Miami Dolphins 2026 Uniform Schedule: When They Wear the White Throwback and Dark Water Rivalries

Miami has confirmed two uniform games for 2026, and they sit at opposite ends of the taste spectrum. The white throwback comes out in Week 14 against Chicago, and it is still the best thing the franchise owns. The Dark Water Rivalries uniform closes the home schedule against Buffalo on January 3, and we have already said our piece about that one. Here is the full Miami Dolphins 2026 uniform schedule: the confirmed jersey dates first, then a week-by-week outlook for the aqua home set and the white road set.

The Confirmed Dolphins Uniform Games

The Dolphins announced themes for all eight home games at Hard Rock Stadium, but only two of them name an actual uniform. These are the two.

The Full 2026 Dolphins Uniform Schedule, Week by Week

Here is the whole season at a glance. The two confirmed jersey games are marked with a star. Week 6 is the bye, and Week 17 against Buffalo is the final home game of the year.

The honest caveat the grid cannot show: only the two starred games are confirmed by the Dolphins. The team announced themes for all eight home dates, but the other six are promotional themes such as Crucial Catch, Salute to Service, and Hispanic Heritage rather than uniform announcements, so the aqua-home and white-road assignments elsewhere follow the standard NFL home-and-away convention and are our projection. Miami's own announcement also did not spell out the throwback combination or the Rivalries details, so the specifics below come from the team's existing sets. The Week 18 kickoff time has not been set.

The White Throwback (Week 14 vs. Bears, Confirmed)

Miami has set aside Week 14 against Chicago on Sunday, December 13 as its throwback game, billed as honoring every era of Dolphins football. The set Miami owns for this is the white 1966 original, the one it wore through the 1973 championship season, with the leaping dolphin on the helmet and the aqua and orange striping that defined the perfect-season teams.

It is the best-looking uniform the franchise has ever had, and it is not particularly close. The leaping dolphin logo is warmer and more specific than the modern mark, the striping does real work, and the whole thing reads as a beach team rather than a generic NFL club. Every year it comes out, the obvious question follows: why is this not the full-time look?

One wrinkle worth knowing. Because the throwback is a white jersey, Miami is in white at home that day, which frees Chicago to bring a colored jersey into Hard Rock Stadium. That is the opposite of the usual arrangement and it should make for a better-looking broadcast than a standard December game.

Shop the Dolphins throwback on Fanatics →

Dark Water Rivalries (Week 17 vs. Bills, Confirmed)

The Dark Water Rivalries uniform gets one appearance, and Miami saved it for the final home game of the season: Buffalo on Sunday, January 3 at 1:00 p.m. ET on CBS. The Dolphins entered the Nike Rivalries program with the 2025 AFC East wave, and the rule across the program is that the uniform comes out at a home game against a division rival, so a Bills game was always where this was going to land.

We are not fans. Miami's palette is aqua, orange, and white, and there is no black anywhere in it, so a near-black monochrome set turns the best color in the league into trim. We graded it a C+ when the date was announced and nothing since has changed our mind. The execution is clean and the graphics are sharp. The concept is borrowed.

The consolation is the matchup. Buffalo will be in its white road set, which we laid out in the Bills 2026 uniform schedule, and white against near-black is at least a legible contrast on television.

Shop the Rivalries jersey on Fanatics →

Aqua at Home (The Base Set, Expected)

The aqua home jersey carries six of the eight home dates: the Chiefs in Week 3, the Bengals in Week 5, the Patriots in Week 8, the Lions in Week 9, the Jets in Week 12, and the Chargers in Week 16. All six carry announced themes, from Hispanic Heritage to Salute to Service to Home for the Holidays, but none of those name a jersey, so aqua is our projection rather than a confirmation.

That is fine, because aqua is the point. Nobody else in the NFL owns this color, and on a bright afternoon in South Florida it is the most distinctive base uniform in the league. The orange numbers give it a second signal that reads from the upper deck. It is a genuinely great uniform that Miami sometimes seems less excited about than everyone else is.

Shop the aqua jersey on Fanatics →

The White Road Set (Expected)

The white road uniform projects to all nine away games: at the Raiders, 49ers, Vikings, Jets, Colts, Bills, Broncos, Packers, and the Week 18 trip to New England.

Two are worth circling. Week 7 at the Jets is New York's Classic throwback game for First Responders Appreciation, covered in our Jets 2026 uniform schedule. And Week 11 at Buffalo is the Bills' Cold Front game, the all-white Rivalries set with the cracked-ice helmet, which means both teams will be in white and the Dolphins may end up differentiating through pants. That is the one road date on the schedule where the combination is genuinely hard to predict.

Shop the white road jersey on Fanatics →

How the Dolphins Rotation Works in 2026

Miami runs a simple system with two exceptions carved out of December. Aqua at home for six games, white on the road for nine, the throwback in Week 14, and Dark Water to close the home slate in Week 17. That is it. No third color, no rotating alternates, no helmet program.

The interesting thing about 2026 is that both exceptions land in the final month, so the season back-loads all of its visual variety. It also means Miami wears a non-aqua jersey at home twice in four weeks, which for a team whose entire brand identity is that one color is a slightly strange way to finish. Give us the white throwback twice and the blackout never, and this becomes one of the better-dressed schedules in the AFC.

Frequently Asked Questions

When do the Dolphins wear their throwback uniform in 2026? Once, at home in Week 14 against the Chicago Bears on Sunday, December 13. It is the white 1966 set with the leaping dolphin helmet logo, the uniform Miami wore through the 1973 championship season.

When do the Dolphins wear the Dark Water Rivalries uniform in 2026? At the final home game of the season, Week 17 against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, January 3 at 1:00 p.m. ET on CBS. Miami entered the Nike Rivalries program with the 2025 AFC East wave, and the uniform is worn at a home game against a division rival.

What is the Dolphins' primary uniform for 2026? Aqua at home and white on the road. Aqua projects to the six home games not claimed by a confirmed uniform, and white to all nine away games.

Do the Dolphins wear white at home in 2026? Yes, twice. The Week 14 throwback is a white jersey, and the Week 17 Dark Water set is near-black rather than aqua. That leaves six aqua home games out of eight.

How many home games do the Dolphins play in 2026? Eight at Hard Rock Stadium, in Weeks 3, 5, 8, 9, 12, 14, 16, and 17. The bye is Week 6, and the season finishes on the road at New England in Week 18.

Is the full Dolphins 2026 uniform schedule official? No. Two games are confirmed by the team: the throwback in Week 14 and Dark Water Rivalries in Week 17. Miami announced themes for all eight home games, but the other six are promotional themes rather than uniform announcements, so the aqua-home and white-road assignments elsewhere are our projection based on the standard NFL home-and-away convention.

More NFL Coverage

• The Dolphins' Dark Water Rivalries Uniform Is a Miss — our full grade on the Week 17 blackout
• Buffalo Bills 2026 Uniform Schedule — the Cold Front and white road sets Miami sees twice
• New York Jets 2026 Uniform Schedule — the AFC East rival with three confirmed uniform games
• What Is the NFL Rivalries Uniform Program? — how the Nike program works and who is in it

Uniform games confirmed by the Miami Dolphins 2026 home game themes announcement. Aqua-home and white-road projections follow the standard home-and-away rotation and are not team confirmations. Schedule via team and league sources. ColorWay Sports is an independent design site and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the Miami Dolphins or the National Football League.