Well according to The Sporting News there are 5 fan bases who need to lower their expectations.... Betcha you thought ours would be one of them, right? http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/art...s-whose-fans-should-temper-their-expectations "Some teams have higher expectations than others, based typically on their finishes in the prior season, their offseason acquisitions or both. Many of the teams with high hopes shouldn't be saddled with such expectations. Let's peek at five franchises whose fans should be looking for less than what they seem to be anticipating" well....surprisingly enough ..we aren't on this list
Im not tempering anything. We look very solid in everything were trying to do. We beat New England once or twice and were in the playoffs.
I'm somewhat neutral when it comes to expectations. I can see us realistically taking a step back or making the playoffs. It all comes down to how well our rookies step up, how our offensive line gels, continued good and consistent play from the QB position, and a solid defensive effort all around. To top the list of what needs to happen: Our Special Teams need to significantly improve. If all or most of these things happen, I can see us making it back to the playoffs. If our DBs are bad or average, our special teams stinks it up, and our offensive line fails to open lanes for our running game, we can hope to be a .500 team. We can't rely on the WC to be effective on the ground.
I honestly think the buffalo bills should be on that list but i could see how they wouldnt know it if they didnt live here. Its pretty funny to hear the bills fans talk about how they have a great QB and TO the savior which will translate into them winning the division.
Really I have two good friends that are Bills fans. Both are already studying top 5 prospects coming out in the draft last year EDIT: Yeah, okay, the irony here is that a Stoopid phins fan, is calling out stoopid bills fans....
Last year I expected 5-7 wins, so I am not one to make any predictions. I have much higher expectations from this team for this season than I did a year ago, but why wouldn't I?
We should be on the list. If Penny gets hurt, we are relying on a backup who's thrown all of 11 NFL passes. Only twice in his career has Pennington played all 16 games, so in all likelihood he may miss some time due to injury. We'd like to think we have secured a great many areas, but in reality we have stockpiled some positions on potential only. Henne could do well to get some snaps in games this season when Pennington is not injured. I don't see us blowing anyone on our schedule out, so it may be mop up time only (last 2min); which isn't what I'm looking for. If he can get 30 passes under his belt it will help. I agree it is minimal, but every bit helps in his progression.
could have said the same thing last year with the patriots "if brady goes down, we have someone who hasnt played sense highschool" and they went 11-5. imo, we have a good core offense, where henne could succeed in..... good oline play, sure handed, good route running recievers, a burner in ginn, and plenty of running backs..... i dont think our team should be on that list, we have a solid team imo anyways.....
Perhaps, and I certainly don't want to mess with Karma, however, placing those same obstacles fairly, I would put New England way out in front of us, and I have very good reasons why: Obviously if Brady gets injured again, and I could easily see it happening, I would put Chad Henne above, actually that's WELL ABOVE anybody else they can throw out there, furthermore, our team is well prepared to run, and run well against teams, the Patsies aren't, not by any stretch of the imagination. And one more HUGE point, our defense is young, talented and very deep, while theirs is Talented, very very old and paper thin. Just my 2 cents worth
Miami should be at the top of the following list: 5 Teams that should exceed expectations If we peak at the end of the year, we should be able to make a deep playoff run. I believe in that possibility. No team that started 2-4 and finished 11-5 should be counted out the following season, especially when you consider that Sparano has another year of experience teaching and that we have more depth and stability on Offense and D. Our biggest loss of the offseason was Goodman, who we will forget about when Vontae knocks out a few opposing plays and Smith makes some circus INT's. Ronnie Brown is 100%, the Wildcat will have new kinks, JT and Porter will be trolling for QB heads and Pat White is about to electrify the NFL. I'm pumped and I expect GREAT things out of this team.
I'd say last year everyone figured NE was done after week 1. They'd be competitive and wine 7 games or so......no one could have thought it would trun out like it did. That was the aberration rather than the norm. How many other clubs have done that in recent memory? And the we have a solid team and we can stand injuries to the QB sounds very similar to the Wannstedtian thinking that mediocre QB play can be overcome by a solid team. How many times did Jay Fiedler gift games away with his INT's? His lowest total in his career was 16 I think.... damn. That's one a game. Thats just my take. QB is the one position you can never have enough depth. That one position affects every other position so much it is ridiculous.
