Before getting into the upcoming game, I wanted to mention a quick note on the schedule.

Only four NFL teams have to endure a 3-game road trip this season. With all the rigors of travel to begin with, the league compounds this by forcing only 4 of its teams to go three straight weeks without a home game. The Dolphins are obviously one of them.

Parity is one thing, but fairness should be tantamount. And it’s not fair. It’s blatantly unfair to force only four teams to endure a 3-game road trip–especially during crunch time of December–while 28 other teams do NOT have to endure the same type of road trip.

Listen, I fully understand that Stephen Ross can’t snap his fingers and make the league change the schedule. But he should protest. Each year, the NFL finds some way to put the Dolphins at a disadvantage. 3-game road trips, road games on a Thursday, forcing us to play in Europe. It’s never ending.

During each off season, we hear about new items on the agenda that the NFL will discuss, and it’s usually the same old same old about what counts as a catch or how some doctor up in the stands has the right to diagnose a player with a concussion without even seeing the play. But the owners also put things up for a vote.

What about the schedule itself? Why can’t Ross put THAT on the agenda? (The answer is that he doesn’t notice or care about the unfair schedule we endure year after year after year.)

Would it be so hard for Ross to simply propose “No 3-game road trips, unless EVERY team has one.” Or, “If your Thursday game is at home, then the following year you’re on the road. Every every year. Simple.” Can we simply ask Mr. Ross to care? Or at least to notice these things?

Is this sour grapes? No, it’s fairness.

At 8-5, I fear the Dolphins will soon be 8-6. The playoffs that once seemed assured are now very very iffy. Not the end of the world, but I don’t like what I’m hearing this week about Mike McDaniel having to adjust this and that. Yes, he should change some of his play calling. But most important is that Tua should throw the ball to his receivers better. It all comes down to that. He’s had two horrendous games in a row, and I do not blame McD for errant throws. The Bills (and their freezing snow) are going to be 10 times as difficult as the Charger second-stringers Tua just lost to. Their fans will be 100 times as loud as the duds who attended the LAC game. (My friend was at the game, and he estimated there were 40% Dolphins fans, 40% people just looking around and marveling at the gorgeous stadium itself, and only 20% LAC fans.)

After the Bills, we get Aaron Rodgers. The Pack are not a fearsome team anymore, but are we assured to be 9-6 after the Packer game? Uhhhh, no. 8-7 is very very possible there, and at that point, the roof will have officially caved in. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.

10 Comments

  1. Saturday night’s game between the Miami Dolphins (8-5) and Buffalo Bills (10-3) will be broadcast nationally on NFL Network, but if you’re among the throng in Broward and Miami-Dade counties that don’t get NFL Network, there’s good news. The game will be broadcast locally in Broward County on WFOR-TV (Ch. 4).The same is true for Miami-Dade County residents.

    If you live in Palm Beach County and don’t get NFL Network, however, you’re out of luck.

    1. Free TV affiliates in West Palm Beach and Ft. Myers are not permitted to air the game, per NFL broadcast rules.

      Thanks NFL.

      1. Author

        Bizarre, insane broadcast rules. If you subscribe or pay for a network, you should be able to see that game, with no blackouts.

        1. NFL network isn’t blacking out the game in P.B.C. Free TV affiliates can’t show it. The NFL wants every penny they can squeeze out of the fans.

    1. Author

      Sooooo many memories. Thanks for posting.

  3. Call me triggered, but this cold, potentially snowy game has the same feeling as previous December games in Buffalo. We are going to get whomped.

    But I am praying and hoping. Go Phins!

    1. Author

      I think we all feel the same way. Colts are up 33-0 on the road, so there is hope for us today !

  4. I’m so pissed about the refs giving them that 2 point conversion.

    1. Author

      Jimbo, I am even MORE pissed about the pass when Allen threw it and the ball hit his lineman. That is an illegal touch/grounding, 5 yards and loss of down. Crickets. Refs didn’t see it. McDaniel too inexperienced to notice. A gigantic momentum swing there, which gave the Bills new life.
      Meanwhile in our Jets game, Teddy Bridgewater throws to to Durham Smythe, but the refs call grounding and a safety.

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