against the Buffalo Bills, one o'clock at
hard Rock Studium. It's nice to get them coming off
of ten days rest for ourselves because we had a
Thursday game previously. I like being done with Buffalo by
November ninth. We were done with them last year in
(18:45):
week nine. This year it's week ten. So if you
can get one of those games and split that series,
you know you don't have to play them for the
final what is it, eight games of the season. It's
pretty nice and the weather starts to cool down, but
this could be I mean, it gets hot in early
November and on that sideline it could be hot for
the Bills, so maybe we have an advantage there. Week eleven,
November sixteenth, first the Washington Commanders for a nine to
(19:06):
thirty am kickoff from Madrid at San Diego Bernabal Stadium
in Madrid, Spain. I think the best thing for us
here is we have a pretty recent experience making this trip.
I mean Tua Freak, Wattle, Zach, JP Chubb, mostly coaching
staff has done this. All these guys made that Germany trip.
Right the Commanders, this is their second international game, which like, hey,
(19:29):
welcome to the club, right, we had two before before
their first one. Their first one was in twenty sixteen
and they haven't been back since. Their current roster has
zero players that have made an international trip with the Commanders.
They probably have had guys that made it with other teams,
but nobody has made this trip with the Commanders, So
that's good for our experience sake. And you know, we
saw the Commanders had been of a loll last season
(19:51):
before coming back out of that lole, and it was
like deemed the Cliff Kingsbury Cliff that was a thing
for him in Arizona where the Cardinals would start super
high and then fade towards the down the stretch, and
they had that middle season loll and then they came
out of that and became one of the hottest teams
in football down the stretch. But maybe you catch them
in that similar vein right here Week twelve. Wait, hang on,
(20:11):
got one more thing here, I put my in my
pre scheduled notes reveal notes that it might be better
to get them early because they're working in a pretty
new offensive line. They have two new tackle starters probably
and potentially one new start on the interior. So maybe
that could be a good thing early in the season.
But now we get them later in the year and
they should be tuned up braty to rock and roll.
But also, you know, Tunzel's got an injury history. Jayden
(20:32):
Daniels has an injury history, so maybe, you know, maybe
we catch a break here. I feel like it's been
a long time since we played like a backup quarterback.
It feels like we always get every team's best shot.
So maybe this is the year we catch some breaks
that way where it seems to have gone against us
for three years running knock on wood though, because I'm
not trying to wish out on anybody. Week twelve bye,
that's the Sunday, that would be November twenty third. We
have that week off. It's the week before Thanksgiving. It
(20:53):
is my favorite time to have a buy on the
entire schedule. And we come out of that buy with
Week thirteen. Week thirteen, November thirtieth, first, the New Orleans
Saints one o'clock kickoff at a hard rock studio. And
although Madrid is technically a home game, and with that mind,
this marks the end of a five week stretch where
we don't have a true road game. Yeah, we do
(21:15):
have to make a long travel over to Spain, but
you're not playing in anybody else's home environment for five
straight weeks. You go home for Baltimore, home for the Bills,
You go h Madrid for the Commanders by a week,
and then you're home for the Saints. And what a
nice kind of like soft landing that is off the
exhausting trip over there off of the bye week. It's
a long week and we'll have a We'll catch a
(21:36):
team who's probably at this point of the season I
think will be in contention for the top pick of
the draft, because right now their best quarterback is a
guy that didn't look good last year and was a
fifth round pick and went ohen six as a starter.
And uh, you know, if we start off the game slow,
like can happen sometimes off the bye week, it's a
good team to have that happen against Forere. Maybe the
defense can hold the fort for a couple of series
(21:57):
while you get your rush shaken off there after the
buy week, and then after that game a week fourteen,
December seventh, at the New York Jets for a one
o'clock kickoff at Metlive Stadium. If and who knows, just
saying this, if they start slow, this could be a
much different looking team than the one you saw in
Week four like they'll be hyped up for that game regardless.
(22:18):
But if they struggle and they're like four and nine,
or maybe they're five and eight coming into this game,
it could be a little bit more of a mentally
defeated team. And that's just peer speculation. Maybe justin fields
didn't quiet work out and they want to get a
young quarterback some reps. I don't know, but just trying
to make the point that your divisional opponents, when they're
this far apart, can typically be two entirely different teams
(22:40):
from when you play them. It'll be the first of
a few cold weather games, potentially here December game in
the meadowlands.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
Sometimes it's balmy and nice.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
I'd never forget the two thousand and eight division clinching
game when it was like fifty five degrees up there
in late December. Or it could be horrible, miserable, sideways
rain and win.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
You never know. So that's the end of the third quarter.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
If you can get those two or one of those two,
I should say, before the bye, and then come back
and beat two teams I think you're better, then that
would put you on a really nice course into what
I think is probably the toughest quarter of the schedule,
and for me, I like it when the toughest part
of the schedule is the back part, because like, teams
could be down key players due to injuries and stuff.
