Deja Vu: Dolphins to Open 2021 at New England

The Miami Dolphins will open their 2021 regular season schedule with a late-afternoon game at Gillette Stadium

The full 2021 NFL regular season schedule will be unveiled Wednesday evening, but we got a small taste of it in the morning with the opening-weekend matchups being revealed.

And for the Miami Dolphins, it's the same opener as 2020.

Yep, the Miami Dolphins again will be opening their season at Gillette Stadium against the AFC East rival New England Patriots.

The game is scheduled to kick off at 4:25 p.m. as one of two doubleheader games, though we'd suspect it's the other matchup that will be shown to most of the country because that game will be a playoff rematch between the Cleveland Browns and Kansas City Chiefs.

We predicted Tuesday the NFL kickoff game would have either Dallas or Buffalo facing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium, and it ended up being the Cowboys selected as the opponents.

The Dolphins obviously will be looking for a different result in their opener after the disappointing 21-11 loss at Gillette Stadium last September.

In that game, the Dolphins couldn't get much going on offense — and it didn't help that wide receiver DeVante Parker didn't play in the second half — and couldn't stop the running of quarterback Cam Newton.

The Dolphins are 4-3 in season openers against the Patriots, including a 1-2 record at New England.

Here's the entire Week 1 schedule:

Thursday, Sept. 9

Dallas at Tampa Bay, 8:20 p.m.

Sunday, Sept. 12

Philadelphia at Atlanta, 1 p.m.

Minnesota at Cincinnati, 1 p.m.

San Francisco at Detroit, 1 p.m.

Seattle at Indianapolis, 1 p.m.

Jacksonville at Houston, 1 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Buffalo, 1 p.m.

N.Y. Jets at Carolina, 1 p.m.

Arizona at Minnesota, 1 p.m.

L.A. Chargers at Washington, 1 p.m.

Miami at New England, 4:25 p.m.

Denver at N.Y. Giants, 4:25 p.m.

Green Bay at New Orleans, 4:25 p.m.

Cleveland at Kansas City, 4:25 p.m.

Chicago at L.A. Rams, 8:20 p.m.

Monday, Sept. 13

Baltimore at Las Vegas, 8:20 p.m.


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Alain Poupart
ALAIN POUPART

Alain Poupart is the publisher/editor of Miami Dolphins On SI and co-host of the All Dolphins Podcast. Alain has covered the Miami Dolphins on a full-time basis since 1989 for various publications and media outlets, including Dolphin Digest, The Associated Press and the Dolphins team website. In addition to being a credentialed member of the Miami Dolphins press corps, Alain has covered three Super Bowls (for NFL.com, Football News and the Montreal Gazette), the annual NFL draft, the Senior Bowl, and the NFL Scouting Combine. During his almost 40 years in journalism, which began at the now-defunct Miami News, Alain has covered practically every sport at one time or another, from tennis to golf, baseball, basketball and everything in between. The career also included time as a copy editor, including work on several books, such as "Still Perfect," an inside look at the Miami Dolphins' 1972 perfect season. A native of Montreal, Canada, whose first language is French, Alain grew up a huge hockey fan but soon developed a love for all sports, including NFL football. He has lived in South Florida since the 1980s.