Due to the potential impact of Hurricane Irma, the NFL has decided to postpone the Buccaneers’ Week 1 opener, previously scheduled to be played at the Miami Dolphins this Sunday, to November 19th.
For the #Dolphins and #Bucs, they share a bye week — Week 11. That is when the game will be played, at Hard Rock Stadium.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 6, 2017
Official release from the NFL #TBvsMIA pic.twitter.com/4fMtieLaCP
— Trevor Sikkema (@TampaBayTre) September 6, 2017
That date is Week 11. Both the Buccaneers and the Dolphins have a Bye Week at that time.
Though both teams did not want to have to play 16 games in a row, which they will have to do now, the league is fortunate that both of these teams had the same Bye Week and that rescheduling it was even an option.
The potential impact of a hurricane is not just about when it makes landfall. This storm is massive, and its effects will be felt days in advance. It also takes a long time to get supplies, be prepared or even evacuate – think of gathering water, boarding up houses and offices and even the expected traffic jams that will be created in mass evacuations. When weighing those options for safety, as well as the logistical aspect of broadcasting an NFL game, the league decided that moving the game to the Bye Week was the correct option.
If you’re reading this anywhere in the state of Florida, please, this is not about losing a football game. Be safe. Be prepared. A storm of this magnitude should not be taken lightly.
Be safe out there. Football will be played again soon enough.
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Sucks. This is another reason why teams need two bye weeks during the season.
JMO.
16 weeks straight… yeeshhh. Has a team ever played that many weeks in a row without a bye week? If so how did their season go?
From 1966 to 1990 there was no bye weeks. It isn’t ideal but a few players I talked to did not want to leave their family with a storm of this magnitude bearing down on the state. I am guessing it was even more of a anxiety issue for the Miami players.
Thanks Mark… I’m around the same age as man bun Trevor… so I don’t remember that.
Mark, all the tweets I have bed bread by from both teams players have been that they are upset and don’t want to play 16 straight weeks. They are concerned about players saftey with no by weeks.
Have been reading by both teams.
There was a time when no team had bye weeks, BUT that’s not what’s been decided this time. This decision allows 30 other teams to have a rest/regroup week. Not good for us or for Miami. I have already called Roger Goodell’s office to protest. his office # is 212-450-2027.
Teams used to play 16 games without a bye in the early 90’s (maybe even into the late 90’s). But with the game getting faster, it was felt that for safety reasons, they would give teams a bye to get rest and allow players to heal. Recently there has been talk about getting 2 bye weeks, although that has been tied to the 18 game season. Maybe this will become a negotiation point in the next collective bargaining agreement.
Our season is doomed before it even started. The Bears will beat us in week two now. They are coming in with a real game under their belt, and we are gonna be working through first game jitters and sloppiness. Then our team will break down as the season wears on with no rest.
Or we have more time to prepare for them, and they have Glennon as there QB. Pre-season is where we get our first game jitters out of the way.
I hate the decision, too, but I think the Bucs are more formidable than that. It’s just not fair that 30 other teams will get a rest week and we don’t. Call Roger Goodell and voice your opinion. 212-450-2027.
“doomed” already? Grow up man.
It’s clear youre a glass half empty kind of guy. Doomed, really? It isn’t ideal, but doomed is pushing it.
It sucks. but it is the right decision. It gives the players and employees an opportunity to take care of their families.
I respectfully disagree about the season being doomed. If they want to be champions, they will overcome this. That is what championship teams do. Go Bucs!
Yes, please be safe. We have you in our prayers.
thanks for the prayers…we appreciate them.
You are welcome. i lived in Miami when hurricane Andrew hit. So I know what people have to deal with.
This has zero to do with families and everything to do with $. The Bucs lose a win at the start, lose their bye and lose Martin for the Giants game. Bad. Very bad.
Good point Jersey. NFL can and should reduce Martin’s suspension to 3 games in order to try to do everything they can to balance this situation.
I was going to ask that! So the Bucs now lose Martin for a different game? I didn’t know if they included the bye week in a suspension… I do know that, historically, teams have a much better chance at winning coming off their bye especially, I’d think, if it is at the perfect time of year! (which ours WAS!) Not to mention being healthier in all the weeks after that going into our playoff/Super Bowl run! I’m a glass half full kind of guy… At least half the time! So maybe a quarter full..? We need to win the division now more than ever if only to get healthy after playing 16wks straight before the playoffs. I mean to get healthy during the bye week that comes with winning it.. I DO Give A Buc!
don’t worry guys. We will still get a bye week the first week of playoffs.