(23:18):
You never know, So I like getting fat early and
trying to ride that wave and success in December. I
don't know how you guys feel about that, but that's
how the schedule sets up to me. And I want
to prove people wrong with cold weather wins and a
Monday night primetime game on the road in Pittsburgh, like
beating the Bengals at home and sending Joe Burrow home
with a lot like I want those opportunities to help
(23:40):
prove folks wrong. And let's say we hit my metric
and expectations here and we'll toss in one additional just
for the hell of it. That makes, you know, one
more loss for the hell of it, you know, compared
to what I had, that would be nine and four.
Going into a Monday night football game in Pittsburgh, a
team is probably going to be on the fringe of
the playoffs. And if Aaron Rodgers goes score, ear think
be it's differently. But I don't know who's going to
(24:02):
be the quarterback in this game. I don't know, but
I do think this is a good chance to go
into the final quarter of the season with nine, maybe
ten wins and see how the chips fall from there.
Let's go ahead and take our last break right here,
come back and talk about the final four games and
the whole schedule, comprehensive thoughts as a whole. That's next
Draft Time podcast, brought to you by Autnation Week fifteen,
(24:27):
December fifteenth at the Pittsburgh Steelers from Hinz Field, Agrosure Field,
Mustard Field, eight to fifteen Monday night football as the
autumn leaves blew in from John Fasudenda. I don't know,
man like the Dolphins and Steelers on primetime, just feels
like classic NFL, A tough place to play in primetime.
(24:50):
We talked about the Buffalo Bill's crowd being a little
bit raucous and rowdy, and same goes for Pittsburgh playing
renegade after the third quarter, waving those yellow toiles around.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
Great crowd, great fan base.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
Probably going to be a cold game, night game in
the bad weather, which I welcome the opportunity. And who
the hell is gonna be the quarterback. I really I
think it'll be Rogers. I can't imagine you go into
this offseason and pass on the entire veteran market, pass
on really the entire rookiet class outside of Will Howard,
who I like, but not as a starter. In twenty
twenty five, it's Mason Rudolph and Skyler Thompson. Like, it's
(25:22):
got to be Rogers, right, And for that reason, I
was kind of hoping to get Pittsburgh early because like
we would have a whole spring worth of an advantage
over Rogers probably not being there until like he before
training camp, right signs in June or July or some point,
and that gives you the entire off season program of
advantage of having your quarterback in the building for that
(25:43):
whole process. But it's not going to be that way.
And you know, he's what is he forty one forty two?
If he is on the team, does he make it
to fifteen games? Like, you know, the body can betray
you at times. And that's also something else to talk
about in terms of this is a defense that is
aging and is often banged up. I mean Mega Fitzpatrick, TJ. Watt,
(26:04):
Cameron Hayward has missed a bunch of time. All those
guys have missed games. They're all getting closer or are
already on the other side of thirty, So getting them
late in the year. Like every year, this defense kind
of gets decimated by injuries, and I think the age
probably has something to do with that, and it's not
allowed to change this offseason. So maybe you go into
this game without a TJ. Watt, without a Cameron Hayward.
(26:25):
Maybe it's a different type of game than it looks
right now. But Pittsburgh Week fifteen, Week sixteen, December twenty First,
first the Cincinnati Bengals for an eight to twenty kickoff
on Sunday Night Football. That's a big spot man second
Tua and Burrow matchup, and the second time they're putting
it in primetime. It'll be a short week for us
off the Monday game, which is a bit of a bummer,
(26:45):
but six weeks six days is better than a four
day rest, whatever it is in the Thursday games. The
Bengals were a team that I kind of wanted early
because they have a new DC and they're going to
be very rookie reliant on defense this year. And as
we talked about earlier. That can cost some some gaps
in your coverage and whatnot. Now all that said, I
mean Burrow has an injury history. T Higgins has an
(27:05):
injury history. The offensive line seems to get banged up
every single year, and playing them late in the season,
who knows what they look like at that time of year.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
So maybe that's an advantage from Miami.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
But all these things work for us too, so like
it's not like this is all just our favor because
the Dolphins have their own injury history too, right, I'm
just telling you the positives of the schedule and how
it could benefit the Dolphins with this schedule release Week seven,
Week seventeen, December twenty eighth. First, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
one o'clock kickoff, hard Rock Stadium. You think i'd get
that down by now seventeen games into this. I don't
(27:37):
know if I have a single note here. I really
like the Buccaneers this year. I think they're gonna be
a good football team. They do have a new OC
so the continuity would have been something to look for
early in the season. But it's Week seventeen, so they
should be rocking and rolling by then. And then Week eighteen.
