NFL Network : Even with Peyton Manning, Dolphins aren't the best team in the AFC East

[Adam Strange]

Yawn. Once again the Dolphins are the undisputed best team in the division before the game are played.

Unfortunately for them, once the season begins, somehow those less-talented Patriots have managed to win 9 of the last 11 division titles, 5 of the last 11 AFC championships, and 3 of the last 11 Super Bowls. Not to mention the fact that the vastly less-talented Patriots have also beaten the Dolphins 6 out of the last 8 tries, including two consecutive season sweeps.

But, hey, who cares about what actually happens on the field when the Dolphins are just so much more talented. I guess now that Sparano's gone we can blame everything on him and feel better about it. Until the season starts that is . . . .

 

[thefranchisedef]

LMFAO... people should actually watch football. Then you'll see that Miami has a good team. They are just missing a quarterback. Theres a reason why we finished the season 6-3 and would of beat those pats if not for crazy amounts of injuries in that week 16 game.

 

[Lilseb93]

The Pats have something that the Dolphins haven't had in a long time, a winning franchise QB. It doesn't matter how many holes their team has, Brady will always keep them as an elite team.

 

[bigvince75]

I can't agree with this at all. As groups we have better Corners, WR's, D Line, Linebackers, runningbacks. The cheatriots do have a better QB, O Line, TE's.

The think that is being discounted is that if you have a healthy Peyton we are going to get much better production out of our WR's, TE's, RB's, O Line. Peyton is that type of player, he elevates the play of everyone around him much like Brady does for the pats.

The Phins have better DE's but Wilfork is a better NT than Soliai and can play end in the 3-4 as well. I don't see any real talent gap between Dansby-Burnett an Mayo-Spikes. Mayo and Dansby are very similar players and Spikes was playing well when he was on the field; he was on pace to break 100 tackles before he got injured and he had a very strong post-season. Wake is a better pass-rusher/OLB than any of the Patriots' pass-rushers but Anderson/Carter/Ninkovich were a solid unit and each of them are better than Misi. The Phins had 42 sacks this past season while the Patriots had 40.

I can give you the Corners because Arrington and McCourty were up and down all season, but I don't think the Phins have an advantage at safety. Chung is better than Jones/Culver and Bell is on his last legs.

 

[jlfin]

:lol2::lol2::lol2: 5 Superbowl appearances in 11 years? I think it's a pretty damn accurate assumption. Not saying the talent gap is necessarily huge, but c'mon...

I didn't realize that the Bruschi, Harrison, McGinest, Law, Samuel, Vrabel were on their current roster. Silly me.
You made a fool of yourself with your response. Anyone with half a brain could see that I was referring to their CURRENT roster. I believe we are talking about the 2012 upcoming season aren't we? Time to get with the present wiseguy

 

[jlfin]

I guess it depends on your understanding of historic, Are you 14 years old?? After Disqualifying the Cheatriots from all the games they won through cheating I don't think they would have much of a history worth talking about.

I would also point out that they weren't exactly dominant in ANY of their SB wins, even when they played flash in the pan teams like the Panthers. It took last second FG's in all of their wins. Vinatieri was their savior.
I still think the Bills team that went to 4 straight SB's was a better team. How much better would their legacy be if Norwood hits that 43 yarder. The Bills also had the misfortune of playing against a true dynasty team (Cowboys) twice.
When I think of dynasty teams I think of teams like the Steelers in the 70's and 49'ers in the 80-90's. Teams that acutally had a few blowout/dominant wins in the SB.
Personally, I think the description 'dynasty' is an overused term.

 

[HybridPHIN 23]

The NFL Network wasn't very far off the mark. The Eagles finished 8-8 to the Giants' 9-7 and Philadelphia was red hot at the end of the season, finishing 4-0 and outscoring their opponents 125 to 46. If things broke a certain way, a ball bounces a little differently, it could have been the Eagles hoisting that Super Bowl trophy.

But seriously, the Eagles were playing well... they proved to be better than the dolphins,jets,cowboys,and redskins..... but don't you ever believe they could have won in SF & in GB. The G-men are the road warriors.

 

[CANDolphan]

I guess it depends on your understanding of historic, Are you 14 years old?? After Disqualifying the Cheatriots from all the games they won through cheating I don't think they would have much of a history worth talking about.

You can't really say someone is 14 year olds then start calling the Patriots the "Cheatriots" because it makes you sound like a moron who is 12 years old

 

[MD]

Until Miami shows they can beat the Pats then NE is the better team. Doesn't matter what's on paper.

