Dolphins will open 2023 season at Chargers, play in five nationally televised games
The NFL acknowledged the rising appeal of the Dolphins in the 2023 season, giving Miami five standalone games, three of which are prime-time matchups.
The NFL on Wednesday announced a pair of Dolphins games in the lead-up to its official reveal on Thursday night: a Week 9 matchup against the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs in Germany and a Week 12 game on the road against the New York Jets, the league’s first Black Friday game.
But the Dolphins will also play a pair of road games on “Sunday Night Football,” facing the New England Patriots in Week 2 and the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 7, and then host the Tennessee Titans on “Monday Night Football” in Week 14.
The prime-time matchup against the Eagles, the defending NFC champions, will be the first regular-season meeting between quarterbacks Tua Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts, who were teammates at the University of Alabama.
Miami will open its 2023 slate on the road against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday, Sept. 10, at 4:25 p.m. It will be a rematch of last season’s “Sunday Night Football” matchup, a 23-17 Chargers win at SoFi Stadium, and the third regular-season meeting between Tagovailoa and Justin Herbert, the No. 5 and No. 6 overall picks in the 2020 Draft.
The Dolphins open the season with three of four games on the road, hosting their home opener against the Denver Broncos in Week 3 before facing the Buffalo Bills in Week 4, their first matchup since the 34-31 loss in the wild-card round that ended Miami’s year.
While the first month of the season consists of a trio of road games, the Dolphins will finish the year with four of five games at Hard Rock Stadium, including the regular-season finale against the Bills, which could have major playoff implications.
In the penultimate regular-season game, the Dolphins will face the Ravens in Baltimore on New Year’s Eve, a rematch of last year’s 42-38 Miami win in which Tagovailoa led a 21-point fourth-quarterback comeback and threw a career-high six touchdowns.
The Dolphins will have eight games against teams that made the postseason the previous year: a pair of matchups with the Bills and then meetings with the Chargers, Chiefs, Eagles, Ravens, Dallas Cowboys, and New York Giants. In 2022, the Dolphins were 2-5 in games against playoff teams, beating the Ravens and Bills amid a 3-0 start but falling to Buffalo in their second matchup, as well as the Chargers, Cincinnati Bengals, San Francisco 49ers and Minnesota Vikings.
Under the NFL’s scheduling rotation, the Dolphins will play the AFC West and NFC East. Since Miami finished second in the AFC East last season, the team will face last year’s second-place finisher in the AFC South (Titans), AFC North (Ravens) and NFC South (Panthers). The Dolphins will have a bye week in Week 11 after their game in Germany.
NFL rules allow games to be flexed in and out of the Sunday night slot twice between Weeks 5-10 and during Weeks 11-17. Only Sunday afternoon games can be moved into the night slot. Beginning in the 2023 season, Monday night games can be flexed between Weeks 13-17. Miami initially received three standalone games in 2022 but games against the Chargers and Bills were flexed into prime-time slots.
The Dolphins, in Mike McDaniel’s first season as head coach, finished 9-8 in 2022 and made the playoffs for the first time since 2016. But Tagovailoa missed five games, including the season-ending loss to the Bills, because of a pair of diagnosed concussions. Miami returns the core of an offense that ranked among the league’s best when Tagovailoa was in the lineup. On defense, the team traded for All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey and hired Vic Fangio as defensive coordinator to turn around a unit that ranked 24th in points allowed.
Miami hasn’t made the playoffs in consecutive seasons since 2001 and hasn’t won a postseason game since the 2000 season, which only trails the Detroit Lions for the longest-active drought in the NFL.
The Dolphins will open the preseason by hosting the Atlanta Falcons and then face the Houston Texans and the Jacksonville Jaguars on the road. Dates and times have yet to be announced. All games will be broadcast on CBS.
DOLPHINS 2023 REGULAR-SEASON SCHEDULE
Week 1 (Sunday, Sept. 10): at Los Angeles Chargers, 4:25 p.m., CBS
Week 2 (Sunday, Sept. 17): at New England Patriots, 8:20 p.m., NBC
Week 3 (Sunday, Sept. 24): vs. Denver Broncos, 1 p.m., CBS
Week 4 (Sunday, Oct. 1): at Buffalo Bills, 1 p.m., CBS
Week 5 (Sunday, Oct. 8*): vs. New York Giants, 1 p.m., FOX
Week 6 (Sunday, Oct. 15*): vs. Carolina Panthers, 1 p.m., CBS
Week 7 (Sunday, Oct. 22*): at Philadelphia Eagles, 8:20 p.m., NBC
Week 8 (Sunday, Oct. 29*): vs. New England Patriots, 1 p.m., CBS
Week 9 (Sunday, Nov. 5): at Kansas City Chiefs (Frankfurt, Germany), 9:30 a.m., NFL Network
Week 10: BYE WEEK
Week 11 (Sunday, Nov. 19*): vs. Las Vegas Raiders, 1 p.m., CBS
Week 12 (Friday, Nov. 24): at New York Jets, 3 p.m., Prime Video
Week 13 (Sunday, Dec. 3*): at Washington Commanders, 1 p.m., FOX
Week 14 (Monday, Dec. 11*): vs. Tennessee Titans, 8:15 p.m., ESPN
Week 15 (Sunday, Dec. 17*): vs. New York Jets, 1 p.m., CBS
Week 16 (Sunday, Dec. 24*): vs. Dallas Cowboys, 4:25 p.m., FOX
Week 17 (Sunday, Dec. 31*): at Baltimore Ravens, 1 p.m., CBS
Week 18 (Saturday, Jan. 6 or Sunday, Jan. 7): vs. Buffalo Bills, Time TBD, Network TBD
* — Flexible scheduling games
