I keep hearing around and about how winning 10 games and missing the playoffs was a good season but the fact of the matter is that we were 1-3 against teams with a winning record, and we were 9-3 against teams with a bad record. What hurt our chances to miss the playoffs was mainly not winning a single Bills game, but also not winning enough competitive games. Based on how we played against competitive teams there was a 70 chance we would lose. With that said this is normal with teams with a rookie qb for the most part. We must get better as a team, and develop our qb. Blatantly adding weapons isn't enough, qb is the hardest position to play, and Tua struggle under certain situations as much as he shined in others. To give Tua the benefit of the doubt, he wasn't 100 pct. We are expecting big from him now.
I agree that last season's 10-6 record and just missing the playoffs was a mirage... they weren't that good. What made them look good early in the season was a defense that forced turnovers, giving the offense a short field. Take away those turnovers (pun intended), and the defense was probably below average. On offense, they had 3 rookies on the o-line, no power RB, and not enough yards after the catch with the WRs and TEs. Fitz did his thing (surprisingly, more Magic than Tragic considering what he had to work with IMO), and Tua was decent for a game or two but overall was not impressive.
IMO, last year's 10-6 record was an undeserved success. For this upcoming season, I would consider 10-7 a success IF: the o-line is greatly improved, they have a consistently strong running game, WRs do better and get more yards after the catch, they not only beat bad teams but also have a winning record against good teams, and Tua looks like (or starts to look like) a winning franchise QB.
However, if they end up around .500 or worse with Tua and the offense still struggling, then something drastic needs to be done. I've always thought that while Grier does a good job wheeling and dealing, he sucks at the actual drafting of players who will make the team better. With a lot of early picks over several drafts Grier has the chance to quickly turn them into a playoff-caliber team, so if those players don't transform this team into a contender then Grier has totally screwed the Fins. I hate watching Miami lose so many games over so many years. Personally, I think that Ross made a huge mistake (again!) by keeping Grier and NEVER completely cleaning house. That said, if Tua and the offense starts putting up 30 points per game and can run the ball down an opponent's throat, then I'll admit I was wrong. Unfortunately, I think the odds are greater that Grier's draft picks will prove to be JAGs or busts rather than difference-makers.