Yeah this sucks. However, if you incorporate the prep needed to get the game ready by Thursday combined with all the people needed to get the game ready being more concerned about their families I can see why moving to the bye week was the best option.
The team losing a bye should not derail the season if we are as good as we say we are. Like nitey said, the NFL didn’t use to have bye weeks and they used to have to practice a lot more in the offseason. The Dolphins were a playoff team last year and I don’t expect them to change their expectations of making the playoffs this year and neither should the Bucs.
this is not good. this pushes Doug back another week
Spoken like a true New Yorker, nybucsfan. all doom and gloom.
Jerseybucsfan, what you say is so true.
Like most businesses, everything the NFL is about the almighty dollar.
Even giving teams a week off was done because of money more than safety/
The NFL realized they could extend their money stream by extending the season by another week.
Martin should be allowed to return a week sooner if they are going to force them to wait a week to start playing.
It is up to the coaches to keep the players focused during this brief respite.
Only teams looking for an excuse to fail would use this as a reason not to perform up to expectations.
If this team is as good as it thinks it is, this one bump in the road shouldn’t deter them that much and should give them a reason to stay focused and prove to the NFL they are the team they think they are.
It’s not all doom and gloom just yet. This will definitely test our depth though. Hopefully Koetter can get a good rotation going so players don’t get too run down throughout the 16 games.
On a positive note, TJ Ward gets another week to get the playbook down and Jac Smith gets an extra week to heal up. Also, we get to watch 16 straight weeks of Bucs football.
Yup good points Plopes. Getting ward another week in the playbook with practice will only help him. And if we can get a ready to go J. Smithy, that is big as well. It’ll be a test during the later parts of the season though for sure. Not trying to take away from the severity of the situation, I live in Myrtle beach , so we’ll get hit too, but damn it’s been a long off season waiting for our bucs. Waiting another week is killer.
Here’s hoping the training staff is ready to keep these guys as healthy as possible
Families FIRST!!
First of all, I hope all you guys we be safe over there. But the argument with the players want to be with there families is kind of strange: The Rays will play in Boston, the Marlins play in Atlanta and many NFL Players from other teams have family in Florida – so what about them? Hope and believe our coaches will find a way to handle the delayed start and more important that missing Bye.
Also this is not the fault of the Bucs or Miami. So as to Douge Martin it should count as 1 game for this is act of NATURE.
First off, why schedule two Fla teams to play each other during the peak of hurricane season? On one hand the NFL says it wouldn’t want to take another home game away from the Fins since going to England counts as a home game. But they are O.K. with taking one home game away from Miami to sell their souls for more money with an over seas game. This game easily could’ve been played Thurs, or Friday night in J Ville, a neutral AFC site in the state of both teams. The NFL is concerned about things when it’s for their benefit. A domestic abuser get’s six game’s, but because it’s a big Sunday night match up with N.Y., he can play. WTF is that, you can’t say behavior matters, but just not this game. Laughable. We are going to get hit hard Sunday, I live beach side. For me it would’ve been nice to see the Bucs, Dolphins, tomorrow for something to enjoy before hell breaks lose. The teams would’ve had plenty of time to return home to be with family before the storm hits. I’ll be putting up shutters for me, and my friends the rest of the week, I’m sure the players have that taken care of.
True, the NFL makes financial decisions…nothing more.
I hope everyone stays safe during this time. It’s an extra week wait but we’ve got 16 weeks of Bucs football coming up soon…possibly even more.
I truly hope no one believes the No Fun League’s statement. Of course it is all about money. What if they didn’t have the same bye week?? Really, what then? My big issue is that both teams have a BIG disadvantage now. If they were so concerned then have ALL TEAMS OFF THIS WEEK. Push everything out 1 week…problem solved..ha.
The players still get a bye week off … which is now this week. There’s the benefit of a week off in the middle of the season to heal, supposedly, but a week doesn’t do much for football injuries.
Playing out of state while a hurricane is raging through your home would suck for players and team employees and their families.
Personally, my preference would be to extend the regular season by one more week to let the Bucs and Dolphins play while the rest of the playoff teams get a bye, then simply shorten the two week window between conference championships and Super Bowl to one week. Everybody wins, and frankly, the two-week window before Super Bowl is dumb anyway.