Revisionist history is fun....odds the Dolphins make the playoffs this year?

[3rd N Long]

2016

Game 1 Seahawks (10-5-1) beat the Dolphins 12--10 Tannehill 0 TD, 0 INT, 1 Fumble 186 passing yards--Not much to see here, RT sucked donkey balls and Miami loses a game because the offense sucks at the game of football. No running game, O-line sucks and QB is clueless & provided 1 good offense drive leading to a rushing TD for RT. On that late game drive against a prevent defense Seattle elected to go with, RT threw for 80+ passing yards and capped it off with a 2 yard rushing TD. A shame he had only thrown for 100 passing yards on the previous 10 drives. He was well below average and was one of the main reasons his team didn't win that day. Thankfully for the Dolphins, RT keeps his team focused and they play more inspired football with him at the helm, even though they lost because they couldn't score more than 10 points and lost the time of possession 25 minutes to 35 minutes. Whew, thank god for RT greatness and leadership. Something as we will see in the following that clearly guided the 2016 Miami Dolphins to the playoffs, all while going against one of the hardest schedules any team has ever faced :)

Game 2 Patriots (14-2) beat the Dolphins 31-24 Tannehill 2 TD, 2 INT, 1 Fumble, 387 passing yards with those 2 garbage time TD and a bunch of prevent defense passing yards to pad his stat line. NE built a 31-3 lead before RT and the Dolphins knew what hit them.

1st Drive 3 plays 8 yards Punt after holding the ball for 1 minute 21 seconds--RT ZERO pass yds

2nd Drive 3 plays 9 yards Punt after holding the ball for 1 minute 51 seconds--RT ZERO pass yds

3rd Drive 3 plays 5 yards Punt after holding the ball for 1 minute 37 seconds--RT 4 pass yds

4th Drive 4 plays 6 yards Punt after holding the ball for 1 minute 53 seconds--RT 21 pass yds (Tannehill fumbles for a 17 yards loss, leading to end of possession)

5th Drive 2 plays 6 yards Fumble after holding the ball for 13 seconds--RT ZERO pass yds

6th Drive 4 plays 29 yards INT after holding the ball for 59 seconds--RT 21 pass yards

After 6 drives the Dolphins have 63 total yards on offense--RT has 46 pass yds 17 yards lost to a fumble and a costly INT

7th Drive 9 plays 77 yards TD after holding the ball for 58 seconds--RT

Patriots are now leading 24-0 at this point. Patriots play prevent defense and allow Dolphins to make it 24-3 with a FG just before the half.

The Patriots allowed a bunch of garbage time passing yards and RT to throw 2 TD in the 2nd half. After NE misses a FG to seal the game by giving themselves a 10 point lead with a minute to go. The Patriots defense remembers they are in a football game and promptly INT an RT pass with a minute to go. Dolphins get crushed but the stats do not reflect that simply by seeing a score of 31-24. Dolphins running game was useless, Dolphins O-line was garbage and 2 backup QB's shredded the Dolphins defense for NE. The saving grace was that RT had a 93.5 passer rating but as we all know. It's the 1st half RT that killed any chance the Dolphins truly had to win this game. With Brady the Dolphins probably lose this game by 45 points.

Game 3 Browns (1-15) lose to Dolphins in overtime 24-30 Tannehill 3 TD passes, 2 INT, 1 Fumble 319 passing yards against the elite defense of Cleveland....His 2nd was a sweet pick 6 that will be linked and discussed later in this thread.

Game 4 Bengals (6-9-1) beat the Dolphins 22-7 Tannehill 1 TD pass, 1 INT, 1 Fumble 189 passing yards running game sucks, O-line sucks and QB sucks

Game 5 Titans (9-7) beat the Dolphins 30-17 Tannehill 0 TD pass, 2 INT, 0 Fumble 191 passing yards Dolphins are now 1-3 and their offense can't compete with good teams. While struggling to keep up with the bad teams.

