Must win division

finfanatic wrote:The Phins HAVE to beat the Bills at least once. That will signal they are legit IMO.

Let's just hope the horrendous play to start a season left with TeamKiller Flores.

CarsonChris wrote:We used to have an incredible home field advantage in September and October when other teams wilted in the sun and humidity of Florida. Then we built a practice bubble and started playing late games. We show ourselves in the foot. Bring back 1pm games and ditch the climate control bubble!

Best winning percentage in home games for the first half of the season

mercury22nathan wrote:agreed that Miami used to have a considerably home field advantage in the early part of the season, but how many of those early season leads were counter-balanced by a late season collapse?

as DF316 noted, they had...

Best winning percentage in home games for the first half of the season

...but i can't help but wonder where they ranked for winning percentage in road games for the second half of the season?  

were those teams propped up by early season heat-related victories and came crashing to a snowy (NE or Buffalo) reality at the end of season - when the real playoff contenders were hitting their stride?

while yes, i love seeing those early season home victories, i'd much prefer a dominant team that wins throughout the season no matter where they play.  just sayin'.

"This was not a rebuild," GM Chris Grier said Monday. "This was finding the right players, right pieces, right time and I think we’ve acquired a lot of young talent coming in but you can find good, veteran players that are not only good players but leaders as well. People talk about Tyreek’s (Hill) leadership there in Kansas City. The Saints have all raved, you hear GM Mickey Loomis stopped me again and said (Terron Armstead is) one of the best human beings you’ll ever be around.

"I think for our roster, if you can add however people – blue players, as people call those top players at positions in the league especially if they’re great leaders and veterans. For these guys, I think it’s a great opportunity for us so we just felt this was the right time to really be aggressive.”

...

In his exclusive one-on-one interview with All Dolphins prior to the 2022 scouting combine, McDaniel made it clear how he viewed his first season with Miami in terms of expectations after two playoff near-misses.

This is what he said when I asked him how close he thought the Dolphins were to being contenders: "I mean, it would be irresponsible if I answer that question before free agency and the draft in a concrete way, but abstractly, I mean, very close, as close as one game out. And we have a bunch of young talent. I have a coaching staff that is very, very talented and very invested in the players, and I expect all the players to be better. So my expectations is that we continue to progress with what has been started here because it's been one game out both years, essentially.

"All I know is the players that I've talked to in the locker room in the building, everybody's ready to take that next step. And that's all of our goals is to take that next step .... and close? They've already been close. I'd like to progress further. And so whatever that means ... I've been in the league long enough to stay away from stamped headlines. A lot of things can happen, but I can tell you that the expectations are to move forward. And when you're a game away, I'll let you fill in the dots."