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"How Close Are The Dolphins To Making The Superbowl?"

I think with Brady and Belichick, it's much tougher, but unless they continually win by using underhanded tactics, Miami is very capable of overtaking the Pats if Miami finds at least one quality Guards (If Albert stays), two Guards (If he leaves), a quality LB, and a quality TE.

Three positions that need to be fixed, with a little luck (No more serious, out for the season injuries), and I believe Miami is fully capable of overtaking the Patriots.

NE can't be beat in the division. It's never happened outside a fluke in 2008 (by Miami at least). What are the chances Miami even makes the right moves to overtake NE?
 
NE can't be beat in the division. It's never happened outside a fluke in 2008 (by Miami at least). What are the chances Miami even makes the right moves to overtake NE?

I don't think it's a bad thing that Miami has the class of the NFL in their division. They have a barometer twice a year.
 
This team is two linebackers, a DE, a guard, a corner, a TE, depth, health and experience away.

At their current pace...if everything holds to course? 2-3 years to challenge. I am of the opinion that they will take a small step back next year, and most everyone here will lose their minds.

Agree those are the needs. Maybe even a better DT than Jordan Phillips to really complement N. Suh.

But, Miami can contend with less than all those needs filled. Look around the NFL and you see teams that have weak spots competing. It's just the nature of the game in the salary cap era.
 
i do not think we go overtake N.E but we need find way stay in top 6 afc team. oak,Den, kc, pit, cin, bal, ind and tenn...these are team we need be beating up.
 
People asking ."How close are we to making the superbowl?"

We beat ONE team with a winning record
You may get to the playoffs with an easy schedule but you're
not making the superbowl.

We're still a few good drafts(2 to 3) and a few great free agents away
 
It is nice to go into the offseason knowing this team finally is headed in the right direction. And while i think we're going to continue to improve and go deeper into the postseason, I have to agree with the Dude. It's going to be hard getting past NE while Brady and Belichick are at the top of their game. It's just the way it is. Good news is they're not getting any younger but I honestly think Brady could go play at this level for another 3-4 yrs. He might fall off quick like Peyton did, but I'm not betting on it after the way he played this year.
My thoughts as well.
 
The team is not close at all IMHO. We had the easiest schedule in the history of the NFL. 4 games against teams that fired their head coaches, 3 against coaches that were fired before the end of the season. We won only one game against a team with a winning record and, judging by the rematch even that win may have been a fluke. Tannehill is still only average.
 
NE can't be beat in the division. It's never happened outside a fluke in 2008 (by Miami at least). What are the chances Miami even makes the right moves to overtake NE?

Did not say it would be easy, and none of the AFC East team in the Pats Control of the AFC East has ever had consistent enough off-seasons (Like Steelers, Colts, Broncos) until now, to overtake them.

Miami has had in my in my opinion, two to three good off-seasons in a row, have found a good to possibly great HC (most important aspect to overtaking the Patriots), and the entire team has bought into what Gase is preaching. Losing key players for four games or more is what mostly hurt us against the Patriots.

Get the quality Guard(s) in FA, and take one of the top LB, TE in the 1st two rounds. Obviously we disagree on whether Miami can overtake the Patriots, and will just have to see...I feel really good about the direction this team is going.
 
Good season for us but I wont go crazy with expectations on a season where we beat one team with a winning record.
Lets see what the off season brings. I dont see us as close to a superbowl but we might be on the path I hope
 
We are on the cusp of having a good offense. If we are able to get a stud RG and maybe 1 more (LG or TE) who can turn this OL into a strong run blocking unit, then I think Ajayi can become a dominant RB. This will allow Drake/Williams to get carries as change of pace backs and force teams to keep stacking the box. Our QB and WR's are good enough to get over the hump with a strong ground game imposing their will on defenses. IMHO, that kind of offense can get us over the hump into becoming a consistent playoff team.

But, the defense needs to play closer to its potential. Last year had positives, like Kiko and Maxwell proving to be excellent additions, Wake making a remarkable recovery, the emergence of Lippett and additions of Howard and Isa. But at the end of the day, our LB corps was putrid aside from Kiko. Misi is done, Jenkins was injured too much and performed poorly when he was healthy. Hewitt and Paysinger were possibly the two worst LB's in the league. We were 30th against the run ... enough said about our LB's in run defense. Hewitt and Paysinger were noticeably even worse in coverage, where it was simply too easy to dominate our defense throwing at our LB's. That must change. I'm expecting a wholesale sweep of Misi, Jenkins, Butler, and Paysinger. Keeping Hull and possibly Hewitt as back up special teamers. We need to add LB's, because the people we have are the worst group in the entire league.

