Peter King has some nice observations on the Phins this week. There seems to be a trend in the media now with giving us some love and although many fans think there is a media conspiracy, I feel it's no coincidence that respect coincides with our record. I think it's very cool that all of a sudden we are one of the games to watch. I had forgotten what that was like.
Luck, Tannehill headline battle of surprise playoff contenders
Two games match teams with winning records on the NFL's 14-game schedule this weekend. The marquee one is Steelers-Giants, a special game because it happens once every four years, and because of the first-round-quarterback matchup of Ben Roethlisberger and Eli Manning from the 2004 draft.
The other one? Miami (4-3) at Indianapolis (4-3).
"Interesting,'' Indy GM Ryan Grigson said this week. "All of a sudden this game means something."
"Nobody expected this,'' said Miami tight end Anthony Fasano.
Thirteen of the NFL's 32 teams are over .500 entering Sunday, and you're a better fan than I if you thought at the beginning of the season that Dolphins-Colts in Week 9 would have playoff implications. But this game certainly does. In fact, if the playoffs started today, Miami would be the fifth seed in the AFC and Indy No. 6 -- and the intriguing playoff matchups would feature Andrew Luck in Foxboro against Tom Brady, and Ryan Tannehill in Denver against Peyton Manning. Talk about the future meeting the present.
As impressive as both quarterbacks hitting the ground running as rookies is how each team has overcome serious obstacles to get to midseason contention. The Colts have been without their rookie head coach, Chuck Pagano, fighting leukemia for the past month. Somehow, Indianapolis is 3-1 playing for Pagano, including the inspirational first win over Green Bay and the overtime stunner over Tennessee last week. Miami's rookie coach, Joe Philbin, looked like the captain of a listing ship in the Hard Knocks series on HBO over the summer. My impression after watching that team on TV? See you in 2014. I thought they might be able to contend then. Might.
"We really didn't buy into the stigma of us as a bad team,'' Fasano said Thursday from South Florida. "We didn't care what other people thought of us. We knew we were building something pretty good. Ryan has been the key. Because he was familiar with the scheme from college [his coach at Texas A&M, Mike Sherman, is his Miami coordinator], he's been able to have less of a major adjustment to the pro game.''
PETER KING'S WEEK 9 PREDICTIONS
I asked Fasano what he and the other veterans thought of Philbin, particularly watching him handle his first training camp with all the cameras around -- and then cutting Chad Johnson on the HBO Series. "I thought coach Philbin handled that about as well as a coach could,'' said Fasano. "He made a decision based on the parameters they'd apparently set up for Chad, and he stuck to his word. I think the players liked how he handled it.''
Grigson said he is most impressed with Miami's offensive line. "You don't hear a lot about that, but they've got a darned good offensive line,'' he said. "That Richie Incognito is a killer. A mauler. He's playing great. They all are. They're giving the quarterback time to make plays.''
Luck hasn't had the consistent time Tannehill has. Luck will be a far better passer than his current 55.6 completion percentage indicates, and he'll have a better touchdown-to-interception differential than his current 8-to-8. But it's a learning game. And playing a game with playoff implications in midseason is a tribute to both young quarterbacks. Sunday will be fun at Lucas Oil.
Ten Things I'll Be Watching For This Weekend
2. Tannehill-Luck. No. 8, Ryan Tannehill of the Fins, versus No. 1, Andrew Luck of the Colts, in a game with playoff implications sooner than anyone thought either would be playing. Asterisk: Tannehill's knee and quad may keep him out, but it looks like he'll play, even if gimpy.
Read more:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/peter_king/11/02/andrew-luck-ryan-tannehill/index.html#ixzz2BAONr0cy
Author