2021 NFL Schedule Release: Will Dolphins add primetime games this year?

The NFL is set to release the 2021 regular season schedule on Wednesday night. This year’s schedule will include a seventeenth game for each team and will push the regular season to 18 weeks long. There are a lot of factors that go into the schedule, including when bye weeks will happen, scheduling conflicts with stadiums, and making sure television partners land big-time matchups for key time slots. Can the Miami Dolphins land more than one of those key time slot games this year?

Last year, Miami received just one primetime game, a Thursday Night Football contest against the Jacksonville Jaguars, in last year’s schedule. They ultimately played a second game in one of the league’s feature positions when their Week 16 game at the Las Vegas Raiders was moved to a Saturday night contest, but clearly heading into the 2020 regular season, the NFL was not expecting the Dolphins to be a team worthy of primetime exposure.

That would seem to be a different situation this year, as the Dolphins are coming off a 10-6 season, just missing the playoffs, and with a roster featuring several young potential stars for the league. Is there enough draw for the Dolphins to land more than one primetime game this year?

Looking at the teams Miami is slated to play this year, it would make sense to see one of the Dolphins-Bills land in a primetime position as those two teams should be battling for the AFC East crown if Miami’s younger players can step up this year. A Miami-Baltimore contest could be a draw, as could a matchup with the Titans as Miami faces Ryan Tannehill for the first time since trading their former first-round pick. An intra-Florida matchup with the reigning Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers and a renewal of Miami’s rivalry with Tom Brady could also be a potential primetime-worthy game.

What do you think? Could the Dolphins land two, three, or even four primetime games this year? Will the NFL look to shun Miami into another year of just one feature showcase?

2021 Miami Dolphins schedule

Home:

Buffalo Bills (AFC East)
New England Patriots (AFC East)|
New York Jets (AFC East)
Houston Texans (AFC South)
Indianapolis Colts (AFC South)
Atlanta Falcons (NFC South)
Carolina Panthers (NFC South)
Baltimore Ravens (AFC North second-place team)
New York Giants (NFC East)

Away:

Buffalo Bills (AFC East)
New England Patriots (AFC East)|
New York Jets (AFC East)
Jacksonville Jaguars (AFC South)
Tennessee Titans (AFC South)
New Orleans Saints (NFC South)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (NFC South)
Las Vegas Raiders (AFC West second-place team)