The Who-to-root-for Thread For Week 15 | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

The Who-to-root-for Thread For Week 15

mandal24

mandal24

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This is super early but come on, after that crazy finished, I'm super psyched. And I know there are gonna be people who will say this team isn't good enough to be in the playoffs but its the freaking playoffs, I'll take that all day long.

Here's who we need to root for in week 15 (correct me if any of this is incorrect)

BROWNS over broncos (home) - Minor implications but this would give the Broncos the dreaded eighth loss. Browns are looking good, Broncos are fading. I'm fairly confident in a Broncos loss.

GIANTS (home) over titans - This would give the Titans 7 losses. Giants are playing well and Titans are so inconsistent. I give this a better than average chance of happening.

BUCCANEERS over ravens (home) - This would give the Ravens 7 losses. I just cant see this happening but with Jackson at QB, the Ravens have become a run-heavy team so maybe if Winston can air it out. I see the Ravens winning this one which puts their sights at the NFC North division title as the Steelers have a tough stretch of games.

DOLPHINS over vikings (home) - Obvious. But if we were to lose 1 of our last 3, this would be the one to lose being a non-conference game. Vikings will be on a shorter week after playing MNF but a home game against a Fins team who is 1-5 on the road isn't looking good for us. We're gonna need X back for this one.

COWBOYS over colts (home) - This is probably the game with the biggest implications as the Colts have already beat us. Cowboys have won 5 straight. They have a top defense and Elliot is running well. Good formula to beat anyone but Colts have Luck. I'm giving this one 50/50 as Colts are at home.

STEELERS(home) over patriots - With a Patriots loss and a Miami win, we'd only be 1 game back for the division, crazy to think this late in the season. I doubt Patriots lose this one, not to mention, they'd have to lose to either the Jets or the Bills in their final 2. Steelers on the other hand may miss out the playoffs altogether as they play the Patriots and Saints (home) in consecutive weeks. 2 more losses for the Steelers puts them at 7 losses with 1 tie which would most likely eliminate them. This is an interesting game with NE looking to bounce back after the Miami Miracle :) and Steelers fighting for their playoff lives after a stinker in Oakland. I can't bet against Belichick, especially in December, especially after a loss. I see NE winning this one with mild confidence.

OR

(edit, thanks to comments below) PATRIOTS over steelers - With a Patriots win, this puts the Steelers at 6 losses and 1 tie with a game at NO the following week, a place in which NO rarely loses. 7 losses with the 1 tie would knock Steelers out of contention, bumping the Ravens into the division spot, creating another opportunity for Dolphins to make the it with even 7 losses. We obviously would miss out on a chance on the division but this scenario is more realistic.
 
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I don't agree that we should be rooting for the Steelers to win. I know its sac-religious to pull for the Pats but if they win the Steelers fall behind the Ravens and we would be in better position for the 6th seed. as much as i want to win the division the Patriots aren't going to lose to the Bills or Jets when it counts.

It was a great game and i'm not going to actively root for the Patriots next week but if they win i wont be as upset as usual.
 
The situation is so messed up but I think the long and short of it is:

We want the Colts to lose. That's the important thing. We don't want to be in a two way tie with the Colts.
 
I think we root for the Patriots to beat the Steelers. Yes, I think I also need to scrub my tongue with soap for saying that, but Steelers become vulnerable with a loss.
 
Sorry to be a Debbie Downer, but all of those games will not matter because we will lose at Minnestota, and it will probably not be even close. This team always checks out after a big win against NE at home. Remember last year at Buffalo? Or after beating them in the home opener in 2014, they followed that up with going up to Buffalo and getting crushed. Or after beating NE in December in 2013, they laid an egg against That Lewis and got shotout against..... you guessed it: Buffalo. Or even after a hard fought, exciting, big win over Chicago earlier this season, only to follow it up by not showing up against a lousy Detroit team at home? You get the point. I have seen this play out way too many times. When you follow this team for 20 plus years, the one thing this team is very good at is how predictable they are. No matter who the current coaches and players are. One fluke miracle play should not change the fact this is not a good football team. I know this post will not be popular with the homers on this board but that is just the reality. You will be reminded next week that Matt Burke is still the DC and Adam Gase is still the HC. People have temporarily forgot about that because of a miracle play. Did I also mention this team is 1-5 on the road and four of those losses have come by double digits? Minnesota 31 Miami 13. Season will then be over.
 
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That Pats/Steelers game helps us no matter the outcome.
 
If we win out “big if” then I believe we will make the playoffs. I think that the Ravens are the most likely to drop a game because they play the Chargers in week 16. If we beat the Vikings, we should win out.
 
