2009 Miami Dolphins Schedule and Thoughts

Week	H/A	Opponent	Date	Time	TV
1	at	Atlanta Falcons	Sep. 13th	1:00 PM	CBS
2		Indianapolis Colts	Sep. 21st	8:30 PM	ESPN
3	at	San Diego Chargers	Sep. 27th	4:15 PM	CBS
4		Buffalo Bills	Oct. 4th	4:05 PM	CBS
5		New York Jets	Oct. 11th	8:30 PM	ESPN
6		Bye Week
7		New Orleans Saints	Oct. 25th	4:15 PM	FOX
8	at	New York Jets	Nov. 1st	1:00 PM	CBS
9	at	New England Patriots	Nov. 8th	1:00 PM	CBS
10		Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Nov. 15th	1:00 PM	FOX
11	at	Carolina Panthers	Nov. 19th	8:20 PM	NFLN
12	at	Buffalo Bills	Nov. 29th	1:00 PM	CBS
13		New England Patriots	Dec. 6th	8:20 PM	NBC
14	at	Jacksonville Jaguars	Dec. 13th	1:00 PM	CBS
15	at	Tennessee Titans	Dec. 20th	1:00 PM	CBS
16		Houston Texans	Dec. 27th	1:00 PM	CBS
17		Pittsburgh Steelers	Jan. 3rd	1:00 PM	CBS

Prime Time Games

Miami was given much more respect than I thought as they are scheduled for four national telecasts this year. There are two early season games on Monday Night Football on ESPN, a tough Thursday nighter at Carolina in November on the NFL Network (Good luck Comcast subscribers!) and probably the most intriguing game on the slate, an early December home affair with the Patriots on NBC's Sunday Night Football.

No Weather Concerns

The first thing a lot of Dolphins fans want to know is the prospects for cold and bad weather games late in the year. Last year Miami had to travel to frigid Kansas City and New York to close the year and remarkably reversed the trend. This year it would seem much easier. The only road games in December are early in the month and in southern cities Jacksonville and Nashville. The late November game in Buffalo is probably the best chance to get a game where weather and conditions will be a factor.

On the flip side, one advantage for the team is playing in the tough heat and humidity early in the year, but that will be absent this year. All of the September and October home games are in the 4:00 PM window or a night contest. I think this is a fair trade for avoiding the cold weather and to be honest, the heat advantage has been dwindling in recent years.

Quick Hits

• Once again, a fast start seems like a must. The first seven weeks has four home games and a bye week.
• I'm not a fan of the midweek games. You really have to prepare for two games in one week but I guess it's still an equal playing field. Plus you could view it as a mini bye week after that game if things go well.
• I know a lot of people are talking about the toughest schedules and how Miami's is statistically the hardest but I'm not worried about it for several reasons. One, the teams in our division have nearly the same schedule with the exception of two games. Two, last year Pittsburgh had the toughest schedule and they sis pretty well. Baltimore had a tough schedule, nobody expected much out of them, and they did well too. No matter what the schedule is, if you are good, then you will prove it. Finally, after the easiness our schedule proved to be last year, it's only fair that things are much more difficult this year.