Vegas doesn't recognize Phins' improvement

Birdmond wrote:You know you guys who are sure Miami will fail should put money on this.  

Anyway both players and coaches rave about both Brice and Bobby McCain. Jamar Taylor was playing extremely well until he got hurt.  Reshad Jones had a very good year.  Now I do expect Delmas to get hurt yet again but I'm really liking what I've been reading about both Thomas and Aikens.   A healthy Jenkins and Misi will be just fine and I love McCain at strong side and as the joker.
Also just the fact that Jimmy Wilson is not on the team gives me a chubby.   Wilson's unsportsmanlike conduct penalties against Denver led to 10 POINTS.   Oh and now we have the best defensive tackle in the game who not only brings talent, he brings a nasty attitude that will be contagious.   So yeah,  I'll take this D.  

Don't mistake this for overall optimism though.  I still say the OL will be a disaster and lead to another 8-8 season.  

I'm not sure about anything when it comes to the Dolphins. I don't think they'll be any better than 8-8, but I certainly don't know that for sure. My whole stance is "show me don't tell me", and I won't believe they've significantly improved till I see it. I've seen way too many OTA superstars disappear when the pads come on - I'm not getting excited about players in pajamas anymore.

As for the CB position, I don't think Bobby McCain is going to play at all (barring injury), even if he does make the final 53. He's strictly a slot corner IMO, and Brice should have that position locked down. As for Taylor, so far I've seen nothing to indicate that he's any good. Hopefully he'll prove me wrong, but he's got a long way to go. I expect Bowman to begin the season as the starter opposite Grimes.

At safety, I don't like Aikens at all. Thomas has some skills and I'd like to see what he can do with more playing time, but he can't seem to stay healthy...like Delmas.

I think LB is a weak spot, with an overrated Jenkins, a mediocre-at-best Misi who is never healthy, and a complete unknown in McCain. And the depth is awful.

DT should be improved with Suh, but having the best DT in football didn't seem to do much for Detroit.

I know many of you will read this as pessimism, but I assure you that I am going for realism. It just seems to me that we need too many things to go right in order to field a top defense. What are the chances that all these things will happen:
- Wake and Grimes are both able to play at a high level for 16 games
- Misi stays healthy and doesn't shit the bed at MLB
- McCain becomes a complete OLB overnight
- A high-quality #2 CB emerges
- Vernon learns how to beat single blocks
- Delmas stays healthy and/or Thomas/Aikens prove to be more than special teamers
- Coyle takes his head out of his ass

I don't know...just seems like a lot to ask for from my perspective. I'm going to assume the defense is middle-of-the-pack until I see otherwise.

Birdmond wrote:Don't mistake this for overall optimism though.  I still say the OL will be a disaster and lead to another 8-8 season.

WHEW!!! I am genuinely relieved. For a minute there I thought you were getting soft

As for the money ting, I would love to but I'm spending it all on home renovations. Yeah that's it, home renovations.

JMP wrote:I'm not sure about anything when it comes to the Dolphins.

There are three certainties in life: death, taxes, and this team missing the playoffs every season. It's not a matter of if, but how.

We've done a fine job keeping this thread going during the ABSOLUTE WORST 10 WEEKS in sports.

It's kind of funny that we're not debating if Miami will disappoint us. We now debate how they will crush our hopes.

For me it starts with the head coach. We haven't had a leader of men around these parts in a damn long time.  Since that time we've had a bunch of chart carriers and "technical genius" types, all of which have not amounted to a simmering pile of mastodon dung.

Degarmo wrote:For me it starts with the head coach. We haven't had a leader of men around these parts in a damn long time.  Since that time we've had a bunch of chart carriers and "technical genius" types, all of which have not amounted to a simmering pile of mastodon dung.

Abso-motherfucking-lutely. When I look at the Dolphins, the first thing that stands out is Philbin. He's pretty much Cam Cameron 2.0, but not as media-savvy (and if you remember Cam, you'll know what I mean). The Dolphins go into every single game losing the coaching matchup. Until that changes, I expect 8-8 at best.

JMP wrote:

Degarmo wrote:For me it starts with the head coach. We haven't had a leader of men around these parts in a damn long time.  Since that time we've had a bunch of chart carriers and "technical genius" types, all of which have not amounted to a simmering pile of mastodon dung.

Abso-motherfucking-lutely.  When I look at the Dolphins, the first thing that stands out is Philbin.  He's pretty much Cam Cameron 2.0, but not as media-savvy (and if you remember Cam, you'll know what I mean).  The Dolphins go into every single game losing the coaching matchup.  Until that changes, I expect 8-8 at best.

Exactly, and just to further that point, with a couple of basic-level coaching maneuvers last year, we could have won 10 games.  We lost four games in the fourth quarter because of really sketchy play calls on both sides of the ball.

Also, even with the injuries, how does a team come out so woefully unprepared in the last few games? And that's twice that's happened now.

You lose in December, you are either the Cowboys, or you're missing the playoffs every year.