AEGBRG said:
Sorry to be a Debbie Downer, but all of those games will not matter because we will lose at Minnestota, and it will probably not be even close. This team always checks out after a big against NE in December. Remember last year at Buffalo? Or after beating NE in December in 2013, they laid an egg against That Lewis and got shotout against Buffalo? Or even after a hard fought, exciting, big over Chicago earlier this season, only to follow it up by not showing up against a lousy Detroit team at home? Yeah, I have seen this play out way too many times. When you follow this team for 20 plus years, the one thing this team is very good at is how predictable they are. No matter who the current coaches and players are. One fluke miracle play should not change the fact this is not a good football team. Minnesota 31 Miami 13. Season will then be over. I know this post will not be popular with the homers on this board but that is just the reality. You will be reminded next week that Matt Burke is still the DC and Adam Gase is still the HC. People have temporarily forgot about that because of a miracle play.
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Although I agree with most of what you said, keep in mind, unlike in previous years, there is actually a way we get in and a pretty plausible scenario even with a Vikings loss.
 
Thanks for that rundown @mandal24 it clears things up.

But, I'm with @13finfan4ever in thinking we should be rooting for a Steeler loss. IMHO, we'd have to go 10-6 AND the Patriots would have to lose all 3 of their next games for us to win the division. The Patriots have almost never lost 3 games in a row in the Belichick era … so I'd suspect our best chance lies in the Steelers faltering down the stretch. They're only 7-5-1, so if they lose 2 games we will be ahead of them at 9-6.
 
mandal24 said:
Although I agree with most of what you said, keep in mind, unlike in previous years, there is actually a way we get in and a pretty plausible scenario even with a Vikings loss.
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It would take some sort of miracle (like today's last play) to get in at 9-7. I have Buffalo in the finale as a loss as well anyway. I have them finishing 8-8. I know this team all too well. Even the Jacksonville game will go down to wire with us just getting by (similar to Buffalo game) 20-16.
 
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Digital said:
Thanks for that rundown @mandal24 it clears things up.

But, I'm with @13finfan4ever in thinking we should be rooting for a Steeler loss. IMHO, we'd have to go 10-6 AND the Patriots would have to lose all 3 of their next games for us to win the division. The Patriots have almost never lost 3 games in a row in the Belichick era … so I'd suspect our best chance lies in the Steelers faltering down the stretch. They're only 7-5-1, so if they lose 2 games we will be ahead of them at 9-6.
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Upon further review (assuming we go 9-7 and lose to the Vikings) . Patriots over the Steelers may not help us as much as first thought. It's kind of confusing but basically, the Steelers going 8-6-1, and the Ravens going 9-7 may actually hurt us as that would eliminate the Ravens from tie-breaking scenarios as they would automatically take the division. This in turn would put us in a tie with the Colts/Titans.. Since the Colts beat both the Dolphins and the Titans, we would then be overtaken by the Colts. IF the Steelers took the division and the Ravens were now seeded in a tying scenario with us and perhaps the Colts/Titans, this would mean that common games does not come into play and that loss to the Colts doesn't hurt us. Assuming our one loss was to the Vikings, a non-conference loss, we would then leap frog all other tying teams as our conference record would be better. Wow thats a lot haha
 
AEGBRG said:
Yeah I also have the game at Buffalo in the finale as a loss as well. I have them finishing 8-8. I know this team all too well. Even the Jacksonville game will go down to wire with us just getting by (similar to Buffalo game) 20-16.
Click to expand...

I can understand that but I dont know, J Allen, is so severely lacking in accuracy that I think our defensive inefficiencies may not be so vulnerable, as long as we STOP spying with a slow LB. Try Baker, Minkah, or McDonald.
 
AEGBRG said:
Sorry to be a Debbie Downer, but all of those games will not matter because we will lose at Minnestota, and it will probably not be even close. This team always checks out after a big win against NE at home. Remember last year at Buffalo? Or after beating them in the home opener in 2014, they followed that up with going up to Buffalo and getting crushed. Or after beating NE in December in 2013, they laid an egg against That Lewis and got shotout against..... you guessed it: Buffalo. Or even after a hard fought, exciting, big win over Chicago earlier this season, only to follow it up by not showing up against a lousy Detroit team at home? You get the point. I have seen this play out way too many times. When you follow this team for 20 plus years, the one thing this team is very good at is how predictable they are. No matter who the current coaches and players are. One fluke miracle play should not change the fact this is not a good football team. I know this post will not be popular with the homers on this board but that is just the reality. You will be reminded next week that Matt Burke is still the DC and Adam Gase is still the HC. People have temporarily forgot about that because of a miracle play. Did I also mention this team is 1-5 on the road and four of those losses have come by double digits? Minnesota 31 Miami 13. Season will then be over.
Click to expand...

You apparently have missed everyone saying losing a 7th game, non/conference to Minny, wouldn’t be the final nail in the coffin. Love the negativity though. That was me prior to the NE game. If Miami wasn’t at least decent they wouldn’t have even been in the game in the first place. They deserve a ton of credit.
 
We actually want the Steelers to win. Here is why. We want them winning their division.
In a 2 way tie with the Colts were out...3 way tie for wildcard with Colts and Ravens were in.
We would also hold division tie breaker over pats if we win out and they drop 2 of 3 (division record)
 
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