Dolphins-Buccaneers moved to Week 11

DAVIE, Fla. — Citing player and fan safety concerns, the NFL moved the Miami Dolphins-Tampa Bay Buccaneers game scheduled for Sunday to Nov. 19.

Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla., sits in the projected path of Hurricane Irma, the Category 5 storm expected to make landfall in the early morning hours Sunday.

The Week 1 regular-season opener for both teams was scheduled for 1 p.m. ET until the NFL announced Tuesday the game would not be played Sunday in Miami.

Over the weekend, multiple alternatives were on the table, including playing the game Friday night.

Other contingency plans were considered, including a neutral site game, but complications of getting the teams safely in and out of Florida and removing a home game from the Dolphins’ schedule made for strong arguments to postpone the contest until Week 11.

“I just don’t think that’s feasible, whether I would have liked that or not,” Buccaneers coach Dirk Koetter said of the potential option of moving the game.

“I don’t think you could have asked all the people that have to travel on both teams to say, ‘Hey, leave your families in a hurricane and let’s go play a game in Pittsburgh or Philadelphia.’ I just don’t think that’s feasible.”

Miami surrendered a home game from its schedule for the team’s Week 4 contest in London against the New Orleans Saints.

The Buccaneers and Dolphins shared a scheduled bye in Week 11.

The shift in schedule means that both clubs will play 16 consecutive games without the benefit of a bye.

“Sixteen straight?” Miami wide receiver Jarvis Landry said. “It’s a long season. Let’s be honest about it, the stretch after our bye week is one of the toughest, if you want to be real about it, it’s probably the toughest in the NFL. That bye week could give us an opportunity to get guys healthy.

“In this league you’re going to get banged up week in and week out, so that bye week for us comes at an appropriate time. To keep it there would be huge, but I know this is an unfortunate situation and it’s out of our hands.”

Dolphins linebacker Kiko Alonso agreed with Landry but put a more favorable spin on the situation.

“Obviously that would be unfavorable,” Alonso said, “but we’re here to play and whenever they say we’re going to play, we’ll be ready.”