I think the Dolphins are the biggest threat to the Dolphins. Always have been.

 

I think this year will be different. Too many pieces are falling into place.

As far as who our biggest threat is, I think the Bills tie with the Patriots on that. Bills are stacked but don't have a QB, and NE is weakened but Brady + Belichick you don't ever underestimate.

 

bills have a qb who would be real good for that team in tyrod taylor...if he wins the job I will worry about them..I think he will win the job..

 

I don't care... I just don't

If for only one season, cast all worries aside and just ball out.

Deej, start the reactor!

 

Don't we have a wining record against rex ryan coached teams?

 

Everyone in the AFC East is a threat to everyone else. It's too close to call at this point.


What's important is that Miami win against Buffalo during that first match-up in week 3. Not only is it a win but it would set the tone for the 2nd match-up in which Miami will need all the confidence it can muster. I DO NOT want to see Miami needing a win against Buffalo to even the series during that brutal away stretch in which Miami faces NE, Buf and Philly in rapid succession with Dallas and the Jets at home right after that.

That stretch will probably define how good this team really is--physically and mentally.

 

Jills I think are the biggest threat, Cheatriots second (Brady or not...he doesn't matter...as long as BB is there, they're a tough out...his team's level of discipline is unrivaled, save the San Antonio Spurs)...Jests a close 3rd...one tough *** division this year...its insane.

 

that venue in buffalo is going to be a very tough place to play this year, moreso this year than others because ryan is smart enough to address the importance of the fans energy and how loud and cray they should try to get...you wont see any text on the back of their tickets telling folks to sit either..

 

Yeah, plus that first game is at home and will go a long way in helping the team get some early momentum and get off to a possible 5-0 or 6-0 start as they enter the tough stretch.

 

On top of that...Rex is pretty successful @ Miami...I swear we have a better chance of sweeping the Cheatriots than we do the Jills...we'll have to sweep at least one division opponent to reach the promised land...at least the Jests have a (somewhat) rookie HC.

 

a rookie coach that i wanted.

 

Whatever happens with the AFC East teams, we BETTER not lose again to the Texans!! We are 0-7 against that team! Only team we have never beat.

Regarding bad head-to-head records, the Dolphins have a losing head-to-head record against only 4 teams! Texans (0-7), Giants (2-5), Steelers (10-12), and.. and I hate this, but.. Jets (46-51-1).

 

Don't sleep on the Jets, especially if they get decent QB play this year. Defense is loaded, RB and OL pretty good, Jace Amaro at TE and Decker/Marshall at WR. They could surprise imo.

 

Let's also not forget we are putting fear into other teams.

I know a good number of NE fans, and they don't take us lightly.. they especially know what Suh means for them.

 

you're really going for it huh, gonna start a new thread for every tweet you can find out there ?

 

their receivers don't scare me at all..grimes locked up marshall like real good last year..if they lose ivory to injury their offense is in trouble.

 

lol, DJ you are so hyperbole with your stadium stuff...there is nothing rex can do to change fans energy in the stadium, its a mindset...nothing else.....to play in buffalo is always tough because of the possible temperatures and the energy the fans bring to this stadium and there is no difference if the coach is rex ryan or howard the duck

 

your crazy if you dont think those fans are going to show up early and be louder, cause thats exactly what he told them to do, a tough place to play will be tougher..they have new purpose now.

 

Definitely, and I think this is the year that we will match up well against the Bills. They'll finally get a taste of their own medicine, an imposing, dominating front four, that can both stop the run and get after the QB.

IMO, the Bills offense will have a harder time against our defense than vice-versa. They are geared to be a running team, and it looks like stopping the run will be a strength of ours this season.

 

The Bills defense obviously has beat up our offense pretty well most of the time the last few years, but we made enough plays in the home game last season to get the W. Their offense doesn't scare me whatsoever though, and I think that as long as our D does their jobs and contains the big plays, and we don't give up a stupid big return like last season, our offense can do enough to win a lower scoring game.

New England scares me the most as long as Darth Hoodie is on the other sideline. No matter who is in their uniform, they find a way (legal or not) to take it to us.

 

There's no question that home field advantage exists in basically every major professional sport. In the NFL it's 57.3% win probability for the home team.

However.. the reason why there exists a home field advantage isn't clear. I know you're thinking the crowd influences the players, but there are a bunch of studies that have come to the conclusion that it's not the players that play better (or worse), but that the refs call the game differently, and that crowd noise influences them.

Now.. if it's really the refs that are being influenced more than the players, then that does suggest the crowd should be loud and supportive even if the team plays bad.

Keep in mind though that none of this type of research is in any way conclusive, but the research does exist.

 

Buffalo has always been a very loud place to play..they were extremely loud before you were even born Deej.lol

 

I've certainly seen the officials influence the game for our opponents. Doesn't seem to work that way for us all that often. I can think of a number of games where baffling calls were made against us while in a close game at home.

