Dolphins 2023 Schedule Breakdown: Facing Both Super Bowl Teams
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As we continue dissecting the Miami Dolphins' 2023 regular season schedule, we examine one of the things that stuck out and that's facing both Super Bowl participants from the previous season.
Making matters tougher, the Dolphins will be the road team for both of their games against the NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles in a Sunday night game in Week 7 that will feature the QB battle between former college teammates Tua Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts and against Patrick Mahomes and the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs in Week 9, though that game will be played in Germany.
The Dolphins won't be alone in having to face both of the defending conference champions because the schedule rotations have the AFC West and the NFC East facing every team from the AFC East in 2023, meaning that the Buffalo Bills, New England Patriots and New York Jets also have to face both the Chiefs and Eagles. And the Minnesota Vikings also will be faced with that challenge.
BOTH SUPER BOWL TESTS ON THE ROAD FOR DOLPHINS
But of the five teams mentioned above, it's the Dolphins and Bills who have it the toughest because both of their games are away games.
And Buffalo actually has it toughest of all because they have to play at Lincoln Financial Field and Arrowhead Stadium, which the Dolphins avoided with the Kansas City game being moved to Frankfurt, Germany.
As an interesting aside, this will mark the third consecutive season the Bills have to face the two Super Bowl participants from the previous season on the road, though their game at Cincinnati in 2022 was canceled in the first half after the medical emergency that happened to safety Damar Hamlin.
The Bills played at Tampa Bay and at Kansas City in 2021 after those teams met in Super Bowl LV, and they opened last season with a road game against the defending Super Bowl champion Rams.
Since 2010, 16 teams have had that challenge of facing both the AFC and the NFC defending champs on the road.
THE DOLPHINS' HISTORY AGAINST SUPER BOWL TEAMS
One of those teams was the 2017 Dolphins, who defeated the Atlanta Falcons before losing against the New England Patriots.
That was one of four times in franchise history the Dolphins were on the road against the two defending conference champs.
It also happened in 1980 when the Dolphins won against the Rams in Los Angeles before losing at Pittsburgh; in 1993, when the Dolphins won at Buffalo and later at Dallas in the memorable Thanksgiving Day game; and in 1997 when the Dolphins lost at Green Bay and at New England.
THE DOLPHINS' RECORD AGAINST SUPER BOWL TEAMS
Overall, the Dolphins have a 12-18 record against teams coming off a Super Bowl appearance, their most recent victory coming in 2020 against the San Francisco 49ers.
The Dolphins have had to face both defending conference champs in the same season 10 times, the last in 2020, with the following results:
1980: won at L.A. Rams, 35-14; lost at Pittsburgh, 23-10
1981: lost vs. Oakland, 33-17; won vs. Philadelphia, 13-10
1984: won at Washington, 35-17; lost vs. L.A. Raiders, 45-34
1993: won at Buffalo, 22-13; won at Dallas, 16-14; lost vs. Buffalo, 47-34
1995: won at San Diego, 24-14; lost vs. San Francisco, 44-20
1996: lost vs. Dallas, 29-10; lost vs. Pittsburgh, 24-17
1997: lost vs. Green Bay, 23-18; lost at New England, 27-24; lost vs. New England, 14-12
2017: won at Atlanta, 20-17; lost at New England, 35-17; won vs. New England, 27-20
2020: won at San Francisco, 43-17; lost vs. Kansas City, 33-27
