Dolphins REALISTIC Record for 2012 & Playoff Chances = ?

[Perfect72]

What do you believe will be the Dolphins REALISTIC record based on the remaining schedule and what are their playoff chances in the AFC?

My take: 9-7

2012 RESULTS/SCHEDULE (ALL TIMES EASTERN)

Sep 9 - L at Houston, 30-10 Sep 16 - W vs. Oakland, 35-13 Sep 23 - L vs. NY Jets, 20-23 OT Sep 30 - L at Arizona, 24-21 OT Oct 7 - W at Cincinnati, 13-17 Oct 14 - W vs. St. Louis, 17-14 Oct 21 - Open Oct 28 - W at NY Jets, 9-30 Nov 4 - at Indianapolis, 1:00 PM ET WIN Nov 11 - vs. Tennessee, 1:00 PM ET WIN Nov 15 - at Buffalo, 8:20 PM ET WIN Nov 25 - vs. Seattle, 1:00 PM ET LOSS Dec 2 - vs. New England, 1:00 PM ET LOSS Dec 9 - at San Francisco, 4:05 PM ET LOSS Dec 16 - vs. Jacksonville, 1:00 PM ET WIN Dec 23 - vs. Buffalo, 1:00 PM ET WIN Dec 30 - at New England, 1:00 PM ET LOSS

 

[Pinkboy]

"we don't look ahead, we go into every week 0-0" ~ Joe Philbin

 

[J. David Wannyheimer]

The view of a very optimistic realist:

@ Indy: Win
vs Ten: Win
@ Buf: Win
vs Seattle: Win
vs New England: Win
@ San Fran: Loss
vs Jacksonville: Win
vs Buffalo: Win
@ New England: Loss


Outside of New England and San Francisco, the Dolphins should be favored in all of those games. If we can just manage a split with the Patriots, I think we have a legit shot at the division.

I had this team penciled in as 8-8 before the season and the only difference between these predictions and those is that I now pick us to win against Indy, sweep Buffalo, and split with New England. I thought Indy and Buffalo would both improve on defense and they sure haven't yet. I also didn't think New England's secondary would be a dumpster fire.

IMO, the biggest factor is whether or not the Dolphins can stay healthy. If Miami avoids injuries over this stretch, I like the team's chances to take care of business against crap teams like the Titans and Jags.

 

[Pinkboy]

^ 12-4 ?

Holy crap when is the last time we had that kinda record. 1990 ?

The dolphins have one very important thing going for them. No Elite QB's on the schedule except Brady. Andrew Luck is really the only other good QB on the sked but he's still a rookie and the dolphins "should" win that game,, as Miami is clearly a better all around team than the colts

but its the nfl crazy things can happen in a football game

 

[J. David Wannyheimer]

The dolphins have one very important thing going for them. No Elite QB's except Brady. Andrew Luck is really the only other good QB on the sked but he's still a rookie and the dolphins "should" win that game as Miami is clearly a better all around team than the colts

Bingo! It's exactly why I had us penciled for 8-8. Good defense, good special teams, good play in the trenches, weak schedule, and a complete lack of elite QBs on the teams we play against. Tom Brady is the only guy on our schedule you can genuinely call a great QB right now. No Roethlisberger, no Mannings, no Ryan, no Rodgers, no Brees, not even a Flacco, Cutler or Stafford. There was Matt Schaub in week one, and we took our lumps in that one already. We also have an old Matt Hasselbeck and young Andrew Luck coming up, but both of those teams have pitiful defenses.

Look at who we go up against:

Luck: Like this kid a lot, would have love to have drafted him, but he is having his struggles as a rookie. Team has a bottom five defense.
Hasselbeck: I have a very high opinion of him, but he's the second oldest QB in the NFL, and his team also has a bottom five defense.
Fitzpatrick: Garbage, and his team also also has a bottom five defense.
Wilson: OK for a rookie. Hasn't played as well as Tannehill and his team sucks on the road.
Brady: Still great.
Alex Smith: Average QB, great team around him. I think we lose the game, especially since it's on the road, but you never know with A. Smith.
Jacksonville: Gabbert and Henne, lmao.

Don't count us out in any of these games.

