The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

I usually say 12-4, but I'm half serious and I know they won't be that good...however...

I believe 100% this team can go 12-4 this year.  This is the breakout year...they win the Super Bowl this year guys. You heard it here first.

Predictions?

9-7, miss playoffs

Generous considering your affiliation.

Talent wise? They are an 11-5 team. With their history of bad coaching and mental weakness?

8-8.

10-6 wild card loss

11-5, 1st in AFC East

Sorry to rain on the parade here - -

What's different from last year to this year?  You really think Ndomukong Suh makes the Dolphins from 8-8 disappointments to Super Bowl contenders?  Aside from Suh -

Two leading WR's gone, replaced with a rookie and a 3rd year kid
Same QB
Same RB, mostly
patchwork o-line - granted Albert will be back...
same LB's
same secondary, minus a feisty veteran who I thought was more of a contributor than most, an injured FS, and a good nickel corner

So who's making this vast difference?  Bryce McCain?  Jay Ajayi?  Kenny Stills?

Sorry guys, you know I'm usually the optimist, but I don't understand where this optimism comes from...

Well since our run defense was the biggest issue late in the year and Suh immediately patches that up, I say that makes a pretty big difference. Superbowl? No. Playoffs? It definitely improves our chances.


You forgot we also signed Greg Jennings who is better than Hartline.

Another mediocre season. 10-6 at best worst 8-8 again.  Tired of getting my hopes up. What worries me is the O-Line and second/third string and Injuries down the stretch. While Im excited for the upgrade defense, offense is still questionable and the overall feel of this year Fin team doesn't put any fear in the league. On paper Miami  should be in playoff contention and year after year the fail to deliver.

AS USUAL, I'M GOING TO WAIT AND SEE.

1.  Where's your prediction?  I just see a bunch of negativity.
2.  The receiving core is much deeper.  Stills, Parker, Landry, Jennings, Cameron are better than what we had last year.
3.  Same QB, yes.  The same QB that keeps getting better every year.  Stats back that up.
4.  Yes, Suh does help tremendously.  He gets double teamed, which puts one on one match ups for Wake and Vernon.  He plugs up the middle so teams can't run on us.  If they decide to not double team him, he's going to cause chaos in the backfield.  With all the pressure the front four puts up, it makes the secondary and linebackers better.
5.  We have a weak schedule.
6.  Miller was good last year.  He's going into his third year now.  Is it impossible to think he might improve from year 2 to year 3?

@   Redskins      1:00 PM  W
@   Jaguars      4:05 PM  W
vs   Bills              4:25 PM  W
vs     Jets                  9:30 AM  W
@     Titans               1:00 PM  W
vs     Texans             1:00 PM  W
@     Patriots             8:25 PM  (Split)
@     Bills                  1:00 PM  W
@     Eagles              1:00 PM   W
vs    Cowboys           1:00 PM   W/L
@     Jets                  1:00 PM   W
vs     Ravens             1:00 PM   W/L
vs     Giants              8:30 PM   W/L
@    Chargers           4:25 PM   W
vs     Colts                1:00 PM   W/L
vs     Patriots            1:00 PM   (Split)

With that cake schedule, we could be 5-0 going into the Patriots game after the bye.  If we lose all the toss up games and win all the games we are supposed to, we end up 10-6, which might be good enough for a wildcard berth.  You act like Miami was blown out of the water last year against tough competition.  Games were close.  This team LAST YEAR could hang with any team in the NFL.  Now they are better, even if it is slightly, so why couldn't they beat any team in the league? 

This is why I'm excited for this year.  

If I was picking today I'd say 8-8 but we squeak one more out to make it 9-7. So I'll say 9-7 for now but reserve the right to change it before the season starts. Our next two preseason games will tell us more than we know at the moment.


AT   REDSKINS Win
AT   JAGUARS Win
BILLS Loss
JETS Win
AT   TITANS Win
TEXANS Loss
AT   PATRIOTS Loss
AT   BILLS Win
AT   EAGLES Loss
COWBOYS Win
AT   JETS Loss
RAVENS Loss
GIANTS Win
AT   CHARGERS Win
COLTS Loss
PATRIOTS Loss

I count 11-5 but I think that's the ceiling. 

I think we lose to Patriots 2X, Colts, Eagles, and Texans (we never beat the Texans!)

I think its OPTIMISTIC to assume wins vs Giants, Ravens, and Cowboys, all at home.  At Buffalo, at San Diego could go south.  With this schedule, anything other than a 5-0 start is a disappointment for me.  On the low end, I could see 6-10 as a possibility. I think, after the first 5, all the rest of the games are toss-ups (except for at NYJ).  But you could reasonably win the first 5 and then lose the next 5, and finish losing 5 in a row.

Cake schedule?

My official guess is 9 wins.  ...maybe 10.

10-6, wildcard, surprise playoff run takes them to the AFC Championship, where they lose to the Steelers.

The Dolphins will finish the regular season:  11-4-1, and win a playoff game before bowing out.  Thus insuring another season of Philbin.

