The Miami Dolphins’ 2020 September schedule has come to a close. At the end of the first month of the season, the Dolphins now sit at 1-2 and face a four-game stretch in the month of October, which will bring Miami to the fringe of the halfway point of the season. Looking ahead, the Dolphins face the daunting task of taking on half of each the AFC and NFC West divisions over the next month — giving the Dolphins an additional taste of where they rank among the NFL aside of “close but no cigar” in the AFC East.
The Dolphins’ October schedule is as follows:
- Week 4: vs. Seattle Seahawks
- Week 5: @ San Francisco 49ers
- Week 6: @ Denver Broncos
- Week 7: vs. Los Angeles Chargers
Are there back to back wins at any point on this schedule? The least likely win appears to be Seattle, given how insane the level of play we’re seeing from Russell Wilson is. But yet even that game shouldn’t be considered a complete wipeout — Miami has factors in their advantage and if they can build upon the Week 3 win versus Jacksonville and take advantage of their extra rest, perhaps stealing a win there isn’t impossible.
San Francisco and Denver on the road are tough draws for Miami but both teams have been absolutely shredded by injuries. San Francisco will be another week mended for Week 5 but that team had nearly a full starting lineup on the injury list in Week 3 and several key players, such as DE Nick Bosa, will definitely miss the Miami game. Denver, on the other hand, has lost their best offensive player (Courtland Sutton) and their two best defensive players (Jurrell Casey and Von Miller) for the year. And starting quarterback Drew Lock is currently out as well and may not be recovered in time to play Miami.
That’s where the most likely potential for consecutive wins lies: in Weeks 6 & 7. The Chargers are another team bitten by injury and star safety Derwin James is out for the year, as we saw on Hard Knocks. But with a rookie quarterback in Justin Herbert at the helm, Miami has the potential to play games with the young passer and force key mistakes. Standout cornerback Chris Harris is also now out for at least a month with injury.
Forecasting games in the NFL isn’t easy — all 32 teams are professional athletes. But looking at October’s schedule for the Dolphins, the back-half of things look more forgiving and appear to have the most potential.