Game 6 Steelers (11-5) lose to the Dolphins 15-30 Tannehill 0 TD, 0 INT, 0 Fumble 252 passing yards RT has a below average game but the O-line impresses and the Dolphins running game provides 219 rushing yards from their running backs. 204 from Ajayi alone. Tannehill sits back and watches the running game win a game with very little help from him and the Miami defense plays stellar defense against a good Pittsburgh team, forcing BR to throw 2 INT. All while the Miami O-line keeps RT from being sacked 1 time and only 2 QB hits recorded.

Game 7 Bills (7-9) lose to the Dolphins 38-25 Tannehill 1 TD, 0 INT, 0 Fumble 204 passing yards Tannehill has a mediocre game but Miami is again carried by a stellar running game and O-line not being hot garbage. Ajayi has another 214 rushing yards, giving him back to back 200 yard rushing games. The Dolphins running backs provide even more than the last game with 235 total rushing yards. Dolphins are now by some miracle now 3-4 and feel good about their future. As they are about to play a string of crap teams. As opposed to the string of above average teams the 2017 team will face the following year.

Game 8 Jets (5-11) lose to the Dolphins 23-27 Tannehill 1 TD, 0 INT, 0 Fumble 149 passing yards another good rushing performance and the O-line keeping Tannehill upright. Even though RT had a very pedestrian performance at best. His team carried him with the stout running game and defense coming up with another big 2 INT day and forcing 3 fumbles

Miami is now 4-4 in spite of the fact that their QB has played subpar football through the 1st half of the schedule. Tannehill has thrown for 8 TD, 7 INT, fumbled 4 times 1947 passing yards. Having thrown for less than 191 passing yards or less 4 times.

Game 9 Chargers (5-11) lose to the Dolphins 24-31 Tannehill 2 TD, 0 INT, 1 Fumble 240 passing yards RT has his best performance of the year. Not a great game but decent for him. Again the teams running game does well and the Miami defense has a stellar game, INT Rivers 4 times, one of them a pick 6 to seal the victory. All of the INT coming in the 4th Quarter and giving the Dolphins the victory.

Game 10 Rams (4-10) lose to the Dolphins 10-14 Tannehill 2 TD, 1 INT, 0 Fumble 172 passing yards RT gets himself sacked 4 more times because he holds onto the ball too long trying to make something happen. It doesn't bite him or the team in the ass though. As the 2016 Rams was a fresh turd that would promptly lose every game the rest of the season. Woohoo, Go Tannehill "My man, only you could provide the spark for this to happen"

Game 11 49ers (2-14) lose to the Dolphins 31-24 Tannehill 3 TD, 0 INT, 0 Fumble 285 passing yards RT is now on a roll and has his best game of the season against the bottom feeding 49ers who gave up the most points in the NFL during the 2016 season. Some would say this was a garbage time game and stat padding event for RT

Game 12 Ravens (8-8) beat the Dolphins 38-6 Tannehill 1 TD, 3 INT, 1 Fumble 186 passing yards RT was hot garbage and should have been booed off the field. I wonder why there were no chants for MOORE MOORE MOORE. Something with which the fans would be pleased to be granted in 2017, only to find out that their wish wasn't very wise. That their ability to assess what was wrong with the team may be a little suspect. (hint I'm talking about Moore's triumphant return to the starters roll where he promptly threw to pick 6's and cost the Dolphins the game in a 40-0 beatdown against the Ravens a couple of weeks ago.

Miami is now miraculously 7-5 due to its strength of schedule or as some would say RT leadership and stellar QB play. Which had provided 16 TD, 11 INT and 6 fumbles through 12 games. Clearly light years ahead of a QB who came out of the announcers box shortly before the season started. The one that now currently has 12 TD 6 INT and 1 Fumble through 8 games started. Having thrown for 5 TD, 1 INT and 0 Fumble since cracking his ribs a couple of weeks back. Yep, time to get rid of this bum and realize that the 2017 Miami Dolphins would be...what 7-2 or undefeated as most of you seem to believe, if only RT the savior was the QB this season.

