Miami Dolphins announce 2018 schedule

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MIAMI – The Miami Dolphins today announced their 2018 schedule. The team will kick off the 2018 season at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday, Sept. 9 at 1 p.m. against Tennessee. It is just the second time since 2011 the Dolphins have opened the season at home and first since 2014 after the Dolphins’ season-opener vs. Tampa Bay last season was moved to Week 11 due to Hurricane Irma.

For the first time since 2013, the Dolphins will not play a road game outside of the Eastern or Central time zones. Miami will play five road contests in the Eastern time zone – the N.Y. Jets, New England, Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Baltimore – and three games in the Central time zone – Houston, Green Bay and Minnesota.

Miami’s home schedule features an impressive slate of opponents, including four games against playoff teams from the 2017 season. The Dolphins will host Tennessee (Sept. 9), Oakland (Sept. 23), Chicago (Oct. 14), Detroit (Oct. 21), the N.Y. Jets (Nov. 4), Buffalo (Dec. 2), New England (Dec. 9) and Jacksonville (Dec. 22 or Dec. 23). Tennessee, Buffalo, New England and Jacksonville all made the playoffs last season, with Jacksonville and New England winning their respective divisions and playing in the AFC Championship game.

The Dolphins will play seven total games against playoff teams from a season ago and four games against the teams that participated in last year’s conference championship games. In addition to their premier home matchups, the team will also play road games against New England (Sept. 3), Minnesota (Dec. 16) and Buffalo (Dec. 30). Minnesota won the NFC North in 2017 and played in the NFC Championship game.

Miami will make an appearance on the nationally-televised Thursday Night Football package on Oct. 25 at Houston. This season’s Thursday Night Football games will air live on FOX and NFL Network and kick off slightly earlier at 8:20 p.m. Eastern. It is the second consecutive season the team has its bye week scheduled for Week 11 (Nov. 18), which is the latest bye week the Dolphins have ever had. Last year’s bye week was rescheduled to Week 1 due to Hurricane Irma.

The Dolphins will also visit the N.Y. Jets (Sept. 16), Cincinnati (Oct. 7), Green Bay (Nov. 11) and Indianapolis (Nov. 25). The team’s trip to Lambeau Field on Nov. 11 is the latest the Dolphins have traveled to Green Bay since posting a 34-24 win on Dec. 8, 1985.

The Dolphins also announced dates and times for their four preseason games. The first game vs. Tampa Bay will be played on Thursday, Aug. 9 at 7 p.m. In Week 2, the Dolphins will travel to Carolina on Friday, Aug. 17 at 7:30 p.m. The team will host Baltimore in Week 3 on Saturday, Aug. 25 at 7 p.m. before wrapping up the preseason at Atlanta in Week 4 on Thursday, Aug. 30 at 7 p.m.

All games can be heard on Miami’s Sports Radio 560 WQAM, the official flagship radio partner of the franchise, and simulcast on KISS 99.9 FM. Fans can also listen to the Dolphins in Spanish on Univision Deportes Radio WQBA 1140 AM. The four preseason games can be seen locally in the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale market on WFOR-TV CBS4, the official home of the Miami Dolphins in South Florida.

Fans can visit Dolphins.com now to sign up for an exclusive single-game ticket presale taking place on May 4. Single-game tickets will go on sale to the general public on May 9. To learn more about becoming a Member of the Dolphins and guarantee the best ticket price and location, call 1-888-FINS-TIX (1-888-346-7849) or visit Dolphins.com.

As the Official Ticketing Partner of the Miami Dolphins, Ticketmaster provides fans with the unrivaled benefit of purchasing safe, convenient and verified tickets for all home games at Hard Rock Stadium. Buying Ticketmaster verified tickets means that the tickets fans buy are the tickets that get fans in to Miami Dolphins games – guaranteed. Fans can ensure tickets are real by only purchasing 100 percent verified tickets from official sources like Ticketmaster, the NFL Ticket Exchange and the Miami Dolphins website and box office.

MIAMI DOLPHINS 2018 PRESEASON SCHEDULE

MIAMI DOLPHINS 2018 REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE

* Game subject to flexible scheduling in Weeks 5-17
All times EASTERN

“Flexible scheduling” will be used in Weeks 11-17. Additionally, in Weeks 5-10, flexible scheduling may be used in no more than two weeks. In Weeks 5-16, the schedule lists the games tentatively set for Sunday Night Football on NBC. Only Sunday afternoon games are eligible to be moved to Sunday night, in which case the tentatively scheduled Sunday night game would be moved to an afternoon start time. A flexible scheduling move would be announced at least 12 days before the game.

