I've wondered all year why Football Outsiders has the Fins rated so low....

Dude you're black and white all day long here. Ya, we don't have AP, how many teams do? Greg Jennings/Jordy Nelson/Jermichael Finley? How about Megatron, Dez Bryant, that Ravens receiver, Josh Gordon?

"They don't have an Adrian Peterson type of difference maker." Let's just make the NFL put every starter on the 2013 AFC Pro Bowl team on the Dolphins...we'd certainly have to have 8 win talent then.

 

You have funny criteria, and never mentioned unacceptable vs. acceptable losses, only bad losses.

If we won that Ravens game I'm fairly sure we would have clinched 6th seed yesterday.

 

Vernon being 5th in the NFL in sacks = not a difference maker...wow...who wudda thunkit?

 

Greg Jennings???

The same Greg Jennings with less yards and receptions than Mike Wallace this year???

 

I can't understand whats happening right now. Greg Jennings has 59 catches, 733 yards and 5 tds. Hartline has 72 catches, 925 yards and 4 tds. Jermichael Finley has 25 catches and 300 yards this yr because he can't stay healthy. I would not call him a game changer as he is injury prone and inconsistent. I will take Charles Clay over him everyday and twice on sundays. I will give you Jordy Nelson. Noone has an Adrian Peterson difference maker in the run game.....maybe Marshawn Lynch and Jamal Charles. That's about it. It's not like great rbs are plentiful or even necessary to win championships in this day and age.

 

PFF loves our defense. Currently 6th overall and 2nd in pass rush.

 

not to shabby for an average 7 win team

 

Stop making a point with facts...consider the outliers...they're really only 15th overall in talent, 7th in the pass rush at best.

Edit: It's SARCASM...before I get a fist-bump from KB21.

 

You do not want to understand what is happening now.

I hate to tell you this, but both of Miami's difference makers are on the wrong side of 30. Cameron Wake and Brent Grimes are both 31. All of this young talent you guys want to talk about is great and all, but there isn't a difference maker in the bunch. Ryan Tannehill is the closest thing to one, and his inconsistencies keep him from being a difference maker at this point. You hope he continues to progress and become a true difference maker at the quarterback position. It's got to happen on the field though, in key situations such as 3rd and long. He's making strides.

The Dolphins may win 10 this year, but I expect them to regress back to their mean of 7 wins next year without the addition of some difference makers to help their young quarterback out some this off season. Unfortunately, I don't see them making the necessary moves as long as Jeff Ireland is the GM. Instead of getting a difference maker, we will overpay for a niche player like Mike Wallace.

 

Also 15th in offense and 7th in pass offense. Unfortunately, 29th in STs.

 

Relative to Charles Clay, I think he's a nice player. He's the best play maker not named Ryan Tannehill on the offense right now, but that isn't because he's so great. It's because of the lack of true difference makers on this side of the ball. Charles is good, but he's no Jimmy Graham or Antonio Gates in his prime. Charles is a Keith Byars type of player...a nice player but not a player you can build around.

 

Doesn't matter to some people Mr. C. If you're not 1 across the board, you're average.

 

yeah special teams is a big disappointment after last year, we need to find a new returner for next year, thigpen is just not fast enough to turn a corner

 

I worry more about his decision making than him making a good play. Fair catch on the ten then let it bounce from the fifteen. Drives me crazy.

 

Are they 8-6? Do they control their own playoff destiny? Is Tannehill developing nicely? Just wondering.

 

everyone knows that this is a QB driven league... why should the Dolphins be down graded because their QB is playing well?

 

I think the way they have played this season tells just that... This team is a 10 or so win team. They have been in every game except the New Orleans game. As some one once said... you are what you are... no one is better or worse then their record.

 

it was only a matter of time before Wallace was inserted... lol

you are so freak predictable...

Again... I will ask you this... since I have asked you several times and you never seem to have the courage to answer. Are you not the guy that said Jake Long could not play LT in the NFL? And the Earl Thomas was going to be a nickle back at best in the NFL?

 

KB has been right about a lot of things in the past, but his argument in this thread smacks of him having painted himself into a corner on his anti-Ireland stuff. He seems to think he cannot argue anything other than what he is saying in here without destroying his anti-Ireland stance.

The thing is, you can acknowledge that Ireland doesn't deserve all the blame for the Parcells years, think he did a decent job drafting after Parcells was gone, but should still be fired (or have his power drastically limited) for not getting rid of Martin & Cogs when Philbin wanted, for his knack for having one giant glaring hole in a unit every year and for his poor public relations track record.

