The NFL has postponed the Buccaneers-Dolphins game scheduled for this Sunday until Week 11 when both teams have a bye week, allowing the organizations to "go ahead and move forward with their plans to protect themselves from Hurricane Irma,” according to ESPN's Jeff Darlington. The move will leave both teams without a bye week during the season, and there "was a groundswell ... to try to play the game on a neutral site to avoid having to play 16 straight games." However, the league decided that it wanted to "put their resources into making sure that both communities stay prepared for this hurricane," which currently is projected to make landfall somewhere on Florida on Sunday. Moving the game to Week 11 and eliminating the bye week was "not a decision that the league came to lightly." ESPN's Jenna Laine said nobody with the Bucs is "thrilled about having to play 16 straight games." Laine: "At the same time, there's a sense of relief from guys because all yesterday they were in a holding pattern” (“SportsCenter,” ESPN, 9/6). In Ft. Lauderdale, Chris Perkins notes by moving the game to Week 11 instead of a neutral site this weekend "allows the Dolphins to preserve their seven home games." The Dolphins already are without one home game, as they "agreed to move their Oct. 1 home game" against the Saints to London as "part of a requirement" for securing Super Bowl LIV in '20 (SUN-SENTINEL.com, 9/6). In Miami, Adam Beasley notes the Dolphins now will open the season "with three straight games away from Hard Rock Stadium and will have just two home games before Nov. 5" (MIAMIHERALD.com, 9/6).
PLAYERS NOT HAPPY: Buccaneers DT Chris Baker took to Twitter after the announcement was made and wrote, "Dear @NFL @NFLPA the players are not interested in playing 16 straight weeks #PLAYERSAFETY THIS IS CRAZY." He added, "Clearly no one is thinking about #playersafety no one knows how it feels to medicate yourself all week to just to play on Sunday." Samantha Rodgers , the wife of Buccaneers RB Jacquizz Rodgers, tweeted, "Not the outcome any of us wanted. Let us remember this moment when the NFL publicly shit on the health of their players. Stay safe everyone." WPEN-FM's Jamie Lynch: "If I'm on the Dolphins or Bucs, I'm screaming at my NFLPA reps today" (TWITTER.com, 9/6). One Dolphins player said that if the NFL is "truly serious about player safety ... they will find another place to play Sunday." Both the Bucs and Dolphins "hoped to play" on Thursday or Friday, but the "dire forecast plus the more pressing demands of first responders necessary to staff an NFL [game] made that untenable" (MIAMI HERALD, 9/6). In West Palm Beach, Hal Habib notes there were no options outside of Week 11 that "would please everybody." Moving the game to Orlando or Jacksonville "was risky because Irma could affect those cities," while taking it out of state "would mean taking the players away from their families when some may be experiencing a hurricane for the first time" (PALMBEACHPOST.com, 9/6). In Ft. Lauderdale, Dave Hyde writes "common sense prevailed" in the NFL's decision. The move "messes with" the teams' schedules, and it is understandable "why they might not be totally happy with what’s going on." Hyde: "But they’ll have to step in line, too. Everyone will be inconvenienced by what’s coming" (South Florida SUN-SENTINEL, 9/6).
BEST OF A BAD SITUATION: In Miami, Greg Cote noted both Dolphins coach Adam Gase and Bucs coach Dirk Koetter hoped moving to game to Week 11 would not happen, calling it a "disadvantage to play 16 games in a row without a break." However, the "alternatives were worse." The game could have been played tomorrow in Miami, but local fans have "more important things on their minds in readying for Irma, such as how to survive this thing, and whether to stay or evacuate." Holding it Sunday at a neutral site would have robbed Dolphins fans of another home game and would result in a game being played on the "very day Irma is likely to wreak its worst havoc." A potential Monday night game "may have been the worst option of all." Cote: "Even if Irma is kind enough to veer east or west South Florida still will get the brunt of it. You're going to ask fans without electricity, picking through the rubble, trying to contact their insurance company about the roof, to drive through the flooding to attend a football game?" (MIAMIHERALD.com, 9/6).
FORGET LONDON? In Miami, Armando Salguero writes the NFL "should cancel" the Dolphins' Oct. 1 game in London against the Saints and "play that game in Miami ... to give the Dolphins some relief." The league will not "bring this up," so Dolphins Owner Stephen Ross should call NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and "request this." While the league would "probably not" be open to the idea, it is "fair to everyone -- most of all the Dolphins who otherwise are getting short shrift through no fault of their own because of a hurricane" (MIAMIHERALD.com, 9/6). SB Nation's Kevin Nogle tweeted, "Lots of people saying NFL should bring London game back to Miami. Can you imagine outcry from people who bought plane tickets already?" (TWITTER.com, 9/6).
