8-8 for life.

 

Terrible OL. Don't know who will be playing WR for us. Only one serviceable TE under contract. Bad linebackers. Struggling defensive line. Struggling secondary. Lousy kicker. 10-6? Yeah, I think our QB can carry us to 10 wins. *ducks*

 

I would not, under any circumstance, mark the Baltimore and Houston home games off as wins, that much is for sure.

#8and8life

 

If Hickey has a perfect offseason we might win an extra game. 9-7.

 

6-10 to many holes to plug and why would u ever gives us the jets, ravens and texans as home wins?

 

or the NE games...or the Bills...or the Jets who just beat the dolphins at home. Hell, even the titans skins and jax shouldn't be considered automatic.

 

I can not in good faith give any Philbin led team a record better than .500, especially if Coyle is retained and while the jury is still out in Hickey.

 

is that schedule official ? i thought we play the loser of the steelers - bengals game and the winner of the chargers - chiefs game ?

 

Damn that schedule of home games is brutal. Too early for this thread imo need to see fa and the draft. If I had to ballpark I'd stick with 7-9 same prediction I had this season. Though I could see us bottom out if philbin becomes an issue hopefully it's not that kind of year.

 

4-12

Out scored 71-10 in the 2nd half of the last 4 games. P A T H E T I C. My question is who comes in to replace Coyle, probably NO ONE (any good that is) because it's obvious that Philbin has to be on his last chance.

Next season could put us right back in the way we felt when Fat *** / Ireland / Sparano were coming here in 2008.

 

6-10 and Philbin doesn't survive the season.

 

I think the bottom falls out for philbum and we go 4-12. When you have several players questioning the coaching decisions, that's not good.

 

6-10

 

7-9,

I also predict another the Patriots is done thread, Brady on decline, its our time comments, you know the same things homers have been telling themselves every season.

 

I don't believe the majority of the players on this team want to play for Philbin. So I just don't see this team getting better as long as he is the head coach of this team.

My prediction is that Philbin will end up getting fired midway through next season and Lazor will take over as head coach.
The Dolphins will end up around 6-10 and have a top ten pick in the 2016 draft.

How Philbin was able to keep his job after the way this team finished in December is beyond me. Ross once again proves he doesn't have a clue as an NFL owner.

 

6-10

I can see Miami starting off very much the way they did in 2011, only to have someone else step up after Coach Queasy is fired in-season and finish strong. I really just hope Ryan Tannehill and Lamar Miller make it through unscathed.

 

Who Ross will then not take seriously as a HC candidate.

 

5-11

 

Far too early, but you know what, this franchise is predictable anyway.

Home:
NE - L
NYJ - W
BUF - W
IND - L
BAL - L
HOU - L
DAL - W
NYG - L

Away:
NE - L
BUF - L
NYJ - W
SD - L
JAX - L
TEN - W
PHI - L
WAS - W

6-10. Hard to imagine it not ending up like 2004,2006,2007,2011 when the other questionable regimes hit bottom. But they'll win just enough to keep Miami from a top draft pick. Though it might not matter, the only time it really did make a huge difference was 2011 when they failed to get Luck because they just had to go and beat some last place teams. Now you get to watch the Colts in the playoffs every year instead.

 

6-10 so when they go 8-8 they can say that they played better than we thought

 

With Philbin, there is no real reason to expect anything much better.

 

Holy s*** is that real?!?! 10 total second half points in four games :lol:. Giving up that many to such offensive juggernauts as the Jets, Ravens, and Vikings.

Philbin :sidelol:

 

I think those ten points came against just the Vikings lol

 

Rock Bottom. 3-13. First overall pick.

 

6-10

line is not fixed and Tannehill gets hurt

Ross cleans house, we find out Ross was instrumental in getting Harbaugh to Michigan, and the fan base (whats left of it ) revolts

 

8-8 maybe if we go 0-16 then Dumbo will fire the coach.

 

IMO it's too early to tell. I think the OL would have been better this year if we'd just started Smith and Turner at G and Fox at RT earlier. We also could have signed Winston when Albert got hurt. We might have even snuck into the playoffs if we'd done the above. So even with better OL options on the team or available we stuck with poor performing players. So while I'd certainly look to add more OL talent, who knows if they'll use it.

