I think we'll know right off the bat whether to take this team seriously or not. They are young, and there have been changes, but if we come out with a losing record before the bye then it will be an uphill battle to get back into it.
ESPN wrote:
Can Dolphins survive early schedule?
hree of Miami’s first five opponents made the playoffs, and the Ravens are the reigning Super Bowl champions. The lesser opponents -- New Orleans and Cleveland -- are both road games, which are rarely easy. The Dolphins were 2-6 on the road last season.
The Dolphins beefed up their roster with major free-agent additions such as receiver Mike Wallace, tight end Dustin Keller, cornerback Brent Grimes and linebackers Dannell Ellerbe and Philip Wheeler. Miami also has 11 draft picks to use in next week’s draft. There is no doubt the Dolphins will be better on paper, but we won’t know how it will translate until Miami takes the field in the fall.
Due to the NFL's scheduling, we will know right away whether the Dolphins are pretenders or contenders. Any team that can come out of this brutal, five-game stretch with a winning record deserves to be taken seriously. But if the Dolphins are 1-4 or 0-5 by early October, they simply would be another team which couldn't live up to the offseason hype.
http://espn.go.com/blog/afceast/post/_/ ... y-schedule