The Miami Dolphins will always have a built in disadvantage relative to the rest of the AFC East — New England, New York and Buffalo are a tightly bunched trio of teams in northeast corridor of the country. Travel between New England and Buffalo is hardly anything but strenuous — where as the trip from Miami is a significant commitment in time and energy. And while the Dolphins reap the benefits when it comes time to host their AFC East rivals, the rest of the division only needs to make one long-distance trip to South Florida — where as the Dolphins have three long-distance road games in the division.
Consider that the Dolphins also play the NFC West and AFC West this year and it is shaping up to be one hell of gauntlet of road trips this season for the Dolphins. Miami must hit the road to play the Denver Broncos, Las Vegas Raiders, San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals in 2020.
The end result? The Dolphins will log a grand total of 21,183 miles of travel in 2020 — the fourth highest figure in the entire league.
If Dolphins fans are looking for a silver lining, three of the team’s home games in 2020 will come against teams that have bigger travel commitments in 2020 than Miami!
- Seattle: 28,982 miles
- Los Angeles Chargers: 22,228 miles
- Los Angeles Rams: 22,004 miles
The Dolphins getting to host each of these teams in the South Florida humidity will play strongly into the team’s home field advantage — and hopefully help neutralize Miami’s brutal travel this season. How does the rest of the AFC East fare in travel?
- Buffalo: 20,066 miles (7th most in the NFL)
- New England: 19,266 miles (10th most in the NFL)
- New York: 17,246 miles (12 most in the NFL)
The entire division will have their hands full with the road milage this season — a far cry from the measly 6,420 miles the Baltimore Ravens must log this season as the league’s least traveled team.