How far do the 2021 Dolphins make it? | Page 6 | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

How far do the 2021 Dolphins make it?

How far do we make it in 2021

  • Super Bowl Champs

    Votes: 12 8.2%
  • Super Bowl but lose (AFC Champs)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • AFC Championship Game

    Votes: 15 10.3%
  • Division round

    Votes: 63 43.2%
  • Wildcard Round

    Votes: 48 32.9%
  • Miss the playoffs

    Votes: 8 5.5%

  • Total voters
    146
I understand what you're saying. I simply disagreed with a process you were using to give your opinion more credence.

We can certainly move on.

Thats cool, I respect your input. I may have not phrased it perfectly to begin with.
 
I expect Miami to push for the division, but you'd have to favor Buffalo at this point. Beyond that, I expect Miami to be a tough out in the playoffs, so I have them winning in the WC round.

Anything short of that will be a disappointment for me - how disappointing depends on how short.

I know that feeling - LOL
 
In my previous list of teams which are presently better than the Dolphins in the AFC, I inadvertently left out the Browns. I guess all those years of the Browns losing constantly affected my ability to see them for the talented team they actually are today. At this time I would have to conclude that they are a more talented team than the Dolphins and perhaps one of the most talented teams in the entire league.

The fact they were an awful team for so long is totally irrelevant when comparing those Brown teams of the past to the Browns today. It will not surprise me in the least if the Browns win the AFC Central division next season and end up playing the Chiefs in the AFC title game. .

I don't see the competition for WC as being as broad as some think. Follow my logic. First, the only reasonable competition Miami has for a high slot is BUF. Miami either wins the division or is a WC. There are only 3 WC spots. For sake of discussion, let's say KC, BAL, BUF, TEN win their divisions. That means PIT, CLE, IND are likely opposition for the WC and PIT doesn't scare me as it did 3-5 years ago. Doesn't mean I have no concerns, but not as big a concern. Yes, there are always new teams 'in the hunt (e.g., CLE), but there are always teams dropping.
I'm not arguing the competition is weak, but their are not 8 teams competing for a WC spot. That doesn't guarantee MIA a WC spot, but the competition isn't as formidible
 
I have a bold prediction for 2021.....

Josh Allen's "Cam Newton" like playstyle will catch up with him much like it did Cam around year 4 to 5 and Allen's body will start to show signs of wear. He can't keep up this playstyle and have a long NFL career. I think Allen gets hurt this year.

Not wishing injury on anyone but Allen and Kyler Murray are my top candidates for likley getting injured in 21
 
I expect another ‘nice’ season, but same as last year to be another ‘near miss’ of the playoffs at 10-7 ….
 
I have a bold prediction for 2021.....

Josh Allen's "Cam Newton" like playstyle will catch up with him much like it did Cam around year 4 to 5 and Allen's body will start to show signs of wear. He can't keep up this playstyle and have a long NFL career. I think Allen gets hurt this year.

Not wishing injury on anyone but Allen and Kyler Murray are my top candidates for likley getting injured in 21
Allen is one tough dude …. But Murray, I’d even bet on him missing time due to injury this year and EVERY year … he is just to small …
 
If our defense plays at a high level, the sky is the limit as far as how deep we go in the playoffs; even a SB appearance is not out of the question. Remember defense wins championships.
 
Potential, Potential, Potential. Tua should be better in a system designed for his strength with personal to suit. The O-line has potential to grow but we will probably have 4 different positional starters with Jackson only retuning to his original spot, though Kindley and Hunt are moving to their natural positions with a higher ceiling. Can Skura return to his top 5 Centre play from two years ago which such a young line around him? Does LE's transition to RT go smoothly or do Davis or Fluker move into the line-up. I firmly believe the pass-catches will be better as long as they are all healthy.

The pass rush may be better with Phillips, McKinney an upgrade over Roberts, but how is the KVN role replaced? it seems by multiple players and we have no idea how effective any of them will be. The secondary could be stronger, Holland should be a more natural upgrade over McCain and does Coleman win the slot over Needham upgrading that spot?

Will the punter be more consistent and can the Kicker maintain his all-pro level again? By upgrading the depth to core units will we lose some ST expertise e.g. does Hollins make the team?

If the answer to these potential moves all go the way we want, deep play-off run if not it might be 6-12.
 
There are six teams in the conference that are clearly better: Chiefs, Bills, Ravens, Browns, Titans, Colts, Broncos with Rodgers or Watson. Some teams that are going to be improved, could definitely be playoff teams: Patriots, Chargers, possibly Steelers, then an ascending non-playoff tier Jags, Jets, Bengals, then dregs like the Raiders, Texans. The Fins are in that Patriots, Chargers, Steelers tier in my opinion.
I def do not agree that any of the Browns, Titans, Colts or Broncos (based off of a hypothetical trade) are clearly better than us today.

I do think a team like the Raiders for instance could surprise though.

But I think the ultimate equalizer in our conference is that we have the potential for an elite Defensive (X permitting).

Everyone else minus the Ravens perhaps are VERY offensive dominate.

The ample firepower added to a loaded secondary plus the addition of McKinney and Phillips is big. The emergence of AVG, Wilkins, Davis are going to make for an extremely active line.

They won't have to manufacture the pressure this year. If we can play coverage it will be operation lock down of the league - Allen and the Homie included.

And you will be damned trying to find a better coached team in the conference on that side of the ball.