The D is declining. The DC needs to go, but who knows if they'll stick with the under-performing DC or make the necessary upgrades (mostly DL, MLB and secondary).

We need a WR and big back as well.

So without knowing who'll be playing on the team and who'll be coaching the D, It's hard to say if they'll be better, worse or the same.

 

I don't think there's much way it could not get better. This is first season in a long time that I've been on board with drafting in the 1st round for front-7. If the BPA is a LB or a DT (or even a FS), I think we have to select that player.

I don't see these gaping holes on the offensive side that some do. We have our Tackles in place and Pouncey is our Center so to me, the O-line just needs a couple upgrades at LG and RG. Turner could be an answer there but I'm not going to bank on that being the case. I mean, I'm hopeful but who knows?

I think we can add talent at RB without dedicating draft picks. There are so many quality RBs available in FA as well as after the draft--or we can get someone in the later rounds. I certainly wouldn't invest a high pick though.

The DC is the question mark. Who's out there? Who will we get with Philbin's 1-year contract being in place? That aspect could be very tough.

 

Those are probably the 2 games missing from the OP's list because that list only had 14 games.

 

19-0 Philbin passes Shula's 17-0.


My two cents via iPhone.

 

Color me optimistic, but I honestly don't see any way that doesn't happen...

 

It happens. Ross knows best.


My two cents via iPhone.

 

BPK....the look of disgust on Marino's face says so much in your sig.

 

Unlike you, I don't think the answer at the guard positions is now on the roster. Turner may turn out to be okay, but until he actually gets on the field and shows he is the answer at one of these positions, I believe we have to try and upgrade this position in free agency or the draft.

I hope Pouncey's subpar play this year was due to trying to come back too soon from surgery. Because he certainly didn't play very well once he came back and was put back into the starting lineup at guard.

We can just hope that switching back to center and having an off season to fully heal, Pouncey will be the player he was during his first three years in the league and not the player he was this year, which was average at best.

The other concern is how well Albert will play after coming back from major surgery on his knee. His history of missing games because of injuries has to be a concern and now he will be returning after missing much of this season with the worst injury of his career. The offense needs him to play at a similar level he was playing at before his injury. If he can't return to that level, LT could end up being a major issue next year.

At this point, James is the only offensive lineman I feel confident in heading into next year, and that is only if he can return to playing RT. As a LT, he isn't quite there yet.

To me, the defense is a major problem. There isn't much talent on that side of the ball and the defense has regressed in regards to points given up, each year under this coaching staff.

Coyle may be replaced, but I think it is going to be very difficult for Philbin to hire a competent DC. I think the better DC's will take jobs with head coaches which have far more job security than Philbin, who is basically a lame duck coach heading into the final year of his contract.

I believe it is going to take two or three years to rebuild this defense and I see that being done under the HC who replaces Philbin after the 2015 season.

I appreciate that you often try to see the few positives with this team. Especially when the negatives so often outweigh these few positives.

I am sure that someday we will be able to look back on these years and be happy that the team has moved on from mediocrity and is once again a legitimate playoff contender. Unfortunately I feel that we probably have more years of this same darkness of mediocrity before we hopefully see the sun rise on this team again. The talent just isn't there right now to get to that next level,IMO. I know we may not agree, but I just don't think Philbin is the right HC to get this team beyond the mediocre malaise it has been in for the past six years.

 

1) I totally agree with you on Billy Turner. Don't misunderstand me, I hope he's something but will assume he's not just like you. That was my point.

2) You're right about the spot we're put in with a potentially lame-duck HC. I think that is a major issue that could hurt us but I'm also a players play and coaches coach kind of guy so I think the influx of talent, even if we're stuck with Kevin Coyle, can help steer the ship back towards where it needs to be.

3) It's not like we haven't drafted at key positions. We want a MLB and a DT, but it was just last year that we got Jordan Tripp and Terrance Fede. I think it's fair to say that unless the coaches start utilizing those mid- and late-round picks, we may be right back in this same boat next year talking about addressing positions that in fact we already have.


In any case, I agree with basically everything you're saying. The defense is going to take more than a year but I think it can be serviceable next season and considering the state of the offense, I think we'll be a QB-driven type of team anyway. I don't think Philbin is interested--be him right or wrong--in building a physical defense like Detroit and letting that keep the scores low. I think Philbin wants to win high-scoring games. I'm pretty sure that Stephen Ross went out looking for guys who could reshape the team in NE's image. We want a QB and we want TDs. That was the requirement.

