The Bucs and Dolphins will burst into living rooms nationwide during this year's preseason
Even played mostly in the preseason, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' rivalry with the Miami Dolphins has begun to develop into an intense competition. This summer, NFL fans across the nation will get a taste of that rivalry.
The Buccaneers will open their 2001 preseason at home against Miami on national television via an ESPN Monday Night Football broadcast on August 13. The game was originally scheduled to take place on Saturday, August 11.
The Bucs-Dolphins contest in Raymond James Stadium is one of 11 NFL preseason matches that will be broadcast nationally, beginning with the annual Pro Football Hall of Fame Game between Miami and St. Louis on Monday, August 6. After the Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints square off in San Antonio on Saturday, August 11, the Bucs and Dolphins will be just the third national presentation of the preseason.
This marks the second straight season that one of the Bucs' four preseason games will be played before a national audience. Last August, Tampa Bay traveled to New England on the 20th for a Sunday afternoon game broadcast across the country on Fox. The Bucs defeated the Patriots, 31-21, in that contest.
Tampa Bay has played Miami seven times in the last seven preseasons (twice in 1996, none in 1999), with the Dolphins holding a slight 4-3 edge. Four of those games have been decided by a touchdown or less. In the regular season, the Bucs have fared better of late, winning the only two games played between the two teams since 1991. Tampa Bay downed the Dolphins, 31-21, at home in 1997 and followed up with a narrow 16-13 victory in Miami last December.
Tampa Bay's adjusted preseason schedule follows.
| Day | Date | Opponent | Time |
| Monday | August 13 | MIAMI | 8:00 p.m. |
| Saturday | August 18 | at Cleveland | tba |
| Saturday | August 25 | NEW ENGLAND | tba |
| Friday | August 31 | at Atlanta | tba |