We are going to eat the Tannehill and Baker Mayfields of the world for lunch.
 
Potential, Potential, Potential. Tua should be better in a system designed for his strength with personal to suit. The O-line has potential to grow but we will probably have 4 different positional starters with Jackson only retuning to his original spot, though Kindley and Hunt are moving to their natural positions with a higher ceiling. Can Skura return to his top 5 Centre play from two years ago which such a young line around him? Does LE's transition to RT go smoothly or do Davis or Fluker move into the line-up. I firmly believe the pass-catches will be better as long as they are all healthy.

The pass rush may be better with Phillips, McKinney an upgrade over Roberts, but how is the KVN role replaced? it seems by multiple players and we have no idea how effective any of them will be. The secondary could be stronger, Holland should be a more natural upgrade over McCain and does Coleman win the slot over Needham upgrading that spot?

Will the punter be more consistent and can the Kicker maintain his all-pro level again? By upgrading the depth to core units will we lose some ST expertise e.g. does Hollins make the team?

If the answer to these potential moves all go the way we want, deep play-off run if not it might be 6-12.

Not that I disagree, but both sides of this debate need to move closer to reality. Here's what we all know as fact (or nearly so).
One of the picks in the 1st 3 rounds WILL disappoint, at least in '21. Phillips? Holland? No idea, but it's so common, it's almost a lock. Conversely, one of the low round/UDFA guys will surprise. No, not All-Pro, but a pleasant surprise who will help the team. Anyone ignoring those two things will make assumptions VERY likely to be wrong.

This is till a young relatively inexperienced team. The 1st 4-6 games will be sloppy with posts after every game pointing out bone-head mistakes that cost or could have cost the game.

Miami WILL lose to a lesser team. Happens every year to every team. Conversely lesser teams WILL beat a better team. How often will Miami be one of those teams? Again, no idea. If that were not true, there would be a 16-0 team and an 0-16 team every year.

With that as background, a number of your 'maybes' and 'ifs' WILL fall Miami's way. A few won't. No one knows which ones. For me, this is a major test for a true fan (no finger pointing at you). I can't see a true fan assuming ALL negatives will happen. I CAN see a true fan thinking all positives will happen. After all, there's a lot of emotion in fans. Personally, with Flo's hx, I'm optimistic for games 6>17. There are clear upgrades at a number of positions. How far will they go? Depends on the 1st 4-6 games.
 
I def do not agree that any of the Browns, Titans, Colts or Broncos (based off of a hypothetical trade) are clearly better than us today.

I do think a team like the Raiders for instance could surprise though.

But I think the ultimate equalizer in our conference is that we have the potential for an elite Defensive (X permitting).

Everyone else minus the Ravens perhaps are VERY offensive dominate.

The ample firepower added to a loaded secondary plus the addition of McKinney and Phillips is big. The emergence of AVG, Wilkins, Davis are going to make for an extremely active line.

They won't have to manufacture the pressure this year. If we can play coverage it will be operation lock down of the league - Allen and the Homie included.

And you will be damned trying to find a better coached team in the conference on that side of the ball.

We are going to eat the Tannehill and Baker Mayfields of the world for lunch.

The Broncos are only better based on a trade for an elite quarterback, but considering they beat us without one last year with a bunch of their top guys out, it's not a stretch.
They have an elite defense with elite players.

The Colts, Titans, Browns are all playoff teams, we were not a playoff team. We beat one winning team last year. You are making very optimistic projections about improvement based on guys just getting better and some roster additions which were frankly trumped by what other teams did.

And I don't know how good you thought our defense was last year, but it wasn't nearly as good as you think. We were 20th in total defense, 23 in total pass defense, 16th in total run defense, 10th in sacks, 1st in turnovers, which is not stable and will regress bigly based on past leaders in that stat.

We were 6th in scoring defense, impressive, then you consider we played the 32d offense twice, 29th with a backup, 28th twice, 27th, 23d, the 15th with a backup. Pump the brakes a bit
 
The Broncos are only better based on a trade for an elite quarterback, but considering they beat us without one last year with a bunch of their top guys out, it's not a stretch.
They have an elite defense with elite players.

The Colts, Titans, Browns are all playoff teams, we were not a playoff team. We beat one winning team last year. You are making very optimistic projections about improvement based on guys just getting better and some roster additions which were frankly trumped by what other teams did.

And I don't know how good you thought our defense was last year, but it wasn't nearly as good as you think. We were 20th in total defense, 23 in total pass defense, 16th in total run defense, 10th in sacks, 1st in turnovers, which is not stable and will regress bigly based on past leaders in that stat.

We were 6th in scoring defense, impressive, then you consider we played the 32d offense twice, 29th with a backup, 28th twice, 27th, 23d, the 15th with a backup. Pump the brakes a bit

We went 10 - 6 last year with a lot of rookies in key positions and very limited depth. We have improved our depth via free agency and the draft. We have also strengthened some questionable positions. We are simply going to be a much better team then last year because of this.

For those who want to "wait and see"; I bet you said the same thing last year. You waited and I saw a 10-6 season (which I had predicted). I was right and you were wrong!

Now we are in an even better position to improve on last years performance and you want to "wait and see" again?

Are you a fan looking to see how well the Dolphins perform this year or are you just a fan who wants to be able to say "I told you so" so you can feel better about yourself if we do poorly?

I have my opinion of you based on your post. Can you guess what it is? - LOL
 
Back
Top Bottom