What I think the Brady Suspension means for the Dolphins

[dolphins4life]

This should increase the pressure on Philbin.

This is a big chance for Miami.  They have two light opponents to open the schedule.  The Patriots are without arguably the best player in the league.  Miami NEEDS to come out of the gates firing to open the season.

Philbin needs to have his team ready and sharp for these first two games.

Overall the first four games are going to be very important for this season, because when Brady does come back, I bet he is going to be lighting the field up.

[MikeO]

Philbin had pressure anyway. Brady suspension means nothing for Miami

[Dave Gray]

I agree with MikeO.  I don't think the Dolphins have much to gain from this.  The Pats may have no record difference in those 4 games anyway.  I'll take the Pats over the Bills and Jags, even with Brady out, and I think that they could lose against the Steelers or Cowboys even with Brady.

If they start 0-4, then they'll have an uphill climb.  But last year everyone thought they were done and they stormed back and won the Super Bowl.

On the flip side of the bad stuff, they have built-in motivation and a built-in excuse if things don't go well.

If we're going to win the division, it's going to be because we're good.  It's not going to be because the Pats are terrible.

[Brian Fein]

Agree with Dave, but I also disagree with your "lighting up the field" comment.

If Brady comes back to "properly inflated" balls, look for him to return to 2013 form.  Maybe unreasonable, but if you watched Brady closely, he had a major personal turnaround in his play around Week 5 last season.  Went from a year+ of sub-average numbers to lighting up the world.  Coincidence?  So, I don't expect huge things from him this season.

[dolphins4life]

Agree with Dave, but I also disagree with your "lighting up the field" comment.

If Brady comes back to "properly inflated" balls, look for him to return to 2013 form.  Maybe unreasonable, but if you watched Brady closely, he had a major personal turnaround in his play around Week 5 last season.  Went from a year+ of sub-average numbers to lighting up the world.  Coincidence?  So, I don't expect huge things from him this season.

2013 form?  Was he bad in 2013? 

[fyo]

2013 form?  Was he bad in 2013? 

Yes. Bad for Brady, anyway. He was 17th in passer rating. Not the most advanced metric, but shows that he wasn't at his usual level of performance. His stats were down all across the board. Completion percentage was within spitting distance of his lowest ever, touchdowns way down (close to his low, except for the 2001 season)... he coughed up the ball more than usual and did a worse job scrambling. Really nothing pretty about his performance that year, at least compared to his normal level.

[EDGECRUSHER]

He's also a year older and will be 38 before the season starts. People do decline as they age, even cheaters.

[dolphins4life]

of course, this could all be pointless pending the results of the appeal