I expect MIA's best offensive linemen Albert and Pouncey both to play 16 games.
I expect MIA's squeezably soft run defense in the second half to improve dramatically.
As far as MIA's passing game goes:

- I expect Tannehill and Landry to improve with more experience
- I think Jennings is an upgrade over Hartline
- I believe (hope?) that Parker/Stills/Cameron will be more productive than Wallace/Clay

I mean, how many wins do you think MIA will improve by having a healthy Albert/Pouncey and adding Suh?  1?  2?

To me the season comes down to LB's and Guards.

If those 2 guards suck beyond belief (which is very possible)....this is a 6-8 win team at best. If we can't protect Tannehill or be good enough to run the ball well enough, forget it this offense is DOA.

At linebacker they have zero depth and Misi is always hurt. Only bit of hope is Zach Vigil seems to be legit. If Vigil keeps performing in practice and is productive in 3 more preseason games like he was vs Chicago he could get a lot of playing time and push to start at some point this year. 

If the guards and LB's are ok, this is a 10 win team. If both are marginal...this team has the potential to be average to bad. I will hold off on the "formal" prediction till before week 1 of the season to see what the roster looks like

Let me frame the question this way:

If you had to select a position to have the worst starters on your team, which position would it be?

QB, RB, WR, CB, DE, T are all pretty important.  So where would you prefer to stash your worst starters... TE?  DT?  S?  C?  You can't have Pro Bowlers at every position.

None.  Don't you know we have to have pro bowlers at every position for people to be happy?

Don't need pro bowlers at every position but need competent players who are adequate. You can get by without a top end TE, RB and a lackluster Safety (not counting punters and kickers here either.) RB is the least important position on a team these days lets be honest. I think CB is an overrated position these days, with all the rule changes CB's can't do anything but chase guys down and tackle for the most part. Still has some importance but not like it once did.

The lines (both sides) are too important. Without quality DT's teams run down your throat and you are toast (look at Miami end of last year) and Center is the same (if pressure is up the middle to your QB, good night, can't win)

I guess the good news is no one ever says the game is won and lost in the trenches. Wait a minute ... oh crap!! That's exactly what they say!!!! :o

I agree with Mike about CB.  And I think that RB doesn't really matter all that much.

^^ The Vikings might disagree. 

RB matters if you have a good o-line.  A good o-line and a crap RB is still a crap running game.  A mediocre o-line and a great RB is still a good running game.

Its more about game plan and utilizing talent.  Injuries will be key for Miami this year - I don't see a lot of depth at any position.  An o-lineman gets hurt, any player other than D-line, and the team is up the river.

Jordan Cameron is a good player but an injury risk.
Branden Albert is coming off major knee rehab
What if Lamar Miller tweaks an ankle - who's his backup?

Also, the Hartline vs Jennings debate in an interesting one.  I think, in this offense, I'd almost lean towards Hartline right now.  But Jennings can prove me wrong by participating in this offense.

Hartline sucks. Guy catches most balls and trips over his own two feet these days and just falls down. Jennings is a better player in the year 2015. And in "this offense" last year he was horrible. Had his worst year as a pro. "This Offense" doesn't fit his skills.

RB is a position you can get by without. It's a worthless position these days and teams don't break the bank for RB's. The Packers won a SB a few years back with a RB out of the University of Buffalo who was a 6th round pick and started him for 3 playoff games after he did little all season. The Vikings have an all world RB probably the best RB in the league and still won 7 games last year without him last year and replaced him just fine with a trio of guys. When Peyton Manning was injured and off the Colts for a year they won 2 games and had the #1 pick in the draft.  All you need to know about the RB position.  You can find a guy off the scrap heap to fill in and be productive immediately. Almost no other position can you do that.

So all you have to do is have a top-3 QB in the league and RB doesn't matter.  Got it.

Miami spent a boatload of money last season getting the best free agent LT and another boatload of money this season getting the best DT in the league; I think they are paying plenty of attention to the trenches.  I'm sure there are plenty of teams that would love to talk about trading MIA a guard for Landry or Grimes or Reshad.

But I am glad to hear that apparently, we can all agree that LB is, and should be, a low priority... as is the second CB.  Maybe they just need a third Pro Bowler on each line.

I don't understand how both RB and CB can be "unimportant" positions.  It seems to me that if you devalue one, you must necessarily value the other.

Nobody said that. But in the past 10 years only 1 team has won a Super Bowl with a so called "Franchise Running Back" (Seattle). Other than that its a bunch of teams that use RB by committee that get to the big game and win the big game.....Giants (Jacobs/Bradshaw), Pats (use everyone and nobody that is a star), Colts (Rhodes/Addai), Pitt (Bettis/Parker) (Mendenhall/Moore/Redman), Denver (Moreno/Ball), Saints (Thomas/Bush)

Other good teams over that time span...Jets (2 AFC Title games, used RB by committee with a terrible QB), Atlanta (Turner/Rogers), Colts last year (Trent/Herron)...the list is endless. These are all "good teams" who had big years that use RB's in time-shares for the most part and don't need a RB by committee. And not everyone of these teams have a Top 3 QB. (ala Eli, Big Ben, Sanchez, Ryan..etc). It's a devalued position across the board.

