The Miami Dolphins are projected to be one of the worst teams in the league ahead of the 2026 season.
The Miami Dolphins are projected to be one of the worst teams in the league ahead of the 2026 season.
According to FanDuel, the Dolphins are tied for last with the lowest projected win total at 4.5. Miami is tied with the Arizona Cardinals for the same win total.
The official 2026 NFL schedule was released last week, so naturally, many win/loss predictions were made. The Dolphins sat at the bottom of many of those predictions and that was no different when it came to FanDuel.
Miami enters the 2026 season with little to no expectations. They are projected to be one of the worst teams in the league, and their schedule does them no favors.
While four wins are not a ton in the NFL, the Dolphins' schedule may not allow it. They hold the second-hardest strength of schedule, only behind the Cardinals.
The Dolphins' schedule is brutal on the surface and even when you start to break it down. Miami will face the likes of the Kansas City Chiefs, New England Patriots, Denver Broncos, Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, Buffalo Bills, San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Chargers, to name a few.
Half of those matchups are on the road, and with a young and inexperienced team like Miami, those are daunting tasks for Jeff Hafley and his group.
The Dolphins will open their schedule with two consecutive road games, and both are on the West Coast. They will kick off their season against the Las Vegas Raiders, led by rookie quarterback Fernando Mendoza, and the following week will face arguably the best team in the NFC, the 49ers.
There are hardly any stretches of what you could call “easy games” for the Dolphins this season.
While that is the case, the Dolphins do have a shot at winning a handful of games on the schedule. There are a few that come to mind, like Week 1 against the Raiders and Week 7 and 12 against the New York Jets.
The Raiders and Jets, for the most part, have had a rough go for the better part of the century. Their win totals aren’t as better as the Dolphins, as Las Vegas and New York both are projected at 5.5.
It could be a very long season for the Dolphins, but they have a chance to raise some eyebrows as well with their new pieces. Hafley will look to shock the football world with his young squad.