Game 13 Cardinals (7-9) lose to the Dolphins 23-26 Tannehill 3 TD, 1 INT, 3 Fumble 195 passing yards RT holds onto the ball too long and gets hit/injured on a late game passing play. RT is now out for the season but has done a spectacular and almost single handed job of leading the Dolphins to a now 8-5 record through 13 games. Moore went on to throw for 8 TD and 3 INT the following 3 games. Leading the Dolphins to a 10-6 record. They would end up getting blown out by the Steelers in their single 2016 playoff game. Due in large part to Moore throwing for 1 TD, 1 INT, 2 Fumbles but still the fans loved them some Moore. I mean why not, his 3 game sample of good football is what he should be judged by. Not his previous play or 2017 play right?

Through the 13 games Tannehill started in 2016. He threw this beauty against the Cleveland game described above. https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/...annehill-throws-ugliest-pick-6-of-the-season/

Remember that throw? This was RT 2nd INT of that game, giving the Browns a 10-7 lead. Thankfully for RT, he was able to overcome that large deficit against the savage Browns defense and help lead his team to a 30-24 overtime victory, whew. Something no other QB in 2017 has been able to do....oh wait its been done multiple times already? No...common knowledge going by the astute average poster on this site would indicate that cannot happen with Cutler at the helm. This team quits and can't compete if he throws an INT. You know, because he doesn't smile all the time and seems to be lethargic out there. Almost like a type 1 diabetes human normally looks.

So how many pick 6's did Tannehill throw in 2016? I believe it was just the 1 but that's still 1 more than Cutler has thrown in 2017

 

[3rd N Long]

So what were the records of the teams Miami beat during RT starts in 2016?

Browns (1-15)
Steelers (11-5)
Bills (7-9)
Jets (5-11)
Chargers (5-11)
Rams (4-12)
49ers (2-14)
Bills (7-9)

For a grand combined total of 42 - 86 ( 33%) So damned impressive, isn't it? I can just hear the RT for life chants right now from certain fans.

So what were the records of the teams Miami lost to during RT starts in 2016

Seahawks (10-5-1)
Patriots (14-2)
Bengals (6-9-1)
Titans (9-7)
Ravens (8-8)

For a combined record of 47 - 31 (60%)

So what are the records of the teams they have beaten in 2017 when Miami Cutler starts this season, of which they are (4-4) with him starting

Chargers (3-6)
Titans (6-3)
Falcons (5-4)
Jet's (4-6)

For a combined record of 18 - 19 (49%) A bit more impressive than the 2016 feasting of crap teams

So what are the records of the teams they have lost to so far through the 2017 season with Cutler starting

Jets (4-6)
Saints (7-2)
Raiders (4-5)
Panthers (7-3)

For a combined record of 22-16 (58%)

For those of you rooting for RT to be the starter in 2017 and keep calling Cutler a bum QB. The one with the 12 TD, 6 INT, 1 Fumble, playing with cracked ribs but doesn't care about football LOL...There is a good hope the Dolphins will continue to lose most of their games this season. As they are a below average team talent wise and face a very rough schedule. Which to most fans would be disappointing but for many of you is a gift. As it will fit your narrative, minus the acknowledgement of reality of course. The Dolphins will need to win at least 5 of the remaining games to get into the playoffs and finish 9-5. Which is extremely unlikely at this point.

The hope for the vast majority is that the Dolphins finish the season against these remaining teams the final 7 games.

Game 10 Buccaneers (3-6) A team the Dolphins should beat. They have scored 3, 10, 15 their last 3 games. Why do I suspect that the Dolphins defense will not do well against them? Probably because they should do well and should be highly motivated to crush this team and get back to .500 football but who knows. Time will tell if the Miami defense can play well independent of what the Miami offense is doing.

Game 11 Patriots (7-2) Yep, Dolphins are likely to lose this game. Shocker right?

Game 12 Denver (3-6) The Dolphins should have a shot in this game but.....can their defense do what they should to the Denver offense? They will have to because the Denver defense has some talent on it. Albeit they are playing poorly at the moment and I have hope the Dolphins can will have a good chance to win a tight game. Thankfully this game isn't in Denver or the crowd would play a major factor in this game. Instead it will be the Miami fans who will probably boo Cutler but can hopefully not be making too much noise while the Dolphins offense is on the field.

