Hurricane Irma: NFL Moves Bucs-Dolphins Game To November

TAMPA, FL – The NFL season opener pitting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers against the Miami Dolphins will now be played in November. The NFL announced on Wednesday that the Week 1 matchup will now be played in Week 11 on Sunday, Nov. 19.

“In the interest of public safety in light of the current state of emergency, the NFL, in consultation with state and local officials as well as both clubs, has decided that playing an NFL game in South Florida this week is not appropriate,” the NFL said in a release on Tuesday. (For more hurricane news or local news from Florida, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Tampa Patch, and click here to find your local Florida Patch. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

The game was scheduled to take place on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.

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The Buccaneers and Dolphins both had their bye week scheduled for Week 11. The move will mean both teams will play for 16 consecutive weeks. While this is not an ideal situation for either team during the grueling NFL season, the players, coaches and employees of both franchises can be with their families this weekend, said Around the NFL writer Keven Patra on NFL.com.

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"On behalf of everyone at NFL.com and NFL Network, our thoughts and prayers are with all in the path of Hurricane Irma," Patra said in the article.

The other Florida NFL franchise, the Jacksonville Jaguars, will open their season on the road on Sept. 10 at 1 p.m. Ironically, the Jaguars are playing at Houston, where Hurricane Harvey dropped approximately 50 inches of rain the previous week.

Hard Rock Stadium photo courtesy Miami Dolphins