 

I also wanted Ross to hire Bowles...the players played hard for him...always.

 

Yeah.. does Steradore ring a bell? That guy just always seems to make some bad calls against us.

That's my memory too, but this is really where stats are important. You don't want to rely on memory for these kinds of things because most human beings tend to preferentially remember bad experiences, and in greater detail, than good experiences (just natural for humans).

 

WQAM was speculating on the Bills giving Bret Favre a contract .That does sound like desperation.:pointlol:

 

This. x10000

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

 

Team that hasnt been in the playoffs in a decade plus is "tied" with the defending Super Bowl champs?

Sounds like you've been hitting the super bowl yourself.

 

Seriously. As happy as I am with our moves, I've learned from too many bad Dolphins seasons to never be totally optimistic about this team. Never underestimate this team's ability to f@#% it all up somehow.

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Hey, I'll admit Vegas disagrees. They agree with you that NE is the bigger threat. But not everyone agrees with Vegas.

My reasons? Brady isn't going to play for the first 4 games (as of info right now), and NE lost some really key players (especially Revis and Wilfork). That's possibly a 2 game differential from last year. That puts them at 10 wins if you go by last year's record. Bills were 9-7 last year and they improved. I don't think it's totally unrealistic to make this prediction. But we'll see.

 

You could fashion an amazing bong out of the Lombardi trophy...

 

You're joking, right? LOL

 

The bills may not have been to the playoffs in awhile, but what does that mean for 2015? They have an undeniably talented roster. Pound for pound, I think their roster is as talented as anyone's in the NFL. If Buffalo actually had a genuine QB, they would be contending for the SB. The lack of QB is why I still think NE is our biggest obstacle in the AFC EAST. The Jets are being slept on too. They have a great collection of talent on defense along with Bowles calling the shots. The AFC EAST is as strong as it has been in some time.

 

First major red flag, but okay.

Hell, he missed a whole season, they went 11-5 and damn near went to the playoffs.

Said every Dolphins fan ever after each offseason about the Patriots. Not Revis and Wilfork, but every offseason they are proclaimed they are "finished" because of personel/Brady regression

Again, you have Bills improving and making the next step - something they havent done in a decade plus, and expecting Patriots to lose a step and regress - something they haven't done in a decade plus.
I'm not trying to pick on you or anything like that man, but you are banking for two things to happen that haven't happened in a loooong time, on top of you forgetting that you are a fan of the Miami Dolphins, masters of shooting themselves in the foot when it matters the most.
I'm not saying the Bills aren't a threat, I do think they have improved, but Dolfans have been writing off Brady and Bellichik for a long, long time now. Until the regular season ends, and they are NOT on top of the deivison, AFC East crown is theirs to lose.

 

lol "in a while"
Try longest active drought. They are not a team that has been in the playoffs consistently and just had an off year, they haven't been to the playoffs this millennium. So until they DO make it, i'm not penciling them in just because their roster looks good on paper. 2011 Philladelphia "Miami HEAT" Eagles send their regards.

1) Don't agree with that, but more importantly 2) they have the opposite of a "genuine QB" so moot point.

This I agree with. Jets might surprise some people (hopefully not though) I would say that the 3 teams are pretty close together, but until proven otherwise, Patriots are still kings of AFC East.

 

Yeah.. they went 16-0 the year before, so that was 5 fewer wins.. Over a 4 game period that's a little over 1 less win, which is just on target with what I was saying.

Vegas lowered the expected number of wins for the Patriots after news of the 4 game Brady suspension + not having Revis and Wilfork. So there, I'm being totally realistic. Do you know where Vegas has the Pats now? At 10.5 wins, basically exactly where I said they're likely to be.

Where I disagree with Vegas is the Bills, not the Patriots. Vegas thinks the Bills will be WORSE next year at 8.5. You however just admitted you think the Bills have improved. So if they were 9-7 last year and they improved.. then where are they now? Closer to 10 right? Again, not an unrealistic prediction.

EDIT: might as well add some links to online betting sites where you can see the odds:
http://sports.bovada.lv/sports-betting/football-team-props.jsp
https://www.sportsbook.ag/sbk/sportsbook4/nfl-betting/nfl-season-wins.sbk

Things change. In the early 70's this team was different and had a different character than during the early Marino years. And that was different than during the 90's with Marino. Things changed multiple times again during the 2000's. etc..

Point is, things change and my prediction is based on I think a relatively decent logic (Pats where Vegas thinks it is and the Bills improving, which you agreed with). Of course, we'll just have to see how things pan out. But I'm optimistic like I wasn't in past years about the Dolphins and I still think both the Pats and the Bills will be similarly tough competitors.

 

influencing the refs is one part of it, you can come up to the stadium thread if you wanna get into it.

 

I know exactly what their venue represents.