Don't forget what the change of scenery has done to Chad's career. Throw the old injury history out the window. We have given him a chance to shine here, have developed an offense that takes pressure off Chad and that allows him to manage games. Our O-Line has done admirably when it comes to pass protection. Will he get hit this year? No more or no less than any other QB in the league. This assumption that Chad can not complete a season was shattered last season. Let's move beyond those assumptions and use recent history to dictate our thoughts on his health. He did a pretty damn good job staying healthy last year and there is no reason to think he is going to get injured or blow out his arm this year.
Just wait until TO has his midseason breakdown.. Between him and old Dirty Sanchez (ODS) it's going to be a fun season of meltdowns in the AFCE
Coming off a last place schedule, a new gimmick, a new attitude, but not deep on talent.... to now with the hardest schedule (3rd toughest since 1990 I believe), a gimmick that will need new wrinkles to be effective, a confident attitude, and deeper on talent..... I have the attitude of I HOPE we can get into the playoffs. I would NOT be surprised if we didn't make the playoffs. I think we will have a winning record. However, it will be very tough. I think 10-6, 9-7 will the watermark.
I am not arguing your point about QB, I am saying that Brady has just as good a chance of going down again. Once again, who are you going to give the nod to if we have Henne, our running game and defense go against Kevin O'Connell or Andrew Walter and that one trick pasture horse?
I definitely have tempered my expectations as well. We are going from the easiest schedule to the hardest schedule and unless we improve by leaps and bounds as a team our record will most likely be worse.
He had played 16 games once before, 13 another, 11 in another. I never said he could play in games, just that he has been injured, and could miss time this year. I'm not saying he's done for the year necessarily, but what if he misses 2 games.....that's a big swing if we lose those two due to QB play. If you wish to focus on recent history over the last three seasons he has played 16, 9, 16. In the last two years he's had his complete seasons, before that he was of injured. Even in recent history, he has missed some time. All I ever said was that he "may" miss time this season.
You were arguing, even if you weren't I'll argue until I find something you'll argue about. Then I can say you were really arguing and this is all tied together. I have a plan, and it would be nice if you would just capitulate. I do have others I wish present my overbearing ideas to. Us. 1). Cause it's my team. 2). Cause they're the fins. 3). Cause we can still pressure the QB, they cannot. No high scory, no victory.
every team has its problems I agree with the analysis made in the article Miami is looking strong & deep: 1)Henne is no Chad Pennington, but with the Orca-5 protecting him against the rush & the running game established, he will perform adequately if needed 2) Paul Soilai (the BigPig)appears to have stepped up significantly from last year 3) the ILB's are all playing well, we have a tremendous pass rush & our defensive backs are coming along quickly our chances are as good as the next teams, to sustain a major loss & continue playing well in 2009
So good to have you in here brother Con I think its funny as hell the Vikes made that list. I hope it comes true, Brett Fayvree doesn't last past week 10 and Sage tells the FO to piss off. That would be a nice spectacle to behold
The team that I absolutely agree with being on that list is SD. Some of us have known for a long, long time that Norv Turner is a bad HC. Marty even coined a phrase to describe what Norv does to teams.... not Schottenheimer - our own Marty. Norv took a 14-2 team and turned it into an 8-8 team. In a division with KC and OAK. they probably should have gone 14-2 again. Instead thy only won the division by default. Still, to me the major shocker is that we aren't on the list. With so much being said about our season being a fluke, I had figured we would top it.
On paper and in most peoples heads everything you say is true. I have to admit that we will need a pot load of luck to again remain healthy. Which is one of the two concerns I have for our team, that, and Special Teams can kill what is our best effort at putting together a team in some time that could go well into the playoffs, if everything breaks right. We should win the Division, why? 1. Tom Brady is broken and his Oline will not help him this year 2. The Bills while having a great defense have an Oline worse than NE IMHO. 3. The Jets are, well the Jets. Being good is great; being lucky is greater!!
agree w/ FriendGafinfan & add Pennington will not disappoint: 1) he went all last season w/o a hitch & trained w/ his personal trainer during the entire off season. Chad is for the first time since the injuries totally healed & in the best shape of his professional career. 2) the guy is indisputably one of the best QB's in the NFL & has fire in his belly. 3) He also has a new offensive line which will open the run-game. Once the run is established, the passing game will open up & the Orca-5 will provide superior protection for Pennington in the pocket. 4) Pat White's entrance with the WildCat should establish it as a co-offensive system, further reducing the chance of injury to the conventional QB on the field. 5)Chad Pennington wants to play. He wants to erase the embarrassment he suffered @ the hands of the inept Jet decision makers. He loves Miami & the idea of having a hands on experience in rebuilding a Franchise under the auspices of Bill Parcells. He won't disappoint.