1. Hope - Yes, upwards trends for most football metrics with the exception of the OL. We lost our best OL in free agency, Jake Long, moved our worst OT from RT to LT and he couldn't handle it, then was replaced and about a week later went on personal leave ... then suspended our only pro-bowler and best run blocker, and yeah, we had no holes for the running game and the most sacks. But, other than our sieve of an OL, the rest of our team improved almost across the board. Grimes transformed our CB's, Patterson was very impactful when healthy, even Nolan Carroll played well. Our QB improved his red zone, 3rd down, and most other metrics behind that line. Lots of hope.
2. Who will turn it around - Well our defense went from the worst takeaways ever for a Dolphin unit to becoming a pretty solid defense, so if we re-sign Grimes and Soliai, I have faith in our defense and its leaders, and that includes Wake. Jordan can spell him and Vernon more and keep them fresh. On offense I think Wallace and Tannehill will improve significantly next year and if we get some good run blockers you will see Miller make a much bigger impact.
3. Philbin and his shell - No, I think Philbin will retreat more into his shell after the shellshock of our litigious player fiasco. Having Lazor and our new OL coaches should allow Philbin to show his ability with offenses.
4. Tannehill - Yes, he will improve. The timing will improve with Wallace leading to a lot more deep ball touchdowns and his numbers will jump up from that. Next level ... we'll see. If he makes steady progression like this season, I'll be very happy. He doesn't often make the same mistake repeatedly. He learns and improves ... and I like it.
5. O Line - It can't get worse, so yes, it will be improved with 4 or 5 new starters. I'm hoping we draft 3 high pick OL rookies and bring in 2 or 3 veterans to show them the ropes. This is the perfect time to blow it up and start all over with guys who work in both ZBS and power schemes and build Tannehill a line for his career. Get. It. Done.
6. Off Field Issues - This has been beyond embarrassing. It needs to end. Either clean house THIS OFFSEASON, or clean the front office and coaching staff and blow everything up next offseason.
Looking at what this team accomplished considering teams knew run/pass and our snap count, I'm impressed. In a down year for the Patriots, we outplayed them twice and only some seriously bad reffing prevented us from sweeping them. I don't think the Bills can sweep us again with Lazor and our new OL coaches. I think the Jets have shown they are there to be beaten, it's all about whether we show up ready to execute. This team looks poised to make the playoffs and clearly the second best team in our division. There will be a lot of bounceback teams his year, such as the Texans, Falcons, Giants, Buccaneers, etc., so we're not going to be the hot story, but we'll be there contending and winning a playoff spot next year.
Realizing this year's AFC playoff teams consisted of the Bengals (whom we beat), the Chargers (whom we beat), the Colts (whom we beat), and the Patriots (whom we beat and almost swept), and 2 teams we never played (Broncos and Chiefs), I don't think it is a matter of us simply lacking the talent. The NFC team is Seattle (whom we beat last year). This team isn't that far away.