 

[ChambersWI]

Seattle is give or take. They have good moments and a tough defense, but we got them in Miami. If this was in Seattle I'd be more worried. So I'll put that as a win. NE I think we split.

 

[OyeDale305]

The view of a very optimistic realist:

@ Indy: Win
vs Ten: Win
@ Buf: Win
vs Seattle: Win
vs New England: Win
@ San Fran: Loss
vs Jacksonville: Win
vs Buffalo: Win
@ New England: Win


Outside of New England and San Francisco, the Dolphins should be favored in all of those games. If we can just manage a split with the Patriots, I think we have a legit shot at the division.

I had this team penciled in as 8-8 before the season and the only difference between these predictions and those is that I now pick us to win against Indy, sweep Buffalo, and split with New England. I thought Indy and Buffalo would both improve on defense and they suren't haven't yet. I also didn't think New England's secondary would be a dumpster fire.

IMO, the biggest factor is whether or not the Dolphins can stay healthy. If Miami avoids injuries over this stretch, I like the team's chances to take care of business against crap teams like the Titans and Jags.

Win two against the pats idk about that but i think we can get a win at home or away. the next 3 games are very winnable.. The game i don't think we can win is against the 49ers.. but you never know.., Seahawks is a winnable one. Jax and Bills are a must win games because well we should be favored and have to take advantage of it. Overall 10-6 or 11-5 will get us there.

 

[MD]

^I see it this way as well. Split with the Pats, lose to SF but I see us being able to beat the Seabirds at home. I'll factor in at least one more loss from somewhere and that puts us at 10-6.

 

[yr of 7 deuce]

If we win the games we should (IND/TEN/BUF x2/JAX) and can steal one of the remaining 4 (SEA/SF/NE x2) we're at 10-6. That is an optimistic view as I see us probably dropping a close one out of the 5 winnables. I however can also see us competing in the 4 tougher games, especially SEA at home.

 

[Daytona Fin]

That's a long trip for Seattle, we should beat 'em. I think we can split with new england. San Fran will be a tough game to win. All other games we can win. A win in indy will be huge.

 

[J. David Wannyheimer]

Win two against the pats idk about that but i think we can get a win at home or away. the next 3 games are very winnable.. The game i don't think we can win is against the 49ers.. but you never know.., Seahawks is a winnable one. Jax and Bills are a must win games because well we should be favored and have to take advantage of it. Overall 10-6 or 11-5 will get us there.

Oh man, mistake on my part. I think we'll split with the Pats. I knew something wasn't right. As long as we don't get swept by them, we should be alright.

 

[NCFINFAN13]

I don't know about the final record, but I can say that for the first time in years I feel we have something special brewing. 4 to 6 players away from upper tier. This season will play out the way it will, but DAMN the future is looking bright.

 

[Ilovemyfins4eva]

i see 10--6 being the worst case scenario for this team.

i believe we can split with the pats, and heck even the 49ers game, obviously we will be underdog, but our strength is stopping the run which is their strength, so we can potentially offset there biggest strength, and forcing alex smith to beat us with his arm, which i am not so sure he will do.

10-6 should deff take a wildcard spot this year, and even 9-7 is possible. we need to ensure though we get tiebreakers with teams such as the colts, titans, and bills due to wildcard.

worst case scenario ( and most likely scenario)

afc east- pats
afc north- ravens ( steelers can deff win but who cares, its one or the other so i just listed the ravens since they are in 1st currently)
afc south- texans
afc west- broncos

wildcard contenders- give the steeler raven non division winner most likely 1 spot, and the rest of the teams u got are the fins, colts, bengals, titans chargers, bills. we already beat the Bengals now we play the colts titans and bills in our next 3 games. beat those teams, we are in incredible position for a playoff spot. lose those games, or even split the titans colts, it will not be as good obviously, but i still believe we can finish with a better record outright than those teams because i think those teams are pretenders, specifically the colts

 

[Tureo]

I'm crossing my fingers and going with 10-6. Our defense is playing great and our offense is playing good enough to get us into the playoffs.

 

[BringBackDan13]

I like us over Seattle. They really don't travel well at all. Plus i think our D shuts down Lynch and leaves the game on Wilson, who is nowehere near the QB a lot of people are making out.