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Patriots MNF is it a must win

Not a must win for us but it is a must win for the Pats......we knock them off and panick will be in foxboro......
 
heres the bottom line.

technically, a must win would usually mean a game in which the team must win or they go home. just what it sounds like. so, ya technically if we lost this game to go to 0-1, we would not be eliminated by any stretch of imagination. However, here is why it is as close to a must win game as possible without it actually being one.

first, their are only 16 games to begin with. that itself leaves very little room for error.

secondly, we are playing the pats, a division rival at home. Now, i know that we still can beat them Christmas eve even if we lose to them next Monday night and all, but lets be realistic. unless that game means nothing to the pats, and even if it does mean something, not going to say we cant win, but going into foxboro in late December when the temperature will prob be in the 30's will not be an easy task for us, as i honestly cant even remember the last time we beat them their in December. so yes, while we can win that game, it is prob more likely we lose that game giving us 1 loss to the pats already and another division loss.

now, not that i think any loss is really acceptable, but if we were to win our home opener vs them and then lose in foxboro, we would split with them, and although it would be annoying to lose to them late in the year, it prob would not ruin our playoff hopes if we took care of the rest of our games .


However, if we lose to the pats at home, and assuming we do not win in Foxboro in december, that would mean a sweep at the hands of the pats, 2 division losses right their, and not that it would be impossible, but the playoffs would seem very hard to come by, and division hopes would be all but gone.

In my opinion, we really need to win the first 2 games at home, and as much as i would love to go into the bye week at 4-0 with 4 afc wins, if we then split with cleveland and san diego and were 3-1 going into the bye, it would be more than acceptable.

we must win our home games though, especially after last years putrid showings at home. we the fans deserve it, and the team in general needs it. so yes, while this game is not a ''MUST WIN'' technically, It is as close to a must win as it gets without it actually being deemed a must win. on a scale of 1-10, this game is a 9 importance.
 
My "hunch": We beat the Pats and surprise a lot of people this year. Stranger things have happened. I look for the offense to have a great night and the defense to be stellar. Hey, it could happen.
finfan54 said:
just curious what those factors are?

Cus I see many advantages:
1) AT HOME ON MNF ON HOT NIGHT IN S FLORIDA
2) NEW OFFENSE THAT BB HAS NOT SEEN BEFORE WITH REGGIE BUSH HAVING TO BE COVERED BY LB'S
3) IMPROVED DEFENSE WITH GREAT DEPTH
4) SPECIAL TEAMS NOT AS BIG A WORRY CUS KO'S GO INTO ENDZONE NOW
5) WE WILL DICTATE TO THEM AS MUCH AS THEY DICTATE TO US

THE ONLY DISADVANTAGE I SEE IS HENNE SCREWS UP AND THROWS 3 PICKS (I JUST DONT SEE IT IN THIS OFFENSE) AND THE OLINE ON RIGHT SIDE JUST COMPLETELY BLOWS.
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Nomally it's a very important divisional game.

After going 1 - 7 at home and being beaten BADLY in both games last year it become MUST win.

That's if you want to fill all those empty seats for the other games.

Plus JETS and PATS are always must win if we're thinking playoffs.
 
Elliott 1 said:
Two years ago we beat the Jets in both regular season games. They went to the playoffs and we didn't.
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This is it? This is your reasoning?

<sigh>

We beat them twice and it afforded us the opportunity to fight for a playoff spot. That we ended up short is our fault.

Because we had beat them, we came into the final 3 games 7-6. 4-2 in our DIVISION.

We needed to end up 10-6 to be assured of a spot at that time. However, we lost to the Titans and things got hairy. Afterall, it wasn't a must-win under your thinking so of course the coaching staff problably thinks the same way and thats why were so awesome.

DUE TO US HAVING BEAT THE JETS TWICE, 9-7 would've done it since their division record was so poor...again DUE TO US HAVING BEAT THE JETS TWICE. We were 4-2 that season in the division. They were 2-4. We both end up 9-7, we win the tie-breaker.

We lost to Houston and that changed everything dramatically. We would've had to beat Pittsburgh and have some help. Actually I dont recall right now if beating Pittsburgh alone would've been enough or if we needed help as well (I am pretty sure we needed Baltimore to lose too). Of course since we WON those non must-win games against the Jets (seemingly according to you) we were even in this spot to have a chance at the playoffs, but lets not dwell on that.

You need to tactically plan ahead and win your division games. Let me ask you, come the last week of the season, at NE problably in the snow. Will that be a must-win game for you? If we need THAT game to get into the playoffs I guess suddenly it would be a must-win, right?

