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Week 18 dates, times and networks are announced only after Week 17 concludes. Prime-time and late-afternoon games remain subject to the NFL’s flexible scheduling rules, so this slate can still change during the season.
Games That Will Define the Dolphins’ Season
| Game | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| Week 3 vs. Kansas City | Hafley’s home debut arrives against Andy Reid. Miami opens with two straight West Coast road trips before this one, so the Dolphins could be 0-2 walking into it. |
| Week 8 vs. New England | The defending AFC champions come to Hard Rock right after Miami’s bye. If the Dolphins are going to make the division interesting, this is the swing game. |
| Week 11 at Buffalo | A late-November trip to Highmark Stadium, historically Miami’s least forgiving road environment, against a Bills team under first-year coach Joe Brady. |
| Weeks 17-18 vs. Buffalo, at New England | Miami closes with back-to-back division games. If the Dolphins are alive in January, the season ends exactly where it should — inside the AFC East. |
How the Schedule Sets Up
The opening month is the hard part. Miami flies to Las Vegas and then San Francisco on back-to-back Sundays, hosts Kansas City, and goes back on the road to Minnesota — four of the first five weeks against teams from outside the division, three of them away from Hard Rock. A Week 6 bye arrives early, which means the Dolphins play 12 straight to finish the year.
The back half is friendlier on paper. Miami hosts Detroit, Chicago, the Chargers and Buffalo in the second half, and its December road games are at Denver and Green Bay — cold-weather trips that have historically been a problem for this franchise. Five of the nine games against 2025 playoff teams come on the road. The eight-home, nine-road split doesn’t help either, and neither does the complete absence of a national showcase window for a team the league clearly isn’t sure about yet. For the other side of the Week 8 matchup, see our New England Patriots 2026 schedule. Full league dates are at NFL.com.
The Bottom Line
Hafley inherits a rebuilt roster and a schedule that front-loads the difficulty: two West Coast trips to start, Kansas City in Week 3, an early bye, then twelve consecutive games. The path to relevance runs through the six AFC East games, four of which land in the second half. Nine dates against 2025 playoff teams is a genuinely tough draw for a first-year coach, and the league scheduled Miami accordingly — no prime time, no international game, no Saturday showcase. Prove it on Sunday afternoons first.