The Sunday is January the fourth, but that date is
to be determined at the New England Patriots Gillett Stadium
(28:01):
field at a time that is also to be determined.
I think both teams could be in the mix. Hears
maybe it's a primetime flex, maybe maybe a Saturday game,
you could get one of those. I think the same
thing applies as the Jets here. The Patriots could be
a much better version of themselves. In fact, I think
the Week two game is a great spot to get them.
But getting them here, I think you might see a
team that's really on the rise. Maybe they're like seven
(28:23):
and nine going into this game, and a lot of
those wins came down the stretch, and they're a team
that's really looking forward to twenty twenty six, and this
is kind of like their last you know, let's go
beat the Dolphins and ruin their season. I could see
it being kind of like that. But I think the
Patriots will be a better version of themselves in Week
eighteen than they were in Week two.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
So there you go.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
I mean, those those late season home games to me
are nice. The Burrow and Tua SNF Week sixteen game
is pretty nice.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
That's a big, big spot, man.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
I think putting us on that stage there for our
fifth primetime game and you know, could be six if
you count Commanders as a primetime game where there's a
standalone game, but that kind of tells you what the
league expects from us this year. The Bucks and the
Bengals are two of the best offenses will face this year,
and I think the Patriots could be a playoff team
for you know, or could be a spot, could be
fighting for a playoff spot in that game. But I
(29:12):
do think they're a year away from that. But this
final quarter of the season kind of it's it could
go either way for in terms of how tough it is,
I think, but my cumulative reaction to the schedule what
I like, what I think is tough, et cetera. The
divisional chunk early on is either a chance to get
off to a great start or a horrific start if
you play well or don't. But Patriots Jets, Bills, you know,
weeks two through four, I'm not sure that's ever happened
(29:34):
before in our schedule, not in at least modern times.
Jets and Bills in primetime, great chance to get off
to a great start in the conference and the division
in the first quarter of the season. If we if
we're three and one with a two in one record
in the division and a three and one record in
the Conference, that could be a pretty nice little start
to the season. Five primetime games six if you count Madrid.
You know, that used to be the max before they
(29:55):
recently changed it. But I think some teams have like
seven to eight primetime games now, so maybe it's not
as crazy. But yeah, Madrid a global spotlight game as well,
that would be six primetime games. Kind of cool that
we're still thought of in that way. And I know
this isn't a big deal for non NFL employees, but
the seven to fifteen kickoff on Monday night in the
Jets game is very very nice. One extra hour of
sleep that night, And in an ideal world, those Jets
(30:18):
Stealers and Patriots games would have been earlier, with Colts,
Falcons and like maybe the Panthers in December, you know,
dome teams or warm weather cities. We also only have
two one o'clock kickoffs in Miami before November. I don't
love that. So it didn't get the best draw on
the weather aspect. Of the schedule, but hey, good chance
to prove The point here is that I would love
(30:38):
to see this season unfold.
Speaker 2 (30:40):
For the Miami Dolphins, we.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
Were done with Buffalo by week nine last year, done
with them by week ten this year. Those games were
seven weeks apart, same as this year, and the Patriots
and Jets have massive gaps between those two games. Our
first back to back games one way or the other
is Week seven and Week eight on the road for
the Browns and Falcons, because the schedule starts road home
road home home, road home road, and then road again
(31:03):
before home home home by home, and then one more
back to back road trips in week fourteen and fifteen
to the Jets and Steelers, followed by back to back
home games. So the longest road trip is two games,
and it's twice with a five game homestand or five
week homes. Now I should say in that stretch again,
although not all games at home and the furthest we
(31:23):
travel west is to Indianapolis. We do have the twelfth
most travel miles, but over one third of that is
the single trip to Spain, and the only West Coast
team we face is a one o'clock kickoff so there
you go. We'll have another brand new episode of There
Was a Labor of Love that I is going to
be like a fifty minute episode dropping tomorrow morning, where
I go through every single game, talk about the matchups,
(31:45):
the x's and o's, the interesting facts about those games,
and I'll predict the games and predict the schedule and
the record. It's a landmark on the calendar as we
pivot out of the team building portion and into analyzing games,
my favorite thing to do here on the podcast. I
will also go through and pick all the those games
and give you my first twenty twenty five record prediction.
But until then, you all please be sure subscribe, rate review,
(32:07):
follow me on social at Wingfold NFL. For all the
team at Miami Dolphins, check out the fish Tank Podcast
with Seth and Juice, the YouTube channel for Dolphins, HQ,
Media Availabilities, and so much more, and last but not least,
Miami Dolphins dot Com. Until next time, fins up Carolin Cameron,
Daddy's coming on
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