Flexibility for Saturday games in Weeks 15 and 16 is also part of the 2018 schedule. In Week 15, there will be two games played on Saturday on NFL Network, with the game times of 4:30 PM ET and 8:20 PM ET to be determined. In Week 16, two of four possible match ups will be scheduled for Saturday. Start times and Saturday games for Week 15 and 16 will be announced no later than following Week 8, with the non-Saturday games to be played on Sunday.

For Week 17, the Sunday night game will be announced no later than six days prior to December 30. The schedule does not list a Sunday night game in Week 17, but an afternoon game with playoff implications will be moved to that time slot.  Flexible scheduling ensures quality matchups in all Sunday time slots in those weeks and gives “surprise” teams a chance to play their way into primetime.

Flexible scheduling will not be applied to games airing on Thursday or Monday nights.

2018 Schedule Notes

Tennessee Titans (Sunday, Sept. 9 at 1 p.m. at Miami)

• The Last Time (HOME/OVERALL): at Miami 16, Tennessee 10; Oct. 8, 2017
• The Series: Miami leads 20-17 (includes one playoff game)
• Miami is 12-9 all-time vs. the Titans/Oilers at home.
• The Dolphins are 4-1 in their past five season openers despite four of those five games coming on the road.
• This will be Miami’s first Week 1 home game since 2014 (vs. New England); the Dolphins were scheduled to play at home Week 1 last year against Tampa Bay before the game was postponed to Week 11 due to Hurricane Irma.
• Miami has won four of its past six and seven of its past 10 home games against the Titans.
• The Dolphins are 10-5 in its past 15 games against Tennessee.

New York Jets (Sunday, Sept. 16 at 1 p.m. at N.Y. Jets | Sunday, Nov. 4 at 1 p.m. at Miami)

• The Last Time (HOME): at Miami 31, N.Y. Jets 28; Oct. 22, 2017
• The Last Time (AWAY): at N.Y. Jets 20, Miami 6; Sept. 24, 2017
• The Series:Y. Jets lead 54-50-1 (includes one playoff game)
• The Dolphins are 27-25-1 all-time at home against the N.Y. Jets.
• The Dolphins are 23-29 all-time in road games at the N.Y. Jets.
• Miami has won three of its past four against the N.Y. Jets.

Oakland Raiders (Sunday, Sept. 23 at 1 p.m. at Miami)

• The Last Time (HOME/OVERALL): Oakland 27, at Miami 24; Nov. 5, 2017
• The Series: Oakland leads 20-17-1 (includes four playoff games)
• Miami is 10-9-1 all-time at home against Oakland.
• The Dolphins have won seven of their past nine home games against the Raiders, dating back 1992.
• Miami has won five of the past six and 11 of the past 14 contests against Oakland.

New England Patriots (Sunday, Sept. 30 at 1 p.m. at New England | Sunday, Dec. 9 at 1 p.m. at Miami)

• The Last Time (HOME): at Miami 27, New England 20; Dec. 11, 2017
• The Last Time (AWAY): at New England 35, Miami 17; Nov. 26, 2017
• The Series: Miami leads 54-51 (includes three playoff games)
• Miami is 37-16 all-time at home against New England.
• Miami is 17-35 all-time in games played at New England.
• The Dolphins have won four (2013-15; 2017) of their past five home games vs. the Patriots.

Cincinnati Bengals (Sunday, Oct. 7 at 1 p.m. at Cincinnati)

• The Last Time (AWAY/OVERALL): at Cincinnati 22, Miami 7; Sept. 29, 2016
• The Series: Miami leads 16-6 (includes one playoff game)
• Miami is 9-4 all-time in games played at Cincinnati.
• The Dolphins have won seven of their past nine at Cincinnati.
• Miami has won 12 of its past 15 games overall against the Bengals.
• This will be the only game of the season that requires the Dolphins to travel away from home in consecutive weeks; the Dolphins play two straight road games in November (at Green Bay and at Indianapolis) but have a bye between them.

Chicago Bears (Sunday, Oct. 14 at 1 p.m. at Miami)

• The Last Time (HOME): Chicago 16, at Miami 0; Nov. 18, 2010
• The Last Time (OVERALL): Miami 27, at Chicago 14; Oct. 19, 2014
• The Series: Miami leads 8-4
• Miami is 4-3 all-time at home against Chicago.
• The Dolphins have won three of the past four meetings with Chicago dating back to 2002.

Detroit Lions (Sunday, Oct. 21 at 1 p.m. at Miami)

• The Last Time (HOME): Detroit 34, at Miami 27; Dec. 26, 2010
• The Last Time (OVERALL): at Detroit 20, Miami 16; Nov. 9, 2014
• The Series: Miami leads 7-4
• Miami is 4-1 all time in home games vs. Detroit and won the first four home meetings.
• The Dolphins won five meetings in a row against the Lions from Dec. 25, 1994 to Nov. 23, 2006.
• Miami has outscored Detroit by a total of 90 points in the series, an average of 8.2 points per game.