We, as a species, have a tendency to overdue it with positives and negatives. Its like loving Marino as a QB so then thinking he can do ANYTHING football related like be a QB coach or make executive football decisions (when he is capable of neither). Same here, we don't like Ireland therefore EVERYTHING he does is bad, which is simply not true.

 

Ya' know, even I have been surprised by the play of the OL. Tanny should not be having the year he is and the rbs should not be getting eve the yards they are getting, but somehow they are. This OL (other than Pouncey) is not good at all...yet, they somehow keep getting just enough done to make a difference.

The thing about Wallace is this...yes, he's not a significant difference maker for us..yet. Why is that? How about the fact that Tanny has to get rid of the ball in 2.3 secs or less almost every time ?? Big Ben (his previous QB), had the OL and ability to give himself 3-4 secs (an eternity in the football world), making the longer, more significant plays available. The one thing that he IS doing is he's still giving Hartline, Mathews, Clay and even Thomas/Miller more opportunities. Say what you want about him, his speed STILL scares DBs and has to be respected.

We've got to do more work on the OL before anything else changes offensively, but given the overall poor play of the OL, I think this O is getting more than what they should be...

Look, this team still looks like it's not quite as good as it's record. Even if we get into the POs, I don't think we can make much noise, but it's progressing and getting better. It is truely an above average team. Is it an elite level or great team, no, but neither is NE, Denver or Indy...the one team that scares me in the AFC, that could do some damage if they get in there is KC...they have a stout D and very, very good O with a potent run game...they as good as perhaps Seattle or the Niners, but they are pretty good and can do some damage in the dance...

 

If difference makers were a stat, I think the 7-7 Lions would lead the league. The 10-4 Saints might be near last with three guys. The Patriots have 2 consistent ones and rotate one or two per week. The Colts have one difference maker. Texans have at least 3. Packers have 2 (Hint: Jordy Nelson is consistently just a guy without Rodgers). Check the Giants with like 6 difference makers at least. Where are these mythical teams loaded at every position?

The common denominator with MOST playoff teams is a difference making QB.

 

He seems to agree with you:

 

Seems to me someone should bring up how COACHING is a difference maker in Miami. Some want Philbin gone, but I can't play that card right now. We are BUILDING..........

 

I live in baltimore. I hear ravens fans ***** about Flacco constantly. win/loss, 3tds, or 3ints, he's the worst quarterback in the league, he isn't good, he's terrible. The ravens have never had a good quarterback, so I always wonder what their point of reference is... go back to the glory days of kyle boller? it's ridiculous.

The fins fans on the other hand want every quarterback to come out slinging it like Dan Marino. Here is the thing every dolphin fan forgets, and it's probably because of the 13 years we've had of 40 different quarterbacks, each worse than the other one: Dan Marino screwed up sometimes. He made bad throws. There were games where he had multiple interceptions. What we all remember about Marino is that we were always in a game, and in the 4th quarter with a minute and a half and the ball on the 20, we felt we could win a game. That was what Marino brought to the table. Finally we are seeing our quarterback drive the field at the end of games and score TD's and win games. It's time to step back, get some perspective and enjoy the ride.

 

The only part of this evaluation that really bugs me is the evaluation of Jordan. His opinion makes it very clear he does not understand the impact of matchup skills on offensive performance. Jordan has significantly impacted the performance of pro bowl QBs two weeks in a row. His ability to eliminate the primary hot route has caused missed throws, fumbles, and sacks. He eliminated the tightened as a factor on third down during the Patriots game. He helped cause Wake's strip sack during the Steeler game. It is just amazing to me that people do not realize how profound of a contribution he has made this year.

 

Never rely on one source for info. People who do that end up like those bible fundamentalists who swear the world is 5000 years old. I like some of the ideas at football outsiders, but they're not real good as a predictive source.

 

Yes.

Last year..they had the metrics to suggest a range of wins of 7 to 10 games. This year the same with a slight up tick and a chance to have a season that suggests 9 to 12 wins historically.

Something to look for....

beat Buffalo by 10. Beat the NY Jets by 13. Hold both teams to under 325 yards of offense in each game. Score 2.5 TD's per game...Tannehill with a +88.0 QB Rating.

That right there roughly puts them in the neighborhood of the average 9 to 12 win teams...exactly where we want to be.

We have taken that step..and it came at the QB position. He has been better than his QB Rating.

 

I look at the fact that on average, we score 0.40 points less than what our opposition tends to allow on offense. That is 20th in the NFL. We give up 1.83 points fewer than the average of our opposition.

 

Fins are tied for the longest win streak in NFL right now, win wins @Jets, @Pitt, and vs New England in a row. Yeah, pretty average......

 

We started with 3 wins....if we can wrap up regular season with 5 wins....those are nice bookends for sure!