No Excuses With Miami Dolphins 2015 Schedule

The 2015 schedule was unveiled last night and the Miami Dolphins have no excuses for not being in the playoff hunt come December. Miami will open the season with a long I95 trip to Washington, D.C. to face the Redskins before traveling once again in week two to face the Jaguars in another up I95 contest.

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Overall the schedule favors the Dolphins but the opening schedule is perhaps the Dolphins best chance to get an early jump on the playoff chase. On paper the Dolphins should be favored in most of the contests.

The first two games should equate to a 2-0 start and anything short of that will be cause for some concern. The Dolphins will then face the Bills in week three at home before traveling to London to face the Jets. Miami will be the “home” team for that game.

All in all Miami has a real shot of being undefeated heading into their bye week. While they lost to both division rivals down the stretch of 2014, both the Jets and Bills still have quarterback questions and both are under new coaches.

Following the bye week the Dolphins face the Tennessee Titans in Nashville before coming home to face the only NFL team they have never beaten, the Houston Texans. The Titans are picking 2nd in this years draft and the Texans have big questions at QB and let star wide-receiver Andre’ Johnson leave. There is no reason the Dolphins can’t win both of those games. By the time Miami faces the New England Patriots in Foxboro on a short Thursday night game Miami could be and likely should be 6-0.

New England will be the first “tough” team they face in 2015. Following the Patriots game they will head to Orchard Park for a Bills rematch and then to Philadelphia to face the Eagles. It will be a tough three game road stretch but all three games will be played in the Northeast of the country with no time zone changes. The Dolphins always face a tough Bills team in N.Y.

The Dolphins need to come out of this stretch with at least one win and the changes in Philadelphia at running back and quarterback could make them a much easier team to beat this year. If Miami can come out of this series with two wins they will have eight on the season matching their last two seasons total victories.

Miami will return home to face a very good Dallas Cowboys team it will mark a stretch of five home games out of seven to wrap the season. Miami will travel to New York to face the Jets following Dallas then will return home for a two game swing against the Ravens and Giants. Both games are winnable but Miami has struggled against the Ravens in recent history. The Giants could be imploding by the time they play their Monday night game with Miami.

The longest trip the Dolphins will make this year is to London but San Diego isn’t that much shorter. It’s the only game the Dolphins play on the West coast this season and it is sandwiched between two, two game home stands. Returning home the Dolphins will face the Colts and Patriots to wrap their season.

By the time December comes the Dolphins should at worst be 9-2 but will face a very tough schedule down the stretch in the final month against four playoff teams. Miami should be positioned to make a serious run at both the division and definitely a push for the playoffs.

There are no excuses this year. The Dolphins have been given their most favorable schedule in the last few years and they have surrounded themselves with better talent. Now they have to win. If the Dolphins can’t get to the post-season this year, then it is time that Joe Philbin looks for another job.