The Dolphins have corrected many of the problems we saw in Week 1. The loss of Chad Pennington and Will Allen were not season-ending scenarios thanks to Bill Parcells and Jeff Ireland's great drafting. Henne is now starting so the offense is no longer limited by Pennington's arm strength or lack thereof. We're making adjustments in the running game bouncing it outside if we're getting stuffed inside. This Dolphins team is getting better week by week but obviously there is still room for improvement. Here's what we need to do. 1. Eliminate the big play. This continues to be a problem for us. Its not just the talent on the field. The coaches are equally to blame. We dial up the blitz and sack Sanchez or Brees in the first half and then we hardly blitz at all in the second half? You can't play scared. You can't play not to lose. You have to play to win. 2. Eliminate the turnovers. Bess muffed a punt and lost a pass that wasn't reviewed. Luckily that didn't cost us the game against the Jets. However it did cost us against the Saints and clearly continues to be a problem. 3. Get Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams more involved in the pass game. They are dangerous men in the opponent's secondary. Ask any DB in the league if they would rather tackle Ronnie Brown or Ted Ginn and I think you know what their answer would be. Passing the ball to Ronnie and Ricky will put them in more situations where they can do serious damage. Our receiving corps is not exactly on par with the Colts, Cardinals, or Saints. That's not going to change before season's end. 4. Speaking of Ted Ginn I said it before and I'll say it again. He should be returning every kick and every punt. That will increase his odds of taking it to the house quite a bit. Josh Cribbs has 49 returns so far this season. Darren Sproles has 41. Eddie Royal has 29. Percy Harvin has 28. Before today's game Ginn had 8. He is now tied with Cribbs, Royal, Crayton, and Harvin for most TDs and his 34.9 average leads the league. He is a weapon! Maybe now we will finally use him correctly. 5. Throw the ball deep. Henne has a rocket for an arm. Let's play to his strengths. One failed attempt to Hartline in the 1st quarter is not going to cut it most weeks. 6. There's been a bit of talk about how the Dolphins need to finish games. That's not completely true. Our offense is fine. Its the defense that needs to finish games. Couldn't do it against the Colts. Couldn't do it against the Saints. They finally did it against the Jets and now we're 3-4. If our defense can continue to find ways to win we are playoff bound. SIDE NOTE: Thank god we re-signed Jason Taylor. That was the biggest no-brainer of all time. Why it took so long is still beyond me. Should have got that done the day after the draft. Big game against the Pats next week. Huge game. Once we get past them we have Tampa Bay, Carolina, and Buffalo. I know 12-4 sounds crazy but how does 7-4 grab you? F.Y.I. If the Dolphins were to win out this is the best the Pats, Jets, and Bills could hope for: Dolphins 12-4 Pats 12-4 (we would win the tie-breaker) Jets 12-4 (we would win the tie-breaker) Bills 10-6 I'm not saying its probable. Just mathematically possible. The division still goes through Miami. We control our own destiny. That's amazing considering we started 0-2.
Agreed with your post and like the optimism. Ted Ginn should be in on every return and with Henne I would like them to let him use his arm strength and air it out more. I would also like to see this team improve on finishing games. They need to stop letting the other teams back in when we have the game in our control. Our Fins need to be more relentless and win games decisively.
I hope you are right be lets not get crazy.The dolphins are 0-4 against good to great QBs this year.They have beat sanchez tiwce and edwards. Hardly the elite of the nfl. Football is a game of matchups and I do not think we match up well against the pats this year.The number 1 team in the nfl this year in time of possesion is not us it's the damm pats.Another thing lost in our win yesterday is where has our running game gone in the last two games with the exception of rickeys long run last week?It better show up next week or we are going to get killed. I do agree with you after the pats we should win the next 3 games.I know we will finally be the favorites in these games.
I'd say 10-6 is more possible, most likely with our losses coming at NE and Pitts. Whether or not that gets us in the playoffs is another question of course.
need to win continue to win anyway we can do it the start was bad & schedule terrble but anything is possible even with a team in the second year of rebuilding: still missing some basic pieces from the final product & experience win or lose, you've got to love a team with this much character & heart we continue to play to win, we continue to compete & earn the respect of the entire NFL every time we walk on a field
Well I gave Cam Cameron a hard time, so I have to give credit where credit is due. Ted Ginn Jr. won this game, but lets not kid ourselves, its a game would should have lost and we should have won against the Saints. We had big leads in both games and could not stop their offenses. That worries me......alot.... d-1
Regardless of the optimism the coaching staff and front office doesn't think this team is going for it all. They refused to get a wideout something that they KNEW was an issue. How good would Edwards look in a dolphins uniform? they didn't give up much for him either..In fact we had opportunities for alot of decent wideouts but refused to deal. Like our picks at Wideout are so precious and worth picks... Sometime you buy a know commodity! Love the optimism, but the reality of the situation is that were not going to make the playoffs. This team choked in two HUGE games where we had complete control. Had we won 1 or two of those Id jump on... We still have a tough schedule and while we might get better on some front's so will other teams..
While I agree no game is a sure win but the reality is that even with two blown games this team can be 4-4 through the toughest part of the schedule and a game out of the division. There is no way looking at the second half of the season that it's as tough as the first. Now I still say odds are that Miami misses the playoffs but its a 55-45 odds. Split with NE and take care of business against teams that appear weaker and 11-5 is possible (Hou and Pitt are of concern though). I would even say the rest of the season looks about like the stretch of the 2008 season. Also the way I see it Miami did lose two games they should have won but they've won one they should have lost...so it sort of balances out (we're just owed one more). The season is nowhere near over.
