With the release of all 32 NFL teams' schedules, teams like the Miami Dolphins now know what lies ahead of them for the upcoming 2024 season.
The Dolphins are set to return to regular season play on September 8 when they host the Jacksonville Jaguars. That will be one of four games in the month of September that the Dolphins play in the state of Florida. Granted, they'll have a long flight from one end of the country to the other, playing at Seattle in Week 3, but playing teams into hot and humid South Florida (including the Bills) bodes well for them.
Miami fans better get all they can handle of the team before it's nearly a month-long absence from Hard Rock Stadium. They'll begin October against rival New England before taking Week 6 off, and then it's three out of the next four games (at Colts, at Bills, at Rams) on the road midway through November.
Even with a bye, that's a lot of days traveling and not playing in front of your home crowd. But for this team, it's still manageable as that's typically when they're racking up wins. Since Mike McDaniel arrived back in 2022, the Dolphins are 16-6 from September to November. It's when the calendar turns that's the problem. From December on, the Dolphins have gone 4-10 under McDaniel, including two playoff losses.
If they're not careful, the Dolphins could run into the same problems again in 2024.
Dolphins' scariest pitfall in the 2024 schedule
For the Dolphins, they take comfort in knowing when teams have to come face them, especially in the early portion of the season. It's hot, it's muggy, and players are cramping all over the place, where pickle juice is a commodity. That kind of weather lasts well into the late part of the season where teams are challenged by the elements. But the Dolphins have not particularly liked it when the shoe is on the other foot.
When the weather hits 40 degrees or below is when the Dolphins have suffered the most. In fact, going back to last season's Wild Card Game against the Kansas City Chiefs, they've lost 11 in a row. Altogether, they've played 74 times in temperatures below 40 degrees and have come out on the winning end just 26 times, according to Newsweek.
Starting three days before December this year is when the Dolphins could begin having their problems. After their long road stint that ends in Week 10, they'll have two straight home games against the Raiders and Patriots, both of which should be favorable to them. Then — the iceman cometh!
The Dolphins get to spend their Thanksgiving in frigid Green Bay temperatures in Week 13. Then some stiff AFC competition begins with the New York Jets at home followed by the Houston Texans on the road. While they'll head back home again the following week, it will be against the San Francisco 49ers.
Seeing those four weeks makes the last two daunting for the Dolphins, as it's back on the road in another cold weather situation, facing the Cleveland Browns in a night game on Sunday Night Football. In the finale, they'll end their season similarly to how they did last year, in a division rivalry game, but this time against Aaron Rodgers (hopefully) and the Jets in New York.
The Dolphins end the 2024 season in the cold
Overall, last year's three-game stretch was much worse than this year's when they had the Cowboys, Ravens, and Bills three straight. But being outdoors in the final two games in the winter cold against two AFC opponents who will likely be fighting for playoff seeding is brutal.
The Dolphins might have the eighth easiest schedule in the league this season (per Sharp Football Analysis), but their last month will be anything but.
“I think, well, if you’re wanting to change a narrative, you’re going to have an opportunity,” McDaniel said, via Pro Football Talk. “I don’t really worry too much about things, pretending like I have any idea of what’s good or bad. I know if you’re playing the right competitive football, you’ll always have unique challenges to your schedule. If you’re playing the right type of football, you’ll have prime-time games. You can have short or long weeks. All those things. I think we’ve found a way to develop our team both years. I’m firmly expecting that same thing again this year. I think that the opportunities down the stretch of the season are ones that this team at that point in time will be thirsting for. That’s something that when I saw the schedule, I was pretty excited.”
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