I look at this roster and truly think this is a playoff team. Love him or hate him it truly comes down to Tua and if he takes the next step we will be there.No improvement we will be sitting home in jan like every year.Rest of team is good enough.
It is required to post this meme any time we talk about playoffs prior to the season beginning. Also paper tigers are just that! Prove it!!
I think that if the team stays healthy and doesn't have any games where they totally fail to show up against a lesser opponent, then they should be in the conversation for the 6 or 7 seed in the AFC. And a trip to play at one of the best teams in the conference in the Wildcard round. And we know what happens then. But its a step in the right direction. Unless Josh Allen and other important Bills are injured and lost for the year at a fairly early stage. Then we have a shot at the division title.
I COULD see us in the playoffs this season, but it depends on so many factors that we don't have an educated guess on yet- Can the team "start fast" this season and get a few early wins against quality teams? How much will the line develop this season? Can we establish a run game? <see last question> How much of a jump will Tua make with a regular training camp, new receivers, etc? Can we continue to create pressure without superstars at end? Can the D remain a complete turnover machine? Will we have the right offensive scheme to take advantage of our shiny new weapons? And the biggest question of all- can we finally hang with Buffalo, while staying ahead of NE and NY? As fans, we see the good stuff and assume the bad will be magically turned around...and hey, I'm the biggest homer of them all when it comes to blind optimism. But at this point in the process, it's just too early to say what Tua will do this season, how rookies will develop, etc. Now is the time for them to put in the work, learn the system and become an actual team. I say this almost every year around this time, but when I was a teen my friends and I used to get Marino's autograph almost weekly out at his radio show at the Weston Country Club on Thursday nights. The Fins were having a great season and like an idiot, I asked Marino if that was the year they won the Super Bowl....and he went BALLISTIC on me! To paraphrase, he said that all they could do is prepare for the coming week and focus 100% of their effort on that. And that's sort of been my mentality ever since...you think about playoffs once you're in the playoffs. But that also was sort of a blessing to me as well, because I view each season a lot differently than most of you. If we win, that's great...I smile all week. If we lose then it stinks, but by Monday morning I'm focused on the next game because that's all that matters. So in a strange, cynical way, Marino's wrath taught me to appreciate every week more instead of focusing on the entire season.
As a fan for the last 40 plus year my patience is wearing way thin.After 3 years of new regime I fully expect at least wildcard or this is a huge disappointment!
On paper we did add some really nice pieces but how that actually works out is still up in the air. Health / depth and if we can be consistent on both sides of the ball will determine a lot. Looking at schedule I’m on paper looking at a 9-7 record again maybe another 10-6 if we over achieve and possibly sneaking in the back door of the playoffs but I feel we miss it by a game or two just never have faith anymore which sucks I don’t want to be a downer but we never seem to make that transition
I won't come close to having faith until we have an offense that can regularly move the ball between the 20s without needing huge plays to do it. We'll see if we can get closer to that this year.
Talking about playoffs before preseason even starts is a bit silly. But if we are going to discuss it, the only way we make the playoffs is to win every game we’re supposed to win…and a few that we’re not. I know any team can beat any team on any given Sunday but if we lose any game we’re supposed to win, then it’s already over for the post season
My expectations this season is for the playoffs. Since Flores has overachieved his first 2 years, I'd be comfortable with playoffs in 4 if we get hit with the injury bug or if Tua doesn't develop.
If you don't talk playoffs whats the point?This is how far this once great franchise has sunk ?Don't dare talk about playoffs in year 3 of a rebuild?So should we wait for another 3 years?If you can't even make a wildcard in year 3 what realy have you accomplished? This team doesn't make playoffs this year this whole regime is an epic failure!So yea its silly not to expect it!
People will say it's all about Tua but I will add the pass rush (glaring need), WRs staying on the field and slightly improved protection from the interior OL. Get that and playoffs are a strong possibility.
I agree with the OP. It all comes down to Tua in my opinion. The defense is good enough, we have weapons on offense, we have a competent offensive line. There should be no excuses other than Tua not getting the job done. I'm sure it's a lot of pressure on him, but he's as insulated as much as you can ask for in a young QB. He's not climbing the mountain Joe Burrow is or Trevor Lawrence for that matter. I think it truly comes down to him either having it or not having it next season. I know it's only his second year in the league, but there is a rush on his position more than any other position in the league. It takes a franchise QB or at least one that can get the job done to win in this league. I hope he can do it. I was one of his biggest supporters on here last year and that last game of the season really left me with an awful feeling.
