Flexing and the Remainder of the Dolphins Schedule

The NFL announced Friday the first-ever Thursday night flex, but will the Miami Dolphins be involved in one of those flexes this season?

Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel talks with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) during the first half of an NFL game against the Las Vegas Raiders at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Nov. 19, 2023. / Jim Rassol / USA TODAY NETWORK

The NFL announced Friday the first-ever Thursday night game to be flexed, with the Week 16 game between the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals switched out in favor of the Denver Broncos at Los Angeles Chargers.

Of course, this is the week before the Miami Dolphins are scheduled to face the Browns at Huntington Bank Field on Sunday, December 29th, in a Sunday night game.

Logic would suggest the NFL would be quick to remove the Dolphins-Cleveland game from Sunday night football, though an important factor prevents this from being an automatic move.

The rule for flexing out a Thursday night game is that the decision needs to be made 28 days in advance, whereas a Sunday night flex needs to be decided upon six days before the game.

As it stands right now, a matchup between the 4-6 Dolphins and the 3-8 Browns doesn't seem very appealing, but it would look a lot different if the Dolphins were, say, 8-7 when the decision on the game needs to be made.

There's also something to be said for the visual appeal of snow games, such as the one we saw at Cleveland last night when the Browns defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers with a 24-19 final score.

The snow possibility could explain why the NFL decided not to move the rather unappealing Monday night matchup featuring the Browns at Denver in Week 13 before the deadline to flex the game.

So, snow in the Cleveland forecast on December 29th would convince the NFL to keep the Dolphins-Browns matchup at its current 8:40 PM EDT kickoff.

What could also keep the Dolphins game in place is the need for marquee matchups that weekend. Three To Be Determined (TBD) slots will be filled for Saturday among five games, including Denver at Cincinnati, Arizona at L.A. Rams, and Atlanta at Washington.

Dallas at Philadelphia is currently set as the national doubleheader game on FOX at 4:25 PM EDT, but the Cowboys are a mess, and it wouldn't be a shock to see the NFL swap out that game for Green Bay at Minnesota.

That would leave few attractive alternatives for the Sunday night matchup. Kansas City at Pittsburgh and Baltimore at Houston are already locked in for Christmas Day, and Detroit at San Francisco will be the Monday night game.

THE DOLPHINS SCHEDULE AND FLEX OUTLOOK

As a quick review, Monday night flexes for Weeks 12-17 need to be made at most 12 days in advance; Sunday night flexes in Weeks 14-17 are six days in advance, and Thursday night flexes are 28 days in advance.

Here's a quick look at the remainder of the Dolphins schedule beyond this week in terms of potential flexes:

• November 28th at Green Bay — The Thanksgiving night game at Lambeau Field is set.
• December 8th vs. N.Y. Jets — The only flex option for this game would be to Sunday night, and the NFL is not swapping out the Kansas City Chiefs playing host to the L.A. Chargers.
• December 15th at Houston — Currently, the Sunday night game is Green Bay at Seattle, which we don't see getting flexed. However, two Monday night games are scheduled, and neither is a gem (Chicago at Minnesota, Atlanta at Las Vegas). If the Dolphins win against New England on Sunday and at Green Bay to move to 6-6, we could see this game getting consideration for an MNF flex before the decision has to be made on December 3rd.
• December 22nd vs. San Francisco — This is scheduled to be the national doubleheader game at 4:25 PM, so it's not moving to prime time.
• December 29th at Cleveland — See above.
• January 4-5 at N.Y. Jets — The NFL will again select two games for Saturday, January (4:30 PM and 8:00 PM EDT), plus one game for Sunday night. Because the league is looking for games with playoff implications and the Jets are 3-8, the Dolphins are looking at a Sunday afternoon matchup.