I expect we should be favored in at least 5 of the remaining games. We might even be favored against Houston in Miami. If we win the games we're expected to and split against NE, that leaves us at 10 - 6 and 5 - 1 in the division. That might be good enough for the playoffs. Obviously, in the NFL no win (or loss) is guaranteed, but it certainly seems possible.
i think if we score more points than the remaining opponents on our schedule, we'll be in good shape to win them all
You guys ready for this prediction? I say we do indeed go 5-1 in the division, but we sweep the Cheatriots I have been saying this since Pre-season and I stick to it.
Though I would love to see 12-4, it won't happen. However, I think we could still win the division with a 10-6 record. We would have to sweep NE, which is a long shot. I think we split with NE...which puts us at 4-5. We beat TB, Buffalo, Carolina, Jags, and Texans...which puts us at 9-5. We beat Houston and lose to Pitt....which puts us at 10-6. That is the most likely scenario that will play out for the rest of the season. Though we could lose the last 2 games and finish 9-7.
Not very good IMHO, in fact, not any better as a WR than Ted Ginn. Just look at Edwards stats % wise he's no better than Ted and with Ted we also have a proven Kick return Killer. JFTR It has taken Hester, of da Bears, into his 4th year to become a pretty good WR with nice hands and a 75+ % at catching the ball and Smith of Carolina fame still only catches about 60 % of the balls thrown his way. Ted may never be a #1 WR that is no reason we can't use or don't need his speed in that position. Now back to the point of this thread. From the jump I've said we go 12-4 and looking at the schedule we have left I still believe we can do it. Will we? Thats why they play the games.
Yes...my bad. We beat Tenn. With all the uniform changes this year it hard to keep everyone straight. LOL
It has come to my attention that my math skills are weak. The Pats and Jets can't both go 12-4 because they still play each other one more time. So if the Dolphins were to win out the AFC East could look like this: Dolphins 12-4 (6-0 in the division) Pats 12-4 (3-3 in the division) We would win the tie-breaker. Jets 11-5 (2-4 in the division) Bills 8-8 (1-5 in the division) Or this: Dolphins 12-4 (6-0 in the division) Jets 12-4 (3-3 in the division) We would win the tie-breaker. Pats 11-5 (2-4 in the division) Bills 8-8 (1-5 in the division) Or this: Dolphins 12-4 (6-0 in the division) Pats 11-5 (3-3 in the division) Jets 11-5 (2-4 in the division) Bills 10-6 (3-3 in the division) Yeah, right?! Basically the Pats are 5-2. If we sweep them the best they could hope for is a 12-4 record. However if we win out we would also be 12-4 and we would win the tie-breaker. The Jets are 4-4. The best they could hope for is a 12-4 record. However if we win out we would also be 12-4 and we would win the tie-breaker. The Bills are 3-5. However if we win out we would be 12-4 and since we play the Bills again in November the best they could hope for is a 10-6 record. I know. It makes my head hurt too. Of course none of this changes the fact that the Dolphins still control their own destiny.
Realistically speaking. Not mathematically. The Pats still have a number of tough games left to play. The Colts at Indianapolis. The Saints at New Orleans. The Jets at home. The two games against us. The two games against Jacksonville and Houston at the end of the year are trap games. Its very possible that the Pats end up going 10-6. The Jets have to play the Pats at New England and the Colts at Indianapolis. They have the Jags, Falcons, and Bengals at home. Its very possible that the Pats end up going 9-7. The Bills are pretty much out of it. Although they do have a small sliver of a hope. Of course those are all predictions on my part and as such pretty much meaningless.
If we want a realistic shot to repeat as AFC East champs, we need to win on Sunday in Foxborough. Its that simple. A win over New Orleans 2 weeks ago would have taken some of the pressure off this upcoming week, but before this tough 3 game stretch (NO, @ NYJ, @ NE) everyone here pretty much acknowledged we needed to go 2-1 and get to 4-4 to be considered division contenders. Well, we're 1-1 and I don't see how things have changed. Hopefully this team can go up to NE next Sunday and ensure that the division comes through Miami during the season's second half. That said, I think the odds are stacked against us. New England is coming off a bye, having had two weeks to prepare for us, and its the 2nd of back-to-back divisional roadies. Its going to be tough, for sure.
To make it to the playoffs we are going to need a whole lot of luck, and at least a 5-1 record in the division. Which means sweeping the Bills or Pats (which the Bills are probably more likely). I'd love to see it, but I'm not holding my breath. It's still possible, and I'm going to cheer the phins on every game they're in, pointless or not. But I try to temper my hopes and expectations. We've been rather inconsistent as of late. And consistency is what we need if we ever want to truly be a championship contender.
the teams we have be wary of, is anyone who has a legitimate passing game: NE X 2, HOU, and maybe PIT ... the rest are primarily running teams, which we 'should' be able to beat given our run defense and the addition of Roth at SOLB. CAR, TB, JAX, TEN, BUF all need to run ... and we should be able to contain them. we just have no fix for a passing team, especially one with a dominant WR or TE. still looks like 5-1 in the DIV and 10-6 for the year ... which breathes possibilities for both the DIV and WC, but thanks to the loss to SD - it might not work out. i bet Parcells prays every night that SD doesn't sign Merriman ...
True. The main problem has been mismatches. Neither of our inside linebackers can cover a tight end. And Gibril Wilson is very inconsistent. The rookie cornerbacks don't concern me at all.
As we stand today the Texans and the Steelers are the two Wild Card teams. The last two games on our schedule? The Texans and the Steelers. At home. Wow. Keep fighting Dolphins! The division and a Wild Card spot are still up for grabs.