I'm not asking for the SB yet!Just a freaking wildcard apperance.Tua needs to take next step or the whole rebuild is a failure!
I usually don't have a great deal of optimism for a playoff appearance but if they don't make it this year I for one will be disappointed.
Completely missing my point. Those teams had no pass rush and still made playoffs because Qbs played well enough to get them there
The only way I'll have SB expectations is if Tua comes out on fire the way Mahomes did when KC turned him loose in his second season. But yes....I agree, it's absolutely vital, crucial, imperative that he takes the next step. Otherwise, we're nothing more than a competitive team that's "almost" there. I don't want a repeat of the Tannehill years with Tua.
I was thinking earlier about how the last time I expected the Fins to make the playoffs and they actually went through and did it was all the way back in 2001. Twenty years! And that's just making the playoffs, not even winning a Wildcard game. Its absurd that its been that long. The last two times we actually made it (2008 and 2016), I had no expectations going in and they were obviously proven to be unsustainable years with a mix of luck, a weak schedule and unrepeatable plays on offense. Lets see if Flores and this year's club can actually make things work when they look like they have it in them. If he can do just that one simple thing, he'll have proven to be the third best coach in franchise history. Think about that!
I feel Flores is a good coach and they built a playoff roster.If Tua can get at least Fitz level this year we make playoffs with this team
Tannehill was out in 2016 by playoff time- that's the game that could have changed the entire franchise path if he was healthy enough to play at high levels. I often wonder about that, if he hadn't got hurt, completed the season and made some playoff noise....where would we be today? Virtually every roster spot besides Grant, Howard and Parker would be different players.
I agree with you. It was really rotten for RT17 and the Fins as a whole that it all went down the way that it did. Even more painful to see him finally used properly and shine in Tennessee. But I don't think that Gase was ever going to be a good coach, so what likely would have happened was a few years of the team underachieving under him with OK results and a coaching change not too far from when it happened in reality.
Yup, I see it the same way. I'm usually not a fan of the "what if" game, but that one little stretch of 4 games really changed the entire franchise from coaches, GMs to basically the entire roster. Wasn't that the "Miracle in Miami" year as well? At that point, the franchise just felt destined for something special before everything came crashing down.
No, that was actually Gase's last win with the Fins in 2018. They got destroyed the three games after that and he was rightfully fired. I also think that RT was injured in that game at some point, because he went from 8 TDs/1 INT and a completion percentage around 70% in his first three games back after missing a bunch to 1 TD pass and under 150 yards a game his last three with the team.
We all keep acting like this is year teo for TUA as a starting QB it isn’t. He played in spots last year and got pulled a few times where growth was needed. Also last year was a covid year so a lot of the normal training camp stuff wasn’t in place. this is his first year in my mind honestly and I expect we will see some growth but next year is where he will make it break the franchise. we will be 7-10 wins and asked to be patient one or two more years which I’m tired of
I have no more patience!Tired of same old dolphins year after year.A wildcard game is the the low bar for me this year. This is not asking for much in year 3 of any franchise.
I agree, this is his first full year w/ a training camp and pre-season...so I don't look at it as year 2 either. Plus it's a brand new offense, so he's starting fresh regardless of someone's perspective. He's basically still a rookie with a few months worth of a head start. However, I disagree with the other part of your comment- nobody is asking you to be patient. It's tough to win 8 games in this league and people need to temper their expectations in general. In 2019, there were 7 total teams with 11 or more win. In 2020, there were 10 teams total....and 5 of those were the same as 2019. It just takes time to build a dynasty like Green Bay, KC, etc. and it's even harder to do without being in salary-cap hell (meaning, you build a contender like Tampa and can only keep the starters together for a season or two). I was Grier's biggest critic a few years back and I'm still holding out my final judgement for this season, but if we hit that 10-win mark again then he's an absolute genius. I think so many of you are clueless how special it was to win 10 games with a roster full of rookies and cast-offs that didn't even get a training camp or pre-season. That was basically IMPOSSIBLE and the people complaining just don't understand how hard the NFL actually is.