Dolphins-Buccaneers game rescheduled for November

LOS ANGELES: The hurricane-affected NFL season-opener between the Miami Dolphins and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be rescheduled for November, the league confirmed on Wednesday.

The match at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami was due to take place on Sunday but had been cancelled as powerful Hurricane Irma bears down on the region.

League chiefs had studied the feasibility of playing the game on Friday or at a neutral venue but in the end opted to stage it on Nov 19, when both teams had a bye week.

“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,” Buccaneers coach Dirk Koetter said of a potential venue switch.

The change of date means Miami and Tampa Bay will play 16 consecutive games without a mid-season break.

“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.”