Dolphins Get Kansas City Game in Germany

The Miami Dolphins were chosen as the opponents for the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs for their game in Germany

Author:
Alain Poupart
Updated:
May 10, 2023 12:12 PM EDT
Original:
May 10, 2023

In this story:

Miami Dolphins

Kansas City Chiefs

The Miami Dolphins' marquee matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs is getting the international treatment.

The NFL announced its five international games for the 2023 regular season Wednesday morning, and one of those will have the Dolphins facing the Chiefs in Frankfurt, Germany, on Nov. 5.

The game will be part of the NFL Week 9 and will kick off at 9:30 a.m. ET.

This, of course, eliminates the idea of the Dolphins facing the Chiefs in the NFL Kickoff game in Week 1 and comes after speculation was that the Chiefs would be playing host to the Chicago Bears.

This will mark the Dolphins' first-ever regular season game in Germany and their first in Europe since 2021 when they dropped a last-second decision against the Jacksonville Jaguars in London, England.

Putting the game against the Chiefs in Germany will eliminate star wide receiver Tyreek Hill's return to Kansas City, which he had pumped during a recent appearance on a podcast hosted by some former Chiefs teammates.

Player reaction to Dolphins-Chiefs being played in Germany

While we said at the time that Hill's trash talking about his return to Arrowhead Stadium pretty much was in jest, it didn't keep some former teammates from reciprocating in light of the announcement Wednesday.

While we didn't see a response from Hill about Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones' tweet Wednesday morning, we'd imagine he's probably a little bummed about missing out on going back to Arrowhead Stadium.

Dolphins newcomer Jalen Ramsey, for this part, welcomed the news.

Ramsey later amended his message with this.

The NFL international regular season schedule for 2023

Week 4 — Oct. 1, Atlanta Falcons vs. Jacksonville Jaguars, Wembley Stadium, London, England, 9:30 a.m. ET

Week 5 — Oct. 8, Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Buffalo Bills, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, England, 9:30 a.m. ET

Week 6 — Oct. 15, Baltimore Ravens vs. Tennessee Titans, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, England, 9:30 a.m. ET

Week 9 — Nov. 5, Miami Dolphins vs. Kansas City Chiefs, Frankfurt Stadium, Frankfurt, Germany, 9:30 a.m. ET

Week 10 — Nov. 12, Indianapolis Colts vs. New England Patriots, Frankfurt Stadium, Frankfurt Germany, 9:30 a.m. ET

The Pros and Cons for the Dolphins

Sure, there will be some disappointment about the Dolphins not being chosen for the kickoff game against the Chiefs, in part because Miami would have made for a juicy opponent.

And, sure, it's disappointing that the NFL basically obliterated Hill's return to Arrowhead Stadium, especially after his podcast comments (all made in jest, we'd suggest).

But for the Dolphins, this actually should be viewed as a major break.

Few teams enjoy a home-field advantage as significant as the Chiefs, who have a 32-9 record at Arrowhead Stadium since Patrick Mahomes became their full-times starting quarterback in 2018.

For those keeping score at home, the Chiefs' losses at home over the past five years have come against the Chargers in 2018; the Colts, Texans and Packers in 2019; the Raiders and Chargers in 2020; the Chargers and Bills in 2021; and the Bills in 2022. It should be noted the loss against the Chargers in 2020 came in the final week of the regular season when K.C. rested some of its front-line players because it already had clinched the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs.

With the 2023 Dolphins-Chiefs game now a neutral-site matchup, it's entirely possible the Dolphins will have more fans supporting them at this game than supporting the Chiefs.

In a practical sense, this gives the Dolphins a favorable home-and-away schedule, with nine at home, seven at their opponent's stadium, and the one neutral-site game.