At least the Dolphins finally appear to be headed in the right direction. Well, geographically speaking, that is. During the 2008 season, the team will travel out of the country for the second consecutive year, this time playing the Buffalo Bills in Canada on Oct. 26 as part of the Bills' plans to slowly move a select number of home games into Toronto each year link to story http://www.miamiherald.com/616/story/497483.html
Exclusive: Soft schedule means Dolphins can finish 9-7, challenge for playoffs Ok, yes. It's another one of those cheap, attention-grabbing headlines indicative of the left-wing liberal media. So what! It bears a basis in legitimacy, or at least possibility. I just took a good look at the Dolphins' 2008 regular season schedule, out today, and am struck by how easy it looks. Who's in charge of NFL schedules, anyway? Bill Parcells? Look at the eight home games. Concede the Chargers, Patriots and Seahawks as losses. But the other five -- Jets, Ravens, Bills, Raiders and 49ers-- all seem winnable. Now look at the eight road games. Pencil in Pats and Broncos as losses. But none of the other six trips -- Cardinals, Texans, Rams, Bills (in Toronto), Chiefs and Jets -- are exactly scary. That's 11 potentially winnable games by my count. Win half of those and Tony Sparano (inheriting 1-15) is picking up a few coach of the year votes. With some bounces and luck, I look at that schedule and I see this team having a chance to make a run at .500 and be in the wild-card mix. You read it here first. Then again, I may be crazy. What record do you see when you look at that schedule? http://blogs.herald.com/random_evidence/2008/04/exclusive-soft.html
Seriously, what is Darlington smoking? I just don't believe the stuff this guy comes up with. With one lousy home game in September, the early heat advantage is almost non-existent. The early bye is a bummer as well (especially considering it effectively costs the Dolphins a September home game) as is the fact that we play four of our last five games on the road. Jeez, give me a schedule where we play four of our first five games at home and I'll call it favorable. This one isn't.
He makes himself look really bad with this comment: "With games against the Jets and the Bills scheduled during the first three weeks of the season, the Dolphins will have a chance to regain some momentum in the AFC East." Guess I missed that?? 1 Sept. 7 N.Y. Jets 1 p.m. 2 Sept. 14 at Arizona Cardinals 4:15 p.m. 3 Sept. 21 at New England Patriots 1 p.m. 4 Sept. 28 Bye 5 Oct. 5 San Diego Chargers 1 p.m. 6 Oct. 12 at Houston Texans 1 p.m. 7 Oct. 19 Baltimore Ravens 1 p.m. 8 Oct. 26 Buffalo Bills 1 p.m.
I think we would have a much better chance to make the playoffs or even finisher above 500 if the schedule was flipped on it's head. A third week by stinks and 4 out of our last 5 on the road is not a very good scenario for a team who just finished 1-15.