Dolphins 2022 Schedule Breakdown: Three-Game Road Trip Good News/Bad News
Probably the first thing that jumped out upon seeing the Miami Dolphins' 2022 regular season schedule was the three-game road trip that awaits on the first three Sundays of December.
It's a great place to start our deep dives into the Dolphins' regular season schedule.
THE DOLPHINS' HISTORY OF THREE-GAME ROAD TRIPS
Let start by pointing out it will be the 14th three-game road trip in Dolphins history, and it'll take place Dec. 4 against Mike McDaniel's old team, the San Francisco 49ers; Dec. 11 against Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers; and Dec. 18 against Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills.
After having six three-game road trips in their first four years — yes, they had two different road trips in both 1967 and 1969 — it's happened seven times since.
The Dolphins had three-game road trips in 1974, 1975, 1980, 1991, 1994, 2006 and 2015.
If we're looking at historical precedent, this is where the bad news comes in for the Dolphins.
Even tossing aside the three-game road trips of the 1960s before Don Shula arrived when the Dolphins still competed in the AFL — and there even was a four-game trip in 1968 — the Dolphins have not fared well in those circumstances.
In the past seven three-game road trips, the Dolphins have gone 1-2 four times (1980, 1991, 1994 and 2015), and they've gone 3-0 (1975), 2-1 (1974) and 0-3 (2006) one time each.
In those seven seasons with three-game road trips, the Dolphins made the playoffs only twice (1974, 1994).
They did finish 10-4 in 1975, but were kept out of the playoffs by losing out in tiebreakers at a time when the NFL playoffs featured only three division winners in each conference along with one wild-card team.
On their most recent three-game road trip, which came after the Dolphins had fired head coach Joe Philbin and replaced him with Dan Campbell, the Dolphins lost at New England (36-7), lost at Buffalo (33-17) and then defeated the Philadelphia Eagles, 20-19.
RECENT THREE-GAME ROAD TRIPS AROUND THE NFL
The Dolphins are one of three teams that will have a three-game road trip in 2022, and they'll be in very good company.
The other teams in that situation are the Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs, who will have their three-game road trip at the exact same time (Weeks 13-15) as the Dolphins.
There also were three teams with three-game road trips in 2021, and this where the precedent is more encouraging for Miami.
The three teams that went on the road for three straight weeks in 2021 were the Cincinnati Bengals, Indianapolis Colts and Dallas Cowboys.
The Cowboys swept their three-game road trip, Cincinnati went 2-1 and Indianapolis was 1-2.
All three teams withstood the challenge of the three-game road trip to finish with a winning record; Dallas and Cincinnati each won a division title; and the Bengals, of course, won two playoff games on the road to reach the Super Bowl.
It should be noted, however, that Dallas and Cincinnati each faced only one team coming off a playoff season during their three-game road trip, whereas the Dolphins will be facing two (San Francisco and Buffalo) along with the team eliminated in the final game of the regular season.
So, yeah, in terms of challenges, what the Dolphins will have to face with that three-game road trip is pretty up there.
