Phins 2009 Schedule Will Be Tough
By Brian Miller
There are a lot of things that can happen in an off-season. The Miami Dolphins are evidence of that. The good news is that in one of those “off” seasons, the Phins found Bill Parcells, Jeff Ireland, Tony Sparano, and Chad Pennington. They also changed their attitude along with 23 players to boot. Still, for all the success that this team has found thus far (still shooting for the division), the 2009 schedule makes you want to start rubbing your head in fruition.
The good news is that the Phins will be one full season into it’s rebuild mode and the rest of the AFC East has to play roughly the same schedule depending on how they finish out. The bad news is this is not an easy schedule.
What it all boils down to is this team should be ready for their 2009 season regardless of how tough it appears. As the saying goes, they still have to play the games but speculation is always fun and looking at next season could mark a decidedly remarkable turnaround if the Phins continue their rebirth.
According to a report in the Miami Herald, the Dolphins, depending on how their season plays out, will face a much tougher schedule, on paper, in 2009. The teams in BOLD are teams that the Dolphins will face differently than their AFC East division teams. For example: The 2nd place AFC East team will face the team in bold in that respective scenario. In the event that the Phins finish last in the AFC East, they will face the last place team in the AFC West (KC or Oakland) and the last team in the AFC North, (Cleveland or Cincinnati).
If Dolphins win AFC East:
Home – Jets, Bills, Patriots, Texans, Colts, Saints, Buccaneers, Steelers/Ravens (AFC North winner)
Road – Jets, Bills, Patriots, Titans, Jaguars, Panthers, Falcons, Broncos (AFC West winner… slim chance Chargers)
If Dolphins finish second in AFC East
Home – Jets, Bills, Patriots, Texans, Colts, Saints, Buccaneers, Steelers/Ravens (AFC North runner-up)
Road – Jets, Bills, Patriots, Titans, Jaguars, Panthers, Falcons, Chargers/Raiders (AFC West runner-up… slim chance Broncos)
If Dolphins finish third in AFC East
Home – Jets, Bills, Patriots, Texans, Colts, Saints, Buccaneers, Browns (AFC North 3rd team… slim, slim chance Bengals)
Road – Jets, Bills, Patriots, Titans, Jaguars, Panthers, Falcons, Raiders/Chiefs (AFC West third-place team, slim chance Chargers)