"23 Miami Dolphins 4-4 3 11 / 30 At least they were competitive in defeat. Battered Jay Cutler led them to 24 points Sunday after Fins averaged two in three previous losses." And from BR - a move down two spots but a positive write-up: " Last Week's Ranking: 20 The Miami Dolphins are a solid team. The offense has potential with Jay Cutler being healthy, and the defense is better than it was last season. Miami outplayed the Oakland Raiders, but mistakes cost them in the end. Kenyan Drake's fumble after a terrific onside-kick call by Adam Gase was a huge blow. Other than the fumble, Drake played well, and there are other weapons on Miami's offense. That side of the ball should get better as Gase and Cutler continue to figure things out. The defense is above-average; it's at least good enough to keep the Dolphins in games. Miami will be in the hunt for the fifth or sixth seed in the AFC all season."
I appreciate the optimism, but the rest of the schedule is brutal. A loss against the Panthers wouldn't be the end of the world, considering they're an NFC team, but we need to clean up against the Bucs, Broncos, and we need to sweep the resurgent Bills. Our run defense is a lot better this year, at least, so that should help against the Bills. Then, we need to at least split against the Pats. That'll put us at 9-7, and maybe a chance at the wildcard. If we beat the Panthers, it'd be a lot easier. If we could have squeaked by the Raiders, that would have helped a lot too.
We are alone in 7th place in the AFC right now, 1 win away from a WC spot. So this season isn't over by any means and fans shouldn't quit on the team yet. As you say the key is sweeping the Bills, not just because they have one of the two WC spots right now but because of conference record in case things go to tiebreaker.
I thought Miami played a really solid game last night despite the favoritism from the refs. If either of those crucial phantom penalties weren't called, I think Miami wins the game. To me, they looked like the better team and just couldn't catch a break.
offense played better, pass protection was decent. I think Burke can fix the defense. Looking for improvement more than W's
It's true we played better than last game, but almost every team plays better than we did last game. I'm glad they played better but I'm also tired of hearing about "potential" after all of these years. I'm starting to realize that potential is a word they don't use on winners.
There are definitely no substitutes for winning! For my part I try to stay perpetually positive if only because I can't change or control anything but my own perspective and I'd rather not have an interest and entertainment like football negatively impact my life. Nevertheless, I think there's still legitimate reason for hope with this team, even if it seems diminished. The talent on this team is one. But more lately I've also been remembering that we lost our OL coach this season. It's more than possible that we're recovering now from not just that event but also anything rotten that might have grown from that scenario, and that's not to mention the transition to new coaching in that position. I also think Gase is learning on the job and he'll take time to fully get to grips with not only doing the job, and establishing his culture, but adapting himself to what works. I have faith right now that he's smart enough, open enough and driven enough to adapt in any way necessary to achieve success.
Carolina has been playing really good football though. I thought about going to the game with some Carolina fans/friends but decided to pass...it feels safer watching it from my living room.
I said something similar last year and I was wrong, so I hope when I say it again this year I'll be wrong again. There is no way the Dolphins are sweeping the Bills this year.
I love the line about Tanny masking the o-line, of course its gonna look worse when you lose your mobile qb for the season. Not saying it was good to begin with, but the band aid was ripped off and its leaking all over Cutler now.
