If.we.lose.to the Bills and bumped in first round.

To be fair the QB wasn't good

 

That is because 1) Tua does not have confidence in the line to hold the ball longer to exploit the 3 out. 2) coach does not call plays to exploit those missing. I recall a couple weeks ago we played someone the ball was goal to goal they lost their best DT and instead of running it into that hole coach calls a fade for an incomplete.

The Ravens defense did what our DC wants us to do which is generate pressure with only 4 guys.

 

I dont think Duke is white, not that it matters any.

 

He could have been playing for weeks, so by now there wouldn’t be any.

 

They may have lost 6 OL but only 2 of them were projected starters as far as I can see (Willis and Conklin, both tackles) they still have both guards and center playing. Bitonio has missed 1 game, Pocic has missed 1 game and Teller has started every game. Willis went down in week 8 and Conklin in week 1. Lots of injuries to the OL but not starters.
Obviously they have done amazing for missing their QB but lets be honest he wasn't exactly playing great when he went down. Chubb is a massive miss but as last week showed us, your backups can be really, really good at RB. Their defence has been fairly healthy though.

Overall the Browns have definitely been banged up though, but I'm not sure they have had as many starters go down as the Dolphins but they win the Banged Up Bowl since the QB went down.

I had a look at Buffalo. On offence Diggs, Davis, Allen, Cook and all 5 OL haven't missed a single game. Knox missed November but they had their 1st round TE cover for him. They have been amazingly healthy on offence and even their defence isn't as banged up as the Dolphins yet are still a game behind the Dolphins. That's actually incredible to me, maybe the window is actually closing on the Bills.

 

In this scenario, how would we lose 4 of the last 5? If we lose the next 2 we would be 2-3 in the last 5. Not great mind you, but just making a correction.

 

I don't think the Colts/Texans game matters for the Bills.

Dolphins need to win, of course, for the 2nd seed. And if the Jags and Steelers win, Bills are out. If Miami wins, and Jags and Steelers lose, the Steelers come to Miami and Buffalo goes to KC. If only one of either the Jags or Steelers wins, the Bills come to Miami.

If Miami loses, they get the 6th seed and go to KC no matter what any other team does.

 

Best case scenario is Dolphins, Steelers, Jags win. Then Buffalo can stay home and wonder how they missed the playoffs while having their full offence play every single game while the Dolphins won the division with 4 backup OL playing for the majority of the season.

Next best is Dolphins win, Steelers and Jags lose.

Worse option is Dolphins win, Jags or Steelers win and we play Buffalo 2 weeks in a row.

Close the forum down option is Dolphins lose.

 

Yeah, I'm not overly concerned with how well the Bills did with Adam Gase and Flores as HC and Osweiler, Fitz, Cutler, Tanny, etc at QB. Bills fans love to bring up this winning streak as if it means something. Should we gloat about the 20-0 winning streak against the Bills in the 1970's? Of course not...none of that matters now. With McDaniel and Tua the Bills are 2-1 against the Phins with each team winning their respective home games. Yes, we have injuries and that definitely plays a part in this upcoming game, but what happened in 2019 doesn't.

 

The typical timeline for returning to play after an ACL tear is 9-10 months. The timeline for an Achilles is 9-12. JP is 24 and Chubb is 27. Unless they have some sort of setback, my guess is they will both be playing again by about next Oct. and miss around 3-4 games.

 

The Colts/Texans games matters if they tie, technically.

 

I guess the 49ers offense is a mirage, also. They put up 19 and 17 points against the only good defenses they've played this year (Browns and Ravens).

 

I think that was the game where Trent Williams was out and CMC had to sit for a bit as well. They then went on a 2 game skid as CMC was limited, Williams was out and Deebo was out.

Injuries are just an excuse though.

 

You do realise that if the Dolphins had scored 0 against the Broncos they would still be the 8th ranked scoring offence in the league? It's a very good offence considering what the OL is and the limitations it's putting on it.

