I Still Can't Believe It...

The Fins being in the playoffs...it all seems so surreal. HOW did they NOT completely collapse, and how sad is it that I'm actually still in shock they didn't?

The way this season's been going I wouldn't even be surprised if the NFL suddenly announces it's "investigating" if the Jets intentionally lost, after the media demands it, and threatens to change the game result. It would be such a 2020s thing to do.

THIS team in the playoffs when the previous two teams were definitely better...SMH.

I have no idea why you keep saying the two previous teams were better. This season was the best offense we've had in decades.

Nothing surreal about making the playoffs - we earned it by winning a tough, hard-fought game while the Patriots lost. We should have clinched weeks ago, but it is what it is. In the end, we got in and that's what matters.

This team is only in the playoffs for the following two reasons. 1. They started 8-3 instead of 1-7 (and yet both teams finished with the exact same record) and 2. In the 2020s it's better for a team to have a good/decent offense and a bad/mediocre D than the other way around, if only just barely.

Also the complete collapse of the Colts and Titans, along with the Raiders and Steelers missing the playoffs after having no business being there last season helped quite a bit. This exact same record wasn't good enough for the playoffs last season, in case anyone forgot.

The good news is that now we know that if the Fins have at least 8 wins after the first 11 games of any season going forward it should be literally impossible for them to miss the playoffs no matter what. One of the things I learned this season is that it's actually harder for a team to lose the last 6 games than win the last 6.

Nope, still not happening. My mind still can't accept this as really being real. The notion of THIS team being in the playoffs when they lose every week is just too bizarre. Maybe Wednesday I'll get used to it?

What's not real about it? They finished in second place in the division, won their last game to get in, and finished with a better conference record than the Ravens and the same conference record as the Chargers. Not hard to figure out!

DolFan 316 wrote:One of the things I learned this season is that it's actually harder for a team to lose the last 6 games than win the last 6.

i don't know, the Titans made dropping the final 7 games on their schedule look pretty easy. but then...

The Titans fired four assistant coaches on Monday, including offensive coordinator Todd Downing, who had been in that role the past two seasons.

The Titans also fired offensive line coach Keith Carter, secondary coach Anthony Midget and offensive skills assistant Erik Frazier.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/35414233/titans-fire-four-assistants-including-oc-todd-downing

so its not outlandish to think that a team that was among the top contenders and suffered a significant late season downturn just might clean house on the offending side of the ball. cough, cough Boyer, cough.

as to having a hard time believing the Phins are in the post season, perhaps its because prior to the current 14 team playoff expansion last year, the Dolphins would not have made the playoffs. while i am happy to see the Dolphins be the beneficiaries of the expansion, it does kind of water-down the regular season since teams just have to be average (and sometimes less) to make the post season.

Oh, I agree - I am not a fan of the 7-team playoff system. But that's the way it is, and I'll gladly take that last playoff spot!

mercury22nathan wrote:as to having a hard time believing the Phins are in the post season, perhaps its because prior to the current 14 team playoff expansion last year, the Dolphins would not have made the playoffs.  while i am happy to see the Dolphins be the beneficiaries of the expansion, it does kind of water-down the regular season since teams just have to be average (and sometimes less) to make the post season.

Believe it or not, no NFL team has as many 10-win non-playoff seasons since the merger than the Fins. I cannot make this stuff up. We're talking about a team that somehow managed to miss the playoffs TWICE at 10-4 in the mid '70s. To put that in perspective 10-4 is a better winning percentage than 11-5, and in the entire 42-year history of the 16-game schedule only two 11-5 teams missed the playoffs TOTAL. Then there was the absurdity of 2020 when they finished 10-6 but missed the playoffs in spite of the extra team being added that season because they had to play their finale at Buffalo while the three teams competing with them for a playoff spot were gifted cupcakes (1-win Jags and 4-win Bengals) or got to play a team that had already clinched the division with nothing to play for (Steelers).

So in a weird, twisted sort of way, this is karmic justice. I think.

DolFan 316 wrote:

Believe it or not, no NFL team has as many 10-win non-playoff seasons since the merger than the Fins.

Gee, it sure is fun being a Dolfan.

or perhaps you are unable to suspend your belief because this team has done something that has never been done before...

Miami’s skid down the stretch is actually historic for any team making the playoffs, as no team had ever gone 0-4 or worse in the month of December and clinched a postseason berth

https://dolphinswire.usatoday.com/2023/01/10/dolphins-december-record-postseason/

now that's a first.

mercury22nathan wrote:or perhaps you are unable to suspend your belief because this team has done something that has never been done before...

Miami’s skid down the stretch is actually historic for any team making the playoffs, as no team had ever gone 0-4 or worse in the month of December and clinched a postseason berth

https://dolphinswire.usatoday.com/2023/01/10/dolphins-december-record-postseason/

now that's a first.

Wow, that's kind of surprising to me - I would have thought it happened before.

I guess it is not as surprising that it happened this season, though, where 15 NFL teams (nearly half the league) won between 7 and 9 games, and 5 of the 6 teams in that range that made the playoffs had losing records down the stretch:

Dolphins 1-4
Ravens 2-3
Jags 5-0
Giants 2-3
Bucs 2-3
Seahawks 2-3

mercury22nathan wrote:or perhaps you are unable to suspend your belief because this team has done something that has never been done before...

Miami’s skid down the stretch is actually historic for any team making the playoffs, as no team had ever gone 0-4 or worse in the month of December and clinched a postseason berth

https://dolphinswire.usatoday.com/2023/01/10/dolphins-december-record-postseason/

now that's a first.

The first thing that popped into my mind after reading this was...the '86 Jets. HOW could a team that lost its last FIVE and made the playoffs NOT have gone 0-4 in December???

And believe it or not it turns out that...thanks to bye weeks not existing back then the '86 Jets only played three regular season games in December and then won their first playoff game over the Chiefs on December 28. So yes, for once the media actually (gasp~!) was accurate about something Now THAT'S something even harder for me to believe than this team being in the playoffs!!!

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/nyj/1986.htm