That is kind of what we asked for. We're kind of getting our wish in a weird way. All those years of Henne and now finally we have an offensive-based philosophy of team-building. The grass isn't so green now that we're here but we may as well make the best of it and try to see how good we can make it I suppose. Could be we go WR in the 1st. Who knows?

 

i'll let you know after the draft and free agency.

 

The reality is that Belicheck understands that to be a championship team, you have to have a solid defense. That is why the Patriots spent their free agent money on top quality CB's after last season.

While they have one of the top QB's of this generation, they don't spend a lot of their cap money on big time receivers or RB's.
Other than signing Randy Moss several years ago, the Patriots haven't had any of the top named WR's during Belichicks time as the head coach of the Patriots.

Wes Welker was probably the best WR this team has had other than Moss, and he only became a top receiver once he got together with Brady.

The best teams the Patriots have had are also the teams which had top tier defenses. It was the play of the defense which was mainly resposible for the Super Bowl wins the Patriots had several years ago. The defense of the Patriots always seemed to make a play when the game was close in the fourth quarter and that was the reason those teams had so much success.

If in fact Ross wants his team to copy the Patriots blueprint to become a playoff caliber team. He first needs to hire a much better head coach. That coach needs to understand that having a solid defense which can make plays when the game is on the line is what separates the haves from the have nots.

Of course having a QB the caliber of Brady never hurts either. Tannehill certainly progressed ths year, but he is still far from being a Tom Brady.

 

Keep in mind that a few short years ago we were all talking about the annoying "dink and dunk" offense up in NE that no one could seem to stop. All I read across the internet were rants about how Peyton Manning was so vastly superior to Brady because all of Brady's stats were inflated. Now, it's pretty much the other way around. Manning is declining even with elite talent all around him and Brady is still making average players look good.

The truth is (at least as I recall), we were pointing to NE's success as of 4 and 5 years ago and saying "that's the new direction of the NFL and we need that." We need to spread the offense out and start inflating the numbers of our QB.

I think we as NFL fans are realizing today that maybe we were wrong is that assessment of NE. Maybe our statements were a bit shallow. Maybe there was more going on that yielded that success.

Have Philbin and Lazor brought a dink and dunk offense to Miami that has inflated Tannehill's numbers?

YES.

That's obvious.

Is that going to lead to real sustained success or a sustained version of what we got this year? I don't know. Tannehill's probably the limiting factor. As you say, we certainly don't have Tom Brady to rely on. Tannehill isn't helping the sack numbers and protection issues we have going on right now. At some point, there is some responsibility on the QB.


I whole-heatedly agree with your sentiment about collecting DBs. To me, the best defensive coaches have always understood the need for elite CBs and great secondary play. It's a huge part of playing good defense. It's certainly part of why I never considered Miami's defense to be elite. If you don't have an Earl Thomas or an Ed Reed or a Darrelle Revis or a Patrick Peterson, you are really just over-achieving based on something else that will inevitably decline (see Wake).

 

I saw the Dolphins win their Super Bowls with defense. I saw the Marino years wasted because they never had a top defense to support the offense.

The reason the best regular season QB in the history of the NFL, Peyton Manning has only won one SB is because he has been stopped by great defenses once he reached the playoffs and the teams he played on never had a top defense except for the one year his Colts did win the SB.

To me the blueprint everyone should be following today is the Seahawks. They have an offense that is basically power running and a QB who can make plays with his feet and his arm. They aren't a dominant offense, but they are efficient.

Of course what makes them the best is they have the best defense in the NFL. Offenses are exciting to watch when they go up and down the field throughout a game. I saw plenty of that during the Marino years. But as exciting as they might be, it is defense that most often wins the big game.

I realize the game has changed, but no team is going to win a Super Bowl with a great offense and a bad defense. The Broncos understand that and that is why they spent so much money to upgrade their defense this past off season, just like the Patriots did.

I think the fact that the defense has regressed under Philbin, even if the offense was better this year, is a sign that as a head coach, Philbin doesn't get the fact that it takes an entire team to get to that next level. Building the offense, while ignoring the needs of the defense is a recipe for failure, IMO.