 

Yeah, it was 21-14 late in the 2nd and then Kader gives up a 55 yard TD to Diggs (still can't believe Fangio had him on Diggs) and then on our next possession Mostert fumbled and gave the Bills a short field with about 2 minutes to go. Then the Bills score right before the half and go up 17 pts. We get the ball first in the 2nd half and go right down and score a TD. Dolphins defense holds the Bills to a FG on their next drive and make it 34-20. Then Tua throws a bad INT, gives the ball back to the Bills on about their own 20. Bills score a TD and go up 41-20. Next possession, desperation mode, they go for it on 4th and Tua get's sacked. Game over.

Anyhow, the final score isn't always indicative of a blow out. Two costly mistakes were the difference in that game. (3 if you consider the Kader blown coverage).

 

I am going to root for the Bills eliminated option because obviously **** the bills and also don't want the nightmare option of having to beat them twice in a row but I think the actual best scenario is Buffalo at 6 because them causing chaos is probably the best way Miami goes on what currently appears to be an unlikely run.

Pitt@Mia wild card
Jax@Mia divisional
Buff@Mia conference

 

The Eagles have the 29th ranked defense. And what we did against the Eagles was highly altered by the refs.

 

I don't think the Bills beat KC twice in KC.

 

Well Colts/Texans definitely aren't

 

Ooh, I forgot about that option. I actually like it and I was thinking about that this morning. Stupid brain, guess I need to refuel it with more coffee.

So new best option is Dolphins win, Ravens win and Titans win. That leaves Miami #2 and Buffalo #6.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm worried about this next game. But not because I think the offense is bad or they are frauds, but because the offensive line is in shambles and this is a division opponent. And, this is a week-to-week league. Even bad teams beat good teams. The Lions lost to the Seahawks, Bears, and Packers. The Jets and Pats beat the Bills. The Colts beat the Ravens and the Rams took them to OT. The 49ers lost to the Vikings. There are plenty of other examples.

It's amazing that the Dolphins are 5-2 over their last 7 since the oline went from bad to horrible. The Ravens game, to me, is an outlier. Yes, the Dolphins played bad in week 4 against the Bills, but once things started to click on defense, and they got some key players back, they've been really good. The Eagles game was a sham, KC game was extremely close and another bad call hurt the Dolphins, and then they sh!t the bed against the Titans. This team is not what they showed against the Ravens, but the Ravens are on a different level than any team in the NFL right now. The Bills are squeaking by bad teams right now. Their "MVP" QB has had an 89, 82, 53, 69, and 104 passer rating in their past 5 games and yet they are 4-1 over that span. How long can they keep this up?

 

Describing the minutia that lead to the blowout doesn't make it any less of a blowout.

 

No, but putting things into context allows you to see the entire picture. The Bills didn't dominate the Dolphins in the way the Ravens did, but if you just look at the final score you'd think they did.

 

I did too but the injuries keep mounting up. 8 starters missing for the Ravens game, felt like Miami almost fielded a pre-season game roster.

 

It doesn’t lol but I thought he looked white. maybe it’s because all the blood rushed from his face when he saw the offense streaking by him. lol

 

I've still got a slight hope that the Ravens game was just "one of those games" and the Cowboys game is more like the real Dolphins. Play like that and they can beat Buffalo and then it's a home playoff game that they would probably be favoured for.

 

11 wins and playoffs is a successful season vs my expectations before the start of the season. Post season, I expect a playoff win. I see it as two different seasons, regular and post. This team is good enough to win a playoff game, so that is my minimal post season expectation.

 

Preseason futures odds for the Dolphins was 9.5 wins and slightly under 50% chance to make the playoffs. So I agree that compared to preseason expectations this team has outperformed. But given where we've been in the standings the past month or more, ending 11-6 would be a huge disappointment. That dreaded late season collapse narrative would once again be justified. Not that I expect this to happen. This is a great opportunity for the Dolphins to show they really are different from previous years. The regular season stats point to that. They just have to deliver.