The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

I'm curious how coaches will play the third game now that we only play three preseason games.

The NFL announced its exhibition schedule Thursday and the Dolphins will play at the Bengals at 4 p.m. on Sunday, August 29 on CBS. With the league shifting to a 17-game regular season, the preseason schedule has been reduced from four to three games.

This will be the third preseason game and, traditionally, this has been the preseason game when most of the starters play well into the third quarter. Whether that plan will change with the third preseason game now the final preseason game is anyone's guess. Still, don't expect either quarterback to be on the field for very long in the second half.
https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/sports/nfl/2021/06/11/tua-tagovailoa-joe-burrow-star-miami-dolphins-cincinnati-bengals-preseason/7651000002/

The third preseason game now will be played much like the 4th preseason game used to...that would be my guess anyway.

I would think so too.  During camp, and pre -season I feel like I'm holding my breath every day with fingers crossed that nobody gets injured. 

I agree with the consensus here.  The third preseason game will be played like the fourth one used to be.  The only question is will the second preseason game be treated like the third used to be?  I guess it boils down to whether coaches think the starters really need a "dress rehearsal" game or not.

I imagine in Game 1 the starters go the first quarter, in Game 2 they go the first half and in Game 3 they play 2 or 3 drives and that's that. Position battles in camp are going to be decided more on practices and whatnot now.

The preseason games will continue to have the same problems in the past. 1) The Vets trying not to get hurt, which sometimes causes them to get hurt.  2) Bubble guys, or guys trying to make a roster, playing like maniacs that end up hurting Vets that are just trying to make it through camp.

A 17 game season is ridiculous - you have to think an 18 game season with two preseason games is already on the cards...

May as well have a 20 game season and no preseason games at all - I'm sure that's what the NFL and the media ultimately want, it's just a case of the players being payed enough to cave in. As it is there are already a number of "friendly" games between teams before preseason which effectively make up for the loss of preseason game(s).


Another reason to get rid of preseason games altogether.

As I see it, it will be treated like the 4th preseason game.  My take is the NFL didn't eliminate the 4th preseason game but eliminated the 1st preseason game keeping the 2nd, 3rd and 4th.

There's not a one week gap between the pre-season and the regular season, right?  If not, I agree that they've essentially eliminated the 1st preseason game...not the 4th.

There are 2 weeks between the Dolphins 3rd preseason game and the start of the season so it's really the 4th game being eliminated. No one really knows what coaches will do at this point but Joe Rose said he suspects the 3rd game will still be the one where the starters play the most.