The Goat Rant: The Next Seven Days...Let It Ride.

[The Goat]

Warning: Movie clips have NSFW language.

After Week 17 last year, I was just shredded. The Fins had a playoff berth gift-wrapped for them, and they managed to completely drop the ball. Literally. I lamented to a few of my friends, and one of them decided that it was a good time to mock me for popping champagne every year when the last undefeated team lost. That was a conversation that did not end well.

This year, to start the season, I was convinced that the Fins could beat the Pats. Occasionally, I just read a game really, really well. And I bet on the Fins, fairly heavily. Amongst my circle of friends, this was an amusing topic, and everyone thought I was crazy. As often happens to me, I felt like Trotter in "Let It Ride."

[video=youtube;x5GVfNcivS8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5GVfNcivS8[/video]

Then the Fins won. Thus began the roller coaster ride this season that led us to this point. Tannehill looked like Andy Dalton against the Chiefs, this board exploded, and I was done. Ready to call it a season. Ready to move on from everyone in the organization and start fresh in 2015, with hope springing anew.

I wasn't getting duped again this year. Right? Yeah, right.

Since the second half of the Packers game, I've been like this:

[video=youtube;UPw-3e_pzqU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPw-3e_pzqU[/video]

So here's he deal; the next seven days are going to tell us a lot about the rest of the way this season goes. And...I'm a little worried.

Why? It isn't Megatron, or Stafford, or Reggie Bush with a vendetta, or Kyle Orton, or Sammy Watkins, or any of that.

It's that the Fins are facing two of the best D-Lines in the game. And that really concerns me. Because for all of the wonderful things that the Fins have done over the last month, what they haven't done is perform well against an elite pass rush. The Bills are still a really bad match-up for the Fins, and the Lions are just evil up front. If they can split these two games, I'll be content. My concern is what happens if they lose them both.

Because: If the Fins cannot figure out how to win against a team with an elite pass rush, they're not going anywhere in the postseason. And I think we're looking another 9-7 or 8-8 season square in the face.

But...if they win both games? My goodness...if they WIN both?

Then in seven days, a lot of us are gonna be like this:

[video=youtube;_BY7ecBlZaA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BY7ecBlZaA[/video]

 

[roy_miami]

Exactly how I feel. And I would add that while losing to Detroit wouldn't be the end of the world it complicates things on the short week, it would be real nice if we figure out how to move the ball against them then apply pretty much the exact same gameplan vs the Bills. If Detroit is able to completely shut us down and we have to go back to the drawing board on a short week against a similar defense, it doesn't bode well for us.

 

[The Goat]

Exactly how I feel. And I would add that while losing to Detroit wouldn't be the end of the world it complicates things on the short week, it would be real nice if we figure out how to move the ball against them then apply pretty much the exact same gameplan vs the Bills. If Detroit is able to completely shut us down and we have to go back to the drawing board on a short week against a similar defense, it doesn't bode well for us.

Yes, we can lose the Detroit game and survive. I do not think we can lose both and make the playoffs.

 

[LANGER72]

IMHO...Detroit is a must win.
It will take an 11-5 record to get a wildcard berth. Losing to KC killed the 10-6 scenario.
We have to go 6-2 the final 8 games or likely miss the playoffs.
We can lose to Denver and New England, other than that, we have to win out.

 

[Kendra_Chelsea]

The teams that match up well against dolphins this year and in years past are teams with a good pass rush AND a good running game that makes for a deadly ball control combination I am still a bit worried about Detroit's DL because of how powerful it is but their 3.1 YPC does not scare me however, I think it is not going to be as close as a lot of people do (dolphins win by 9)

And regardless of how upbeat their fans are, Buffalo doesn't stand a chance against Dolphins this time around. Their starting back (Dixon) for his career averages 3.1 ypc and against the jets blowout only managed a 2.1 while spiller averaged over 5 against us in our first meeting. The dolphins have to do 2 things to beat the bills, harass the QB and line double Watkins, the rest would take care of itself.

The only must win for the dolphins is the Bills, even if we lost to Detroit we can pick up another big win somewhere else.

 

[finfan54]

the only problem with worrying about great defensive lines is that this OL sucked and the offense as a whole was severely inconsistent last year and was without Pouncey and trying to figure out the G position early this year.

Clearly with guys like Lazor and Landry and a vastly improved OL it is a different picture.

There is no one who gets to the QB like Wake and their RT's are bound to get abused like SD's tackles.