Fins tied for 1st place! Amazing!

[Brian Fein]

@ EK -
You do realize this is a "FAN SITE" right?  Its full of fans.  Which is short for "fanatic"

I agree with you on some points but call it like it is, Mr. Realist.  The standings are all tied.  Every team has the same record.  But instead of possibly having a positive point of view, and saying that they're tied with New England for 1st, you choose to say they're tied with Buffalo for last.  Both are true statements, but its all about perspective.

What's sad is that the negativity surrounding this team has been rampant for 10+ years, and finally there's something to be excited about and YOU are one of the few still pooping all over the team.  Maybe you should consider seeing the Dolphins' glass half full, instead.

[EKnight]

I didn't say that they were tied for last or 4th. I refuted your Sept. comment with a similar "what if" scenario. Talking division title is not realistic, IMO, no matter how big a fan you are. It's interesting that you mention the negativity surrounding the tema for so long, because from my point of view, it looks less like, "wow, they're good, and we should be excited," and more like, "we've been bad for so long, we should settle for average and act like it's great, even if it's not." I'm not pooping all over the team; I'm just not going to act like chicken poop is chicken salad. I'm glad they won, but do you really think giving up 462 yards and only accounting for 192 total yards (like they did against a team giving up well over 300 per game) week in and week out is going to win a division? The team has made improvements in many key areas. Tannehill is far better at this point than I thought he would be. The defense keeps them in many games. I think a realistic finish at this point- and this is ammended from my 5-11 prediciton, so I'm not pooping on anything- is 8-8. Playoffs maybe next year, but I don't see it this year. That's not negative, it's reality. -EK

[Brian Fein]

^^ Many points I don't disagree with here.  But I never said anything about division title.

In REALITY, every team has the same opponents (for the most part) going forward and every team has the same record.  So the Dolphins have put themselves in a position (thanks mostly to New England's ineptitude) to jockey for the division if they keep improving.

[EKnight]

I know you didn't, but this:

I think the EASY part of the schedule is coming up for Miami. Jets, Bills TWICE, Tenn, Colts, Jags, Seattle (cross country trip, 1pm game). Yes they got SF and NE TWICE. Miami could easily find themselves at 8 or 9 wins and in some wild tiebreaker situation at the end of December for a wildcard. If NE isn't so hot they could end up possibly challenging them for the division. Although I think NE will right the ship soon though and run away with the AFC East.

Is what I was referring to. Citing the upcoming schedule as soft, when it's the essentially same for all four teams, AND in reality the Jets (who hold a tiebreaker) and Pats (who honestly still have more talent than any team in the division) having differences that *should* be even easier than Miami's schedule is not a recipe for "challenging for the division," or in my opinion, even a wild card. -EK

[Pappy13]

Citing the upcoming schedule as soft, when it's the essentially same for all four teams, AND in reality the Jets (who hold a tiebreaker) and Pats (who honestly still have more talent than any team in the division) having differences that *should* be even easier than Miami's schedule is not a recipe for "challenging for the division," or in my opinion, even a wild card. -EK

Agree with you EK that we should be cautious about being too optimistic at this point, but I think the point that was being made about the schedule being "soft" had more to do with the schedule that Miami has played to this point and their schedule over the next 4 games. Miami has played 2 teams that were ranked in the top 10 by ESPN's power rankings in their first 6 games and only 1 team ranked in the bottom third. By contrast in their next 4 games they only play teams ranked in the bottom third of the league. The Bills have to play 2 teams currently ranked in the top 10 in their next 4 and the Jets have to play 1. New England is the only team in the AFC East that has as easy of schedule as Miami over the next 4 games.

Coming off a bye week and playing 4 games that they should be competitive in is about as rosy a picture as one could have imagined at this point in the season. They have already pretty much won as many games as most "analysts" thought they would win this whole year. If they win 2 or 3 of the next 4 they will have pretty much already met the expectations of even the most optimistic of fans. Any win after that is just gravy.

[el diablo]

What's sad is that the negativity surrounding this team has been rampant for 10+ years, and finally there's something to be excited about and YOU are one of the few still pooping all over the team.  Maybe you should consider seeing the Dolphins' glass half full, instead.