Game 13 Patriots (7-2) Um, yeah probably going to lose both games against these guys. Dolphins did that in 2016 and are likely to do so again in 2017. Gase will have to out coach Belichick and that is how likely?

Game 14 Bills (5-4) Not the piss poor team everyone expected them to be this year. Who knows, again the defense will need to get after the QB and control that side of the ball. They have a very good defense and time will tell how the Dolphins elect to attack them.

Game 15 Chiefs (6-3) started off the season very hot and has cooled off a little. They will still provide a very tough, well balanced team to beat, even if the Dolphins play well. One factor may be the Chiefs needing this game to get into the playoffs or for a bye. This will loom large at this point, if this game even matters for Miami at this point.

Game 16 Bills (5-4) Read above and watch how the 1st game plays out. It's likely going to determine how the 2nd game plays out. Who knows, Moore or another backup maybe starting QB at this point. With the Dolphins O-line and lack of a running game, this is likely to be the case.

So thats a combined total of 35 - 26 (57%)

With 7 games to play, the Dolphins are 4-5 (4-4) with Cutler starting. While it is not a guaranteed outcome, the Dolphins are likely to lose both games to NE. Which means they are 4-7 for the purposes of this discussion. Basically the Dolphins have to win the other 5 games if they want a small chance to back into the playoffs.

With the way the AFC is shaping up this season, I don't think a 9-7 team will get in but who knows. It's still possible and one can hope for the best. That starts by beating Tampa Bay this weekend and doing so in a more impressive manner than they have any other team this year. Both the defense and offense need to play well. If the offense continues to play poorly against Tampa Bay, I suspect it wont matter if the defense plays well and they somehow pull out a win. The offense has to get rolling this weekend. They must have a better game plan and the players from the QB down need to play well.

I know this is going to cause some butthurt for many of you. I don't really care but I look forward to the retorts. Before you do though, make sure you read through it all thoroughly. Make sure you remember those games, as more than just the stats. Make sure you remember RT lack of pocket presence and try to imagine the deeper plays you long for in 2017. Imagine them from behind this current O-line. Yep, there would have been some bigger plays but extremely likely that there would have been at least 5 more QB fumbles, many more sacks and several more INT thrown.

It's all about the demons you choose and in this case for me. I choose Cutler but I also realize that the O-line sucks. Meaning I know it truly doesn't matter who the QB is. The O-line dictates the overall success of this team and right now they are in the running for the stupid penalty trophy. They have killed a bunch of big plays and drives this season with their idiotic penalties alone. Never mind that Gase/Cutler are having to play dink and dunk football because of their overall inability to block for more than 2 seconds.

Come on defense that had multiple games in 2016 with multiple INT performances. It's time to step up to the plate and eat some of the poor QB's you're going against the remainder of the season, Brady excluded of course.

Also, if it isn't clear by now, I know the offense needs to do some serious improving and that needs to start this Sunday. They will be facing some tough defenses but they have to figure out a way to not shoot themselves in the foot over and over again. Maybe even run the ball well and help loosen up the defense a little? I know that's crazy talk, hoping that the RB's wont be hit behind the line of scrimmage so often. I look forward to seeing it play out and hope this team has enough fortitude to play hard the rest of the way.

 

[dnespins]

here's the thing man...

they don't care about the facts.

keep up the good work.

 

[Rolltide03]

I mean did you see how Cutler threw the ball last week? Holy smokes..

 

[jazz015]

I mean did you see how Cutler threw the ball last week? Holy smokes..

I just don't understand how ma y times people are going to call out he is throwing with poor mechanics and defend the guy. He is leaving yards on the field. Add that with the fact he does not want to put his body on the line and you have a problem. The offense has major issues but he is not helping them.

 

[SF Dolphin Fan]

Tannehill looked a whole lot better than Cutler and Moore, with essentially the same cast of characters.

I think we can all agree that slow starts weren't a Tannehill issue. Bottom line, this team needs some serious talent on the offensive line. It's hard to beat good teams if you can't control the line of scrimmage.