So, assuming that is our defensive focus, either in the draft or free agency, this group should improve significantly. The DL needs to be tweaked and hopefully gets younger. I'm expecting at least 1 draft pick in this area. Our secondary probably just needs to get healthier with maybe one free agent addition and a late round developmental guy. Our secondary isn't great, but it isn't bad either. With better LB play and more pass rush from the front 7, our secondary has the talent to help our defense become a top half or better defense. But, injuries really derailed us. Losing Jones really hurt, as he was playing very well again. Isa had his ups and downs, but he was decent. When he went down, our secondary play was shoddy. Maxwell wasn't healthy early, but he swung into a good year as our CB #1. Howard flashed awesome potential and fantastic play as a rookie ... but again, he needs to be healthy. As far as rookie seasons tend to go for very young CB's coming out early, he was stellar. The sky is the limit for X. Howard. I will be surprised if this defense isn't much improved next year.

The addition of a dominating run blocker at RG and better LB's can shift us into a team that plays complimentary football. This year we had a lot of times where only one unit was playing well. We were extremely fortunate to win most of those games, but that type of play cannot continue. Our defense cannot continue to let teams run the clock on us to protect a lead. Our offense cannot continue to give up almost entire halves of games without hardly any first downs. We need to improve, and I believe we will. We beat 1 team with a winning record ... and we won a lot of close games. That's good coaching, but it's also lucky.

My goal for next year is to repeat the record of 10-6, but to become a strong running team and a stout defense. A year ago both the Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers rode strong defenses into the Super Bowl. This year the Atlanta Falcons and New England Patriots rode strong offenses into the Super Bowl. There is no one right way to build a good team. But, I see our offense as having the potential to be a complete and strong offense capable of putting us into that conversation. I also am encouraged by our defensive strengths along the defensive line and in the secondary. We don't have a shut-down CB or an Ed Reed type safety, but we have quality players back there, and if we solidify the LB's, it will be tough for teams to beat our DL. My hope and expectation is that we go 10-6, but do not have to win nearly as many close games to do it. That would put us back into the playoffs with a real chance to advance.
 
We are on the cusp of having a good offense. If we are able to get a stud RG and maybe 1 more (LG or TE) who can turn this OL into a strong run blocking unit, then I think Ajayi can become a dominant RB. This will allow Drake/Williams to get carries as change of pace backs and force teams to keep stacking the box. Our QB and WR's are good enough to get over the hump with a strong ground game imposing their will on defenses. IMHO, that kind of offense can get us over the hump into becoming a consistent playoff team.

But, the defense needs to play closer to its potential. Last year had positives, like Kiko and Maxwell proving to be excellent additions, Wake making a remarkable recovery, the emergence of Lippett and additions of Howard and Isa. But at the end of the day, our LB corps was putrid aside from Kiko. Misi is done, Jenkins was injured too much and performed poorly when he was healthy. Hewitt and Paysinger were possibly the two worst LB's in the league. We were 30th against the run ... enough said about our LB's in run defense. Hewitt and Paysinger were noticeably even worse in coverage, where it was simply too easy to dominate our defense throwing at our LB's. That must change. I'm expecting a wholesale sweep of Misi, Jenkins, Butler, and Paysinger. Keeping Hull and possibly Hewitt as back up special teamers. We need to add LB's, because the people we have are the worst group in the entire league.

So, assuming that is our defensive focus, either in the draft or free agency, this group should improve significantly. The DL needs to be tweaked and hopefully gets younger. I'm expecting at least 1 draft pick in this area. Our secondary probably just needs to get healthier with maybe one free agent addition and a late round developmental guy. Our secondary isn't great, but it isn't bad either. With better LB play and more pass rush from the front 7, our secondary has the talent to help our defense become a top half or better defense. But, injuries really derailed us. Losing Jones really hurt, as he was playing very well again. Isa had his ups and downs, but he was decent. When he went down, our secondary play was shoddy. Maxwell wasn't healthy early, but he swung into a good year as our CB #1. Howard flashed awesome potential and fantastic play as a rookie ... but again, he needs to be healthy. As far as rookie seasons tend to go for very young CB's coming out early, he was stellar. The sky is the limit for X. Howard. I will be surprised if this defense isn't much improved next year.

The addition of a dominating run blocker at RG and better LB's can shift us into a team that plays complimentary football. This year we had a lot of times where only one unit was playing well. We were extremely fortunate to win most of those games, but that type of play cannot continue. Our defense cannot continue to let teams run the clock on us to protect a lead. Our offense cannot continue to give up almost entire halves of games without hardly any first downs. We need to improve, and I believe we will. We beat 1 team with a winning record ... and we won a lot of close games. That's good coaching, but it's also lucky.

My goal for next year is to repeat the record of 10-6, but to become a strong running team and a stout defense. A year ago both the Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers rode strong defenses into the Super Bowl. This year the Atlanta Falcons and New England Patriots rode strong offenses into the Super Bowl. There is no one right way to build a good team. But, I see our offense as having the potential to be a complete and strong offense capable of putting us into that conversation. I also am encouraged by our defensive strengths along the defensive line and in the secondary. We don't have a shut-down CB or an Ed Reed type safety, but we have quality players back there, and if we solidify the LB's, it will be tough for teams to beat our DL. My hope and expectation is that we go 10-6, but do not have to win nearly as many close games to do it. That would put us back into the playoffs with a real chance to advance.

NE has a strong offense and defense this year
 
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