Amen, bro.
Considering the season outlook, I for one am celebrating. Is the season over? No. If they somehow make the playoffs and lose, am I disappointed? No. If they finish 3-13, am I upset? No. They already exceeded my expectations. The important thing is they are laying the groundwork for good things to come. Realism has it's place. But doesn't exist to me this week.

[MikeO]

@ EK -
You do realize this is a "FAN SITE" right?  Its full of fans.  Which is short for "fanatic"

I agree with you on some points but call it like it is, Mr. Realist.  The standings are all tied.  Every team has the same record.  But instead of possibly having a positive point of view, and saying that they're tied with New England for 1st, you choose to say they're tied with Buffalo for last.  Both are true statements, but its all about perspective.

What's sad is that the negativity surrounding this team has been rampant for 10+ years, and finally there's something to be excited about and YOU are one of the few still pooping all over the team.  Maybe you should consider seeing the Dolphins' glass half full, instead.

Because he ISN'T a Dolphins fan! Save you're time! He ain't worth it. He is a Jets troll!

[MikeO]

Coming off a bye week and playing 4 games that they should be competitive in is about as rosy a picture as one could have imagined at this point in the season. They have already pretty much won as many games as most "analysts" thought they would win this whole year. If they win 2 or 3 of the next 4 they will have pretty much already met the expectations of even the most optimistic of fans. Any win after that is just gravy.

Exactly!

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

Seriously, though, Miami is really in third place.  Division record is important, and based on division record right now, the standings are actually:

NYJ
NE
MIA
BUF

Furthermore, two of NE's losses are to NFC teams, which are the "best" losses you can get.  NE is sitting pretty from the tiebreaker standpoint.

Actuall NE is still in first.  Both NE and Jets have the exact same division record (100%) but NE's conf record is better than the Jets.

Although it is very low down on the tiebreaker list...

Point difference is very wide:

NE +51
Fins +3
Jets -8
Bills -55

You would expect teams that have with a +3 or -8 to have a tied record.  But not teams that are +51 or -55. 

NE has been winning blowouts and losing squeakers, Bills are losing blowout and barely winning squeakers. 

[Spider-Dan]

Actuall NE is still in first.  Both NE and Jets have the exact same division record (100%) but NE's conf record is better than the Jets.

Since when are records measured in percentages?

A team that is 2-0 is ahead of a team that is 1-0.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

^^^ the phrase from the NFL is "won-lost-tied percentage"

[EDGECRUSHER]

More importantly than our record, is that Tannehill is playing well with a shit core of receivers. Don't let Hartline's big game fool you, he is not the new Welker. Plus, Bush has been playing hurt and his numbers have been bad, but Tanny is still doing well.

He has far exceeded my expectations so far.

[Fins4ever]

Way too early to get concerned with rankings in the division, esp. when most of the division games are still ahead for the Dolphins and I don't care who you are, 3-3 is nothing to brag about and talking about points and schedule ant this point is moot.

While I like what I have seen so far, they need to continue to get better. Games should not come down to a last second FG determining your destiny.



 

[EKnight]

Way too early to get concerned with rankings in the division, esp. when most of the division games are still ahead for the Dolphins and I don't care who you are, 3-3 is nothing to brag about and talking about points and schedule ant this point is moot.

While I like what I have seen so far, they need to continue to get better. Games should not come down to a last second FG determining your destiny.

 

^^This.

@MikeO, since you won't let go of this Jets thing, either point me in the direction of when I've EVER said I love, like, or even tolerate the Jets or drop it. Not only is no one buying it, but you look silly chasing me through threads to say this and nothing more. Let's not talk around it and be circumlocutious- I'm a Tebow fan, and I won't deny that. Now, just because he's a Jet, I should hate him and root for him to fail? I didn't root for JT to fail as a Jet. I didn't root for LT to fail as a Jet because I liked him too, even though he was never a Dolphin. This kind of black and white mentality is bipolar. When you draft your fantasy teams, do you pass on Brady or Welker or the Jets D because they play for a rival? -EK

[Dave Gray]

It seems to me that today, we're tied for the division lead (tiebreakers not withstanding) but that we're also tied for both wildcard spots.  Is this the case?