1. So much in the NFL, like life, is timing. For AFC East teams, that translates into when you meet the meat of the out-of-division schedule. Take the Jets. Their last three games have been against NFC North teams Green Bay, Detroit and Chicago. Now they play at San Diego and then against Denver. You see, in part, why they're staring at 1-5?
The Dolphins start a similar stretch of fun in the next five games after their well-timed bye week. Here's the schedule:
Green Bay.
At Chicago.
A reprieve at Jacksonville.
San Diego.
At Detroit.
Dolphins' RyanTannehill says he has a vision of what kind of player he wants to be.
If they can get through this in decent shape, the playoffs should be in the discussion the way their December schedule looks (yes, you could extend this segment to seven games with the following games of Buffalo and at Denver, but that's going too far out right now).
So what makes this five-game run so noteworthy?
* Quarterbacks. Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers is the top-ranked quarterback in the league (114.8) after ripping apart Minnesota for three touchdowns and a 138.7 rating Thursday night. San Diego's Philip Rivers ranks second in the league (114.5). Jay Cutler is 13th (94.5) and even Detroit's Matthew Stafford is 18th (91.5). Thus far, the Dolphins haven't faced a hot quarterback. Kansas City's Alex Smith ranked 35th of 35 ranked quarterbacks before the Dolphins game. He obviously isn't that bad and played great against the Dolphins and again last week against the Patriots. He now ranks 14th. But the Dolphins line up against a string of good-to-great quarterbacks now (we'll have to see where Jacksonville's Blake Bortles stands before overdoing this idea - Bortles ranks two spots ahead of Ryan Tannehill with an 82.5 rating currently). The good news: Safety Reshad Jones is back. Jimmy Wilson was increasingly getting exposed as an every-down safety and Jones can solidify that position again.
* Defenses. Detroit ranks fourth in the league, yielding 15.5 points a game. San Diego is fifth at 15.8. Green Bay is ninth at 21.2. You getting the picture? Chicago ranks 21st (just below the Dolphins' 19th). The Dolphins have played some top defenses already - Buffalo is sixth, Kansas City seventh - and the offense struggled in those games. This stretch will show how this offense has progressed. It's a good thing center Mike Pouncey returns. The Packers had six sacks and 16 quarterback hits Thursday against Minnesota's Christian Ponder.
* The NFC North. Three of the Dolphins opponents in this run come from this division. Let's leave Minnesota out of this discussion. The Dolphins get Minnesota in December when, as stated, the schedule lets up. Green Bay, Detroit and Chicago are 5-2 against out-of-division opponents (the losses are Green Bay's opener at Seattle and Detroit sole loss of the year against Carolina). Compare that to the AFC East's out-of-division record of 5-7. Of those five wins, three came against Oakland (Buffalo also beat Chicago and New England beat Minnesota).