And the teams who invested in the "big-time Franchise RB" in recent years ...other than Seattle don't win shit. KC (Charles), Philly (McCoy), SD (Tomlinson), Houston (Foster)

Look at the rulebook. League is all about passing and tilted the rules that way. DB's not being able to touch the WR's anymore devalues their position. Best way to stop a passing game, Sack the QB or put enough pressure on him so he makes a bad pass. Since the rules favor passing, why invest in a RB. Simple concept, shocked you don't understand it

Thanks for proving my entire point. Albert to protect our QB. Suh to sack the opponents QB and bring pressure

First of all: naming off teams with Brady/Peyton/Brees tells you nothing about the value of RBs.  Second, having two good RBs (Jacobs/Bradshaw) does not support the claim that RB is a position of low value.

You're citing the Rex Ryan Jets as proof that CBs and RBs are... unimportant?  Those teams were built around their CBs and RBs.

Finally: what franchise linemen did these SB teams sport?  Didn't NE jettison their All-Pro guard and promptly win it all?  MIA already has two Pro Bowlers on each line, so unless these teams have 3+ it would seem that MIA has invested plenty in the trenches.

If the league is "all about passing" then you need good CBs to stop it.  SEA doesn't just pray that opposing receivers drop the ball.

But apparently, that's not enough because MIA needs to spend MORE resources on the lines.  Miami already has two Pro Bowlers and a first-round pick on the offensive line... should they keep spending until there's no one left to catch the football?

No Seattle RUSHES the QB and brings pressure as good as anyone. That's why they were drafting the likes of Bruce Irvin in Rd 1, strictly a 1 trick pony who is a pss rusher.

And YES I would invest MORE money in offensive and defensive linemen and the Fins will. Miami is already talking about using the franchise tag on Vernon next offseason which would be wise.  And if the Turner/Thomas experiment this year blows up in the Fins face I would expect a 1st of 2nd round pick used on another o-linemen.

I make my prediction based on what I think will happen.  Not based on what I want to happen. 

Are you admitting your prediction is artificially high because you WANT the Dolphins to go 12-4, vs realistically believing that is what they will accomplish?

I think I stated as such in the past before making my prediction. My prediction THIS year is genuine and realistic.

And I was giving you credit for being unbiased.

Also something to remember when talking about this defense and great d-line....Vernon/Wake are "smaller" DE's and struggle vs the run. And no team with a brain is gonna run up the middle on Suh cause it won't work and he will be a brick wall. Teams are gonna wide and run at OV and Wake a lot....a real lot. If those 2 don't improve in that aspect of their games vs the run.....it will be problematic at times.

I echo this sentiment. Adding to it, we still have Philbin calling timeouts for the other team.

8-8

I think RB is important.  Not nearly as much as it was 10 years ago, but still can be a game changer for teams.  You kind of contradicted yourself by saying its the least important position followed by your statement... "Without quality DT's teams run down your throat and you are toast". This is a weakness exposed by RB's around the league.  Imo, the RB position should be given a little more credit.

Didn't contridcit myself at all. a) You can find quality RB's anywhere they aren't tough to find. It can be a position that isn't important where you can find good players at easily. b) without good DT's any RB can run it down your throat  ::)

Pretty simple to understand honestly

I agree with you Cdogg.  I think quality RB's do still play a vital role, and they are not as easy to find as people like to say.  Without a running game the defense can just tee off on the QB if they know he is going to throw all the time.  Late in the game when you need to run out the clock to preserve a victory you need that guy that will get you a first down.  Inside the five you need that guy that will get in the endzone.  Every year people bitch about those two things.

I agree with the latter but not the former.  A running game is important, a top tier running back is not. 

The running game is a function of two things: the o-line and the back. 

I would rather have an o-line that can create holes that any scrub could run through and a squad of mid-grade running backs than a top tier running back with a mid-grade o-line.

Yep! And you can have a good running game without a top tier RB and you can have a running game with RB's you find late in the draft or other teams scraps they get rid of.

Preferably I would like to have an elite O-line with a mid-grade running back(s); but...it takes five guys to form an elite O-line vs. one elite RB.

That must be why Marino has all those SB rings, because of all the scrap RB's Miami had to go along with the All-Star O-Line and Superb passing & Receivers.   ::)

Yeah because the rules haven't changed since the 80's and 90's and the game hasn't totally changed in regards to passing the football and how defenses can hit/attack defenders. Horrible analogy on your part.

I'm more positive about this year's team than I have been in a long time.  But the lack of depth at some key positions scares me big time.  I'm going to predict 10 - 6. 

Tannehill throws for nearly 5000 yards, but in the end, it doesn't matter:

9 - 7, no playoff berth.

10 - 6 with a wildcard birth. I think the team has improved but they are still young and raw. I think they are a couple of years away from being a real contender but I do like the direction they appear to be headed!!!!!

9-7, followed by a first round wildcard loss

7-9

I'm not falling for that BS hype ever again...

I'm drinking the Kool-Aid.  Going with 11-5, still a WC spot though, doesn't win the AFCE.