Houston Texans (Thursday, Oct. 25 at 8:20 p.m. at Houston)

• The Last Time (AWAY): at Houston 30, Miami 10; Sept. 9, 2012
• The Last Time (OVERALL): at Miami 44, Houston 26; Oct. 25, 2015
• The Series: Houston leads 7-1
• Miami is 0-4 all-time at Houston.
• The Dolphins took the last meeting on Oct. 25, 2015, which was the team’s first win in the all-time series.
• Miami held a 41-0 halftime lead during the last meeting, the largest halftime margin in Dolphins history.
• This marks the fourth consecutive season the Dolphins have played a Thursday Night Football game on the road.

Green Bay Packers (Sunday, Nov. 11 at 1 p.m. at Green Bay)

• The Last Time (AWAY): Miami 23, at Green Bay 20 (OT); Oct. 17, 2010
• The Last Time (OVERALL): Green Bay 27, at Miami 24; Oct. 12, 2014
• The Series: Miami leads 10-4
• Miami is 4-2 all-time at Green Bay (includes one game played in Milwaukee).
• The past two meetings have been decided in the final seconds or overtime, with Green Bay scoring a game-winning touchdown with 3 seconds left in 2014 and Miami winning in overtime in 2010.
• The Dolphins won the first eight meetings in the all-time series.
• This is Miami’s first trip to Lambeau Field since 2010 and the latest in the year Miami has played at Green Bay since Dec. 8, 1985.

Indianapolis Colts (Sunday, Nov. 25 at 1 p.m. at Indianapolis)

• The Last Time (AWAY): Miami 24, at Indianapolis 20; Sept. 15, 2013
• The Last Time (OVERALL): Indianapolis 18, at Miami 12; Dec. 27, 2015
• The Series: Miami leads 47-26 (includes two playoff games)
• Miami is 14-8 all-time in games played in Indianapolis and 1-1 at Lucas Oil Stadium.
• Each of the past seven meetings between the two teams has been decided by one score or less.
• The Dolphins have won just one of their past six meetings with the Colts but are 5-5 in the past 10.
• Miami has won three straight games coming off a bye week, including last year when Hurricane Irma forced the team to take its bye in Week 1 and the Dolphins won at the L.A. Chargers in their season opener in Week 2.

Buffalo Bills (Sunday, Dec. 2 at 1 p.m. at Miami | Sunday, Dec. 30 at 1 p.m. at Buffalo)

• The Last Time (HOME): Buffalo 22, at Miami 16; Dec. 31, 2017
• The Last Time (AWAY): at Buffalo 24, Miami 16; Dec. 17, 2017
• The Series: Miami leads 60-47-1 (includes four playoff games)
• Miami is 34-19-1 all-time vs. Buffalo at home.
• The series is tied 26-26 all-time in games played at Buffalo (includes win on Dec. 7, 2008 in Toronto).
• The two teams have traded series sweeps over the past three seasons with Buffalo taking the sweep in 2015 and 2017 while Miami swept the Bills in 2016.
• Miami’s trip to Buffalo in Week 17 will mark the third straight season the Dolphins have played at Buffalo in December.
• This will be the first time the Dolphins have ever finished the season at Buffalo. The two teams have played six season finales before but all came in Miami.

Minnesota Vikings (Sunday, Dec. 16 at 1 p.m. at Minnesota)

• The Last Time (AWAY): Miami 14, at Minnesota 10; Sept. 19, 2010
• The Last Time (OVERALL): at Miami 37, Minnesota 35; Dec. 21, 2014
• The Series: Miami leads 8-4 (includes Super Bowl VIII)
• Miami is 3-3 all-time at Minnesota.
• The Dolphins have won their past three meetings with the Vikings.
• This will be Miami’s first regular season game at U.S. Bank Stadium. The Dolphins did play a preseason game at the venue on Aug. 31, 2017.
• Miami’s last regular-season visit to Minnesota came eight years ago in 2010.

Jacksonville Jaguars (Saturday, Dec. 22 or Sunday, Dec. 23, time TBD at Miami)

• The Last Time (HOME): at Miami 24, Jacksonville 3; Dec. 16, 2012
• The Last Time (OVERALL): at Jacksonville 23, Miami 20; Sept. 20, 2015
• The Series: Tied at 4-4 (includes one playoff game)
• Miami is 1-1 all time at home against Jacksonville.
• Despite the Jaguars entering the NFL in 1995 and the two stadiums being less than 350 miles apart, this will be just the third time Jacksonville has played a regular season game in Miami.
• The Dolphins have won three of the past four and four of the past six meetings.