At the moment, both the Dolphins and Buccaneers could use a week off.
Instead, they get to play each other 10 weeks after they were supposed to.
When Hurricane Irma roared past South Florida the day before the scheduled opener, it was clear the Dolphins and Bucs weren’t going to play in Miami. And rather than moving it to another location, they plopped it into this week’s mutual bye, which was fine in the face of the storm.
Now, they both just look weathered, with problems beyond the lack of rest.
“Well, you don’t really know that, because this is the week we would have the bye, right?” Bucs coach Dirk Koetter said, via Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald. “You don’t know the ramifications until you get here. I’m sure both teams, with the number of games we played and the number of guys both teams have banged up, I’m sure both teams would prefer to have a few days off. That’s just not the hand we were dealt. The Dolphins have the added inconvenience of coming off a Monday night game.”
Both teams are limping to the finish at this point, and starting backup quarterbacks (Jay Cutler and Ryan Fitzpatrick). The Dolphins have lost three straight, and the Bucs actually won a game last week, but lost six of their first eight which dampens the enthusiasm.
And the reality is, they probably each have six more weeks to go after this one before they get the long bye, since neither season turned out the way they were hoping.