This isn't baseball (162 games) and this isnt basketball (82 games) where you can blow off certain games. You've got 16 games. 6 of them in your own division with one of the most used tie-breakers being divisional record. Of course, it seems that all of this is blah blah blah to you and come the end of the season your problably one of those scrambling to find out what the tie-breakers are and what chances we have since afterall, games played early on against divisional foes are non-factors to you.
 
It's not a must win game,that would be silly imo. I do think it's important for our Dolphins to play well( play with N.E.) i.e. a "good showing"...it would be a tremendous confidence booster for our Phins to start the season off right. Having said that,I also believe it may be our best chance to beat the Pats before they establish any(more) kind of continuity.
 
The only thing that has been resolved in this thread is that everyone seems to have their own definition of a "must win."
 
i don't think it is a must win
more like "must play well"

if brady has his way vs the defense
and they embarrass the fins on monday night then the players may stop believing

if henne shows up and looks like a top 10 QB and the game stays close yet the dolphins fall short
then the players wont get too down and they can build on they can compete with new england.

A close game means an entertaining game and could mean more tickets will get sold..
 
finfan54 said:
just curious what those factors are?

Cus I see many advantages:
1) AT HOME ON MNF ON HOT NIGHT IN S FLORIDA
2) NEW OFFENSE THAT BB HAS NOT SEEN BEFORE WITH REGGIE BUSH HAVING TO BE COVERED BY LB'S
3) IMPROVED DEFENSE WITH GREAT DEPTH
4) SPECIAL TEAMS NOT AS BIG A WORRY CUS KO'S GO INTO ENDZONE NOW
5) WE WILL DICTATE TO THEM AS MUCH AS THEY DICTATE TO US

THE ONLY DISADVANTAGE I SEE IS HENNE SCREWS UP AND THROWS 3 PICKS (I JUST DONT SEE IT IN THIS OFFENSE) AND THE OLINE ON RIGHT SIDE JUST COMPLETELY BLOWS.
Click to expand...


you guys do realize that reggie bush is a bust right?? he cant run the ball,and is a dump off catcher out of the backfield.... what he did do well was on special teams,,,but doesnt exist any more for the most part.....
 
Anyone on this post get to see NEs front 4 recently ? They have to have the FRIGGIN BIGGEST DTS on the planet earth. Its unreall. People can knock Haynesworth all they want but the guy is almost impossible to move one on one. Considering Pouncey is not known for moving the larger DTs around too well as evidenced against Tampa Bay, well.
 
arnoldferrigno said:
you guys do realize that reggie bush is a bust right?? he cant run the ball,and is a dump off catcher out of the backfield.... what he did do well was on special teams,,,but doesnt exist any more for the most part.....
Click to expand...

reggie is the best pass catching running back in the game
i would not care if he catches the ball 7 times a game..
 
Mr. Magoo said:
The question posed to me was what were the factors that make the Patriots -- in my view -- likely to beat us, not which match-ups give them an advantage.

Better quarterback play is one of the factors in their favor. And it's a huge factor, perhaps the single most determining factor. And their advantage over us is pronounced, to be kind. And I like Henne and have been a supporter of his when not many on this board have been. But still, facts are facts.
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I don't consider that as pronounced as you do, I'm more worried about miami's o line than henne vs brady. The reason, which you have forgot and it seems other analysts forget is that even though patriouts are and have been more talented than miami. Miami matches up against the patriots well and miamis defense is one of the defenses that gives brady a harder time than many other defenses. i've seen the stats show up before on espn when showing the match up from highlights that miami has beaten the pats in previous seasons. Even miami got crushed in the home game, it was a little misleading, 4 of the tds were from special teams whcih is why the coach got fired following after. But miamis defense actually gave brady a tough time or tougher than his usual numbers. yeah they were swept last season but the season before that didnt henne and co beat the pats 22-21 in foxboro i believe? Miami got swept when they had the awful 1-15 season, but if you look at the history with the pats again miami since brady, there have been quite a bit of splits with miami winning one game of the two. so when it comes to these games, I'm not thinking that miami is over matched because seriously, miamis has beated the pats when the pats had more talent and miami had less talent than this teams. the 2-14 dolphins anyone? oh what bout joey harrington throwing the ball for miami when miami beat the pats in 2006 i think
 
Not a must win...more like a Cam-and-the-rest-of-the-D-must-kick-Brady-*** game. :D
 
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