 

[Mr772]

You can't really say someone is 14 year olds then start calling the Patriots the "Cheatriots" because it makes you sound like a moron who is 12 years old

The Patriots CHEATED its a proven fact they were convicted and punished by the league commish. It's about the only thing historic about the cheatriots: their long history of cheating. The name fits and they will forever be the Cheatriots IMO.

I didn't say anyone was 14 as a insult unlike you I didn't stoop to name calling and insults. It was just a point of perspective, if a person were 14ish I could see how they would think the Cheatriots were some long standing historic team. It was all about perspective not insult.

http://www.thenewenglandcheaters.com/history_of_cheating.html -- not my site but I approve the message.

 

[ChrisHanson]

The Patriots and Dolphins played essentially the same schedule and Miami went 6-10. what's your point?

The Pats were better coached.

 

[chrispepper]

I think people are also overlooking the positive implications an 'Elite' quarterback has on a team.. On paper the patriots have one of the worst defences in the league, and yet when the team needs a big play they always come up with one, because the defence knows if they can get off the field, they can feel confident in the fact there quarterback is going to march down the field and get them 7 points.. The opposite happened with the colts this year, they didn't have their franchise quarterback, so the defence gave up and it shows with their record. The dolphins haven't had that Brady like influence since Marino, and it shows in the way the defence almost gives up at times.. I have no problem in thinking peyton manning would do the same for miami as brady does for new england, we have a talented roster in all aspects of the game, we have just been lacking in that one position for far too long. Who knows who would be the better team, at this point it's all speculation but you have to feel confident in our chances if Peyton did end up being our quarterback.

 

[ChrisHanson]

I think people are also overlooking the positive implications an 'Elite' quarterback has on a team.. On paper the patriots have one of the worst defences in the league, and yet when the team needs a big play they always come up with one, because the defence knows if they can get off the field, they can feel confident in the fact there quarterback is going to march down the field and get them 7 points.. The opposite happened with the colts this year, they didn't have their franchise quarterback, so the defence gave up and it shows with their record. The dolphins haven't had that Brady like influence since Marino, and it shows in the way the defence almost gives up at times.. I have no problem in thinking peyton manning would do the same for miami as brady does for new england, we have a talented roster in all aspects of the game, we have just been lacking in that one position for far too long. Who knows who would be the better team, at this point it's all speculation but you have to feel confident in our chances if Peyton did end up being our quarterback.

Belichick is a defensive genius. Brady has very little impact on how the defense plays other than when/if they are able to get a huge lead it may take the pressure off. The defense of the Patriots were not even close to being one of the worst in the league..on paper or off. They started the season shaky and at one point the team was 5-3 because of that. However, the defense stepped it up a notch and finished the season as an above average defense.

Hell, even in the Super Bowl the Patriots defense held the Giants to 4 points less than what they scored on average during the regular season. (25 to 21) However, the Patriots offense scored half of what they normally did during the regular season.

The basic truth is that Brady gets too much credit for the past 11 years. He's a HoF QB for sure, but his play has NOT been the difference between them being a bad or good team. (Matt Cassel won 11 games with that team after sitting on the bench for 6 years STRAIGHT in college and the pros). The Patriots defense, due to Belichick's genius, is the overwhelming reason as to why the Patriots have been so competative for so long. However, without his cheating, even that genius can't put them over the top.

 

[uscalum]

Exactly! I just don't see Brady being able to carry a team the way some of the all time greats did. Brady is a HoF QB....but along the lines of an Aikman or Bradshaw and not a Marino or Unitas.

From 2007 to 2008, with Brady hurt, the Patriots won 7 fewer games. From 2010 to 2011, with Manning hurt, the Colts won 8 fewer games ..

 

[ChrisHanson]

From 2007 to 2008, with Brady hurt, the Patriots won 7 fewer games. From 2010 to 2011, with Manning hurt, the Colts won 8 fewer games ..

Which means absolutely nothing.

You're manipulating stats in order to prove your misconceived notion. If I really wanted to twist stats I could make it look as if the Dolphins have been a top NFL team over the last 10 years.

When the Patriots lost Brady they won 11 games with a guy who hadn't started a football game since high school. When the Colts lost Manning they won 3 games. These are the FACTS. Again, you distort all you want, believe all the media hype you want, love Brady all you want...but when it comes down to it...Brady=Aikman=Bradshaw=Griese=Any-other-good-QB-that-was-lucky-enough-to-play-on-great-teams. Manning=Unitas=Graham=Marino=Any-other-true-great-of-the-game.