If the Miami Dolphins were hoping to get a bit of a runway into their 2020 season before being tested by some of the best defensive lines that football has to offer, the latest report regarding the 2020 NFL schedule will be cause for concern. Longtime NFL reporter John Clayton reported last night that the first four weeks of play in the 2020 NFL schedule is set to feature cross-conference play between each of the AFC and NFC squads on each other’s schedule. The purpose of such a design would be to offer maximum flexibility for the league in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. If the team needed to reschedule or potentially cancel games, these cross-conference games are the most expendable weeks on the calendar — lumping them together gives the league a month’s worth of wiggle room.
In the case of the Miami Dolphins, that means the NFC West would be first up.
And the NFC West, of course, features the likes of Aaron Donald and Nick Bosa — so there will be no “easing in” to the 2020 season for the Dolphins’ new-look offensive line this season. The 2020 schedule will be sure to hold a slew of challenges regardless — the team will also have to face the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs as well. But to draw the 49ers, Seahawks, Rams and Cardinals in the first month of the season will put a lot of pressure on the Dolphins to find some early success running the football.
How the team ultimately on-boards so many new faces amid the virtual offseason setting will prove to be critical for the Dolphins’ hopes and aspirations of qualifying for postseason play this year. With an expected roster turnover that sits somewhere around 50%, Miami has an unenviable task ahead. And if Clayton’s report is true, there will be no shortage of early tests awaiting the Dolphins in September.