Preview for the 49ers

[dolphins4life]

Two big disappointments. 

The difference is one still has a realistic chance to make the playoffs.

If Miami wins, they stay in the race for at least another week.

If they lose, whether they stay in the race or not is dependent on the outcome of the Thursday Night game.

[Downunder Dolphan]

Two big disappointments.  

The difference is one still has a realistic chance to make the playoffs.

If Miami wins, they stay in the race for at least another week.

If they lose, whether they stay in the race or not is dependent on the outcome of the Thursday Night game.

If we lose, it's over, full stop.

We need to get to 9 wins to be even a shot at a wild card spot.

Even with 9 wins we are then reliant on:

Indianapolis dropping at least one game (their last three are Titans, Giants, Jags) because they own us with the tie-breaker, as well as:
Baltimore losing out (their last game is home vs the Browns) or
Broncos losing out (they have a game at the Bengals) or
Chargers losing at least two games against the Broncos, Patriots, Raiders

[masterfins]

This game really could decide the fates of Grier and McDaniel, the Dolphins need to win or both could be fired.  Whether you like Tua, Grier, or McDaniel it doesn't matter; Miami underperformed last year and they have regressed this year, someone(s) head(s) is/are going to roll if Miami doesn't win out.

[Spider-Dan]

Miami underperformed last year and they have regressed this year

Were the expectations for MIA last year to be better than BUF?  They finished with the same record and lost on tiebreakers.
I suppose you could say the expectations were to beat KC at Arrowhead in the playoffs, but I don't know who would have expected that.

I don't think Stephen Ross has nearly as short of a memory as some of the fanbase.  He probably still remembers what it was like to have Tony Sparano, Joe Philbin, Adam Gase, and Brian Flores as head coaches; I'm sure has a vivid memory of what it's like to make the playoffs one time in 14 years of ownership.  So I doubt he's going to look at a front office that got him back-to-back playoff appearances and immediately fire them after a season in which the franchise QB missed 4 games on IR.

[Downunder Dolphan]

This game really could decide the fates of Grier and McDaniel, the Dolphins need to win or both could be fired.  Whether you like Tua, Grier, or McDaniel it doesn't matter; Miami underperformed last year and they have regressed this year, someone(s) head(s) is/are going to roll if Miami doesn't win out.

I don't know about that. The natives are restless, but Ross has demonstrated remarkable patience before.

Chances are he's going to keep Tua and at least one of Grier or MM around (if not both), and I'm not sure how quality candidates would like to walk into a situation already lumped with them. Especially when most of our salary cap already is committed to a handful of underachievers with little room to move, and over 10% of the whole cap is slated to go to Chubb next season.

I think it's more than likely he'll keep them all around for at least one more go. If the team stinks it up next season though and attendances start to drop off, that could change very quickly and we could be looking at a full clean out.