this team could very easily be 0-9

[Chri$]

Doesn't matter. Miami isn't beating NE nor are they winning in Buffalo or KC. Those are 4 guaranteed losses. They aren't making the playoffs at 7-9.

I think NE is slightly overrated,and with each passing day TB is getting older and older so he's not gonna run on us thats for sure which is an advantage to our D,they also squeaked out wins over jets and chargers whom we defeated.I think being a division opponent it's gonna be a close game and we are pretty pretty good in close games.

 

[Chri$]

With the crap teams in the AFC that 6th team might slip in at 8-8 or 9-7. But that team will get beat quickly in playoffs.

Not necessarily,if we manage to get in the playoffs we will be so heavily underdogged that we can actually play extremely loose and we have home run ability at rb and we have a defense that on paper is more than capable of winning a playoff game..and we can only get better from this point on so we would be hitting our stride in january.

 

[Fins1971]

New England over rated. Wow!

 

[DuderinoN703]

I think NE is slightly overrated,and with each passing day TB is getting older and older so he's not gonna run on us thats for sure which is an advantage to our D,they also squeaked out wins over jets and chargers whom we defeated.I think being a division opponent it's gonna be a close game and we are pretty pretty good in close games.

Heavily disagree. It seems this discussion happens every year yet Brady and the team never actually slows down. Brady is on pace for 32 TDs and 4 INTs. Miami has zero chance against the Patriots this year.

 

[Adam Strange]

Heavily disagree. It seems this discussion happens every year yet Brady and the team never actually slows down. Brady is on pace for 32 TDs and 4 INTs. Miami has zero chance against the Patriots this year.

When Brady starts looking like Marino in 1999 or therabouts, then he's done. Right now he's looking better than early '90s Marino which is pretty damn great for a guy who's in his 17th year as a starter. Whatever problems the Pats have this year, Brady isn't one.

Thinking Brady is done is nothing more than wishful thinking. Of course, that's all Dolphins fans have had for decades now.

 

[<O>]

I think NE is slightly overrated,and with each passing day TB is getting older and older so he's not gonna run on us thats for sure which is an advantage to our D,they also squeaked out wins over jets and chargers whom we defeated.I think being a division opponent it's gonna be a close game and we are pretty pretty good in close games.

If New England were only "slightly" overrated, that would be meaningless, as their intangibles would likely overcome that discrepancy in any game of importance.

 

['Deep]

I think NE is slightly overrated,and with each passing day TB is getting older and older so he's not gonna run on us thats for sure which is an advantage to our D,they also squeaked out wins over jets and chargers whom we defeated.

You did watch them put up 41 points against the NFL's #4 ranked defense Sunday night, right? QB had 3 TDs and a
125 rating....

 

[Michael Scott]

I don't like looking at it this way because you can say that about the majority of Super Bowl teams, or even the actual Super Bowl. You can say that about any competitive game.

What is obvious to back said claims, though, is that this is clearly one of the worse teams in the NFL yet based on record they're right in the playoff chase. The schedule will soon match this team's record with reality though.

 

[DuderinoN703]

When Brady starts looking like Marino in 1999 or therabouts, then he's done. Right now he's looking better than early '90s Marino which is pretty damn great for a guy who's in his 17th year as a starter. Whatever problems the Pats have this year, Brady isn't one.

Thinking Brady is done is nothing more than wishful thinking. Of course, that's all Dolphins fans have had for decades now.

Yeah. It feels like Brady will play and be elite until he's 50. Until then Miami is assured nothing better than a Wild Card.

 

[Adam Strange]

Yeah. It feels like Brady will play and be elite until he's 50. Until then Miami is assured nothing better than a Wild Card.

Well I wouldn't put it past him in any case.

Compare him in his 17th season as a starter to Marino, Kelly, Montana, and all of the rest of those 80s/90s guys at that point in their careers. It's no contest. And he's not doing it with All-Pro's around him-- he's carrying the team!

 

[<O>]

I don't like looking at it this way because you can say that about the majority of Super Bowl teams, or even the actual Super Bowl. You can say that about any competitive game.

What is obvious to back said claims, though, is that this is clearly one of the worse teams in the NFL yet based on record they're right in the playoff chase. The schedule will soon match this team's record with reality though.

No, you can't, because again, there are predictors of NFL success that 1) are very strong, and 2) represent stable characteristics of teams.

When a team performs well in those areas -- i.e., Super Bowl teams -- they're by definition a good team, and the win percentage they have as a function of those characteristics should be expected to continue.

When a team performs relatively poorly in those areas but has a win percentage that's unexpectedly good, that win percentage should not be expected to continue. The absence of those winning characteristics will very likely give way to the revelation of what the team truly is, whereas for the Super Bowl team the success will continue.

Again this is where the Dolphins were at 4-2 this year. They were impostors at that point, and they were readily revealed to be who they really were in the subsequent three games.

That wouldn't have happened for a high-quality team that started the season 4-2.

The Rams for example started the season 4-2, and they are now 7-2. The difference? The Dolphins passer rating differential is a horrendous -24.4 (much like it was when they were 4-2), while the Rams' passer rating differential is a staggering +28.7, which is actually better than that of the 2016 Super Bowl-winning Patriots.

 

[DolfanISS]

The 1-15 team from 2007 had the ball bounce in the other direction - they lost all six games that were within 3 points and 6/7 that were within one score. Soundly trounced in the rest.

This team so far has WON 4/5 within one score. They have been soundly trounced in the rest.

What's the difference between those two teams? Statistical luck? Or maybe a little extra heart/finish compared to 2007? Either way, they were both pretty bad teams that should have top draft picks.

True but that team sucked. They really did. The team that was fielded week 1 of 2007 was probably a 5 or 6 win team with no major injuries. By midseason the team was hopeless, there were guys who had no business starting for an NFL team all over the damn place. It's a miracle they won a game and had Billick gone for the win instead of the tie at the end of regulation during the ravens game we're probably 0-16.