The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

I think that "must win" game is very overused.

And to have a must win game when you lead your division sounds pretty crazy.  However, look at our schedule.  It's tough, especially up front.  And I think that our division is tough.

I wasn't too high on the Jets, like everyone else, but they lost a squeaker to a good team in the Ravens, and then they beat the Pats with a strong offensive showing.  I feel very different about them today than I did a week ago.

If we're going to make a playoff run, I think that this is a game that you circle on the calendar as one you need to win.

Its so early to have any game be "must win" but this is MUST WIN.

The Jets appear to be banged up, you have to take advantage of it and come out of your home opener with a W.  The place is going to be electric, and they don't get any more hated than the Jets.

Winning this game could contribute to a tiebreaker later on down the road. 

So, yes, this is MUST WIN.

I don't think there are many MUST WINs for week 3 when you're 2-0.
Dallas has a must win against Houston.  Minnesota has a must win against Detroit.


It would be a NICE WIN for the Phins, but certainly not a MUST.

This is a MUST WIN!!

Division games are all MUST WIN

in today's NFL, every game has become a "MUST WIN".  But yes, this game is even more than a "must win" because of all caveats that go along with it:

It's for undisputed first place in the division.
It's against our most hated and bitter rivals.
It is the home opener.
3-0 is massively different than 2-1 (especially this year: 2-0 against the division, and in context with the rest of the standings)
See first sentence of the post, which related to things such as tiebreakers down the road.

?

No team has ever made the playoffs if they drop 2-1 after the third game.  ???

Bills are the only AFCE facing a must win situation to save their season. 

Anytime we play the Jets its a must win in my book. This is going to be a war. No friendly taps on the helmets after a good play. I just want Rex to open his mouth some. He gives opposing Teams excellent motivation.

Pregame when the teams walk out and hold up one finger for that Union thing, this week I hope the Fins decide to use another finger!

Come on guys. I thought this was a Dolphins board. EVERY GAME AGAINST THE JETS IS MUST WIN!

It's a must win alright, but not for the Fins, for the Jets.

Going up 3-0 with wins against 2 playoff teams last year, handing the Jets their second loss in 3 weeks, taking a 2 and half game lead on them and shutting up Rex Ryan would be HUGE.

I'll settle for a well played game.  Even if we lose in a close game, I'll by fine with that.  That's what winning in Minnesotta buys you.

home division games you have to win if you want to think about playoffs...

getting into the tournament without winning your division is a tough deal. a lot of good teams this year in the afc.

I agree with this because the Jets are banged up.  Gotta exploit that.

It is a must win for no other reason than to make the stinking lousy Jets and their fans stfu.

Miami wins and goes 3-0, 2-0 in the division.

Miami loses and goes 2-1 and puts the Jets at 2-1.  The Jets go to 2-0 in the div while Miami falls to 1-1.

With the very real chance the the wild cards will both come down to tie breakers this year, division records are vital.

This game is as important as they come.

It would be a good win for the team, but far from a must win.

This is definately not a must win.  I don't even think this is close enough to discuss.

This is NOT a must win, and it's stupid to even start that type of discussion at this point in the season.  IMO to be a must win game it has to have a high signicance in whether you will be eligible for the playoffs, and since the Fins are 2-0, it is not a must win game.  That said, winning one out of the next two games would greatly increase the Fins' chances of making the playoffs, but neither are MUST WIN games.  However, punching the Jets in the Face and kicking their loud mouth a$$es would make me extremely happy.

Biggest rival, division game, and  home opener make this a MUST win.

I think that it's not a must win, only because we play the Jets again.  I think it's a must that we split with the Jets, at least.

It's a divsion game...therefore it is a must win...end of story

Its a must win because I'm going to the game, and the WORST feeling in the world is getting trash-talked by opposing fans in your own stadium.  ESPECIALLY JETS FANS.

F the Jets.

In order to make the playoffs you need to win the division or earn the wildcard. Why wouldn't divisional games therefore be highly significant to being eligible?

Every game is a MUST WIN!

We have 6 division games this year.  They can't all be must wins.

If our assumptions are true about who's good and who's not hold true, this Jets game is one that you need to steal, as I think you have to split the Jets and Pats and sweep the Bills.  This is an opportunity that we need to capitalize on, but realistically speaking, I don't think it's a must win.

I do not think this game is a must win but it would be very disappointing to not take advatage of the players they have out.

i'd say home division games are must win. given that you have to at least split your division games, the ones at home become the most important to get in the w column.

With all of the guys the Jets have out, if we lost this game it would be a huge emotional downer for the Fins. And a huge emotional boost for the Jets

So if the Dolphins lose, are they eliminated from playoff considerations?
THAT is the definition of a "Must Win."

This is not that sort of game.  It's important, but certainly not a "Must."

I think a lot of people don't know what "must win" means.

It's MUST WIN if you have eyes at the Super Bowl, winning the division, getting a 1st round bye.

If the goal is to go 9-7, 10-6....sneak in the playoffs as a wild card and be 1-n-done, then this isn't must win. If the goal is to make some noise in January and be in a nice position to win playoff games and go far, then you can't lose to a division team at home with half of its stars out....thats why its MUST WIN

technically teams that are 3-7 heading into the final 6 games of the season are still mathematically not eliminated from the playoffs.

a must win game can't be broken down to only include the very last few games of the season where teams still have some sort of faint heartbeat of being in the mix for the playoffs.

to control your fate into the playoffs you have to win your division. division games at home are must win.

Actually the theoretically worse record you can have and still make the playoffs is 3-13. 

I can't believe we're arguing this.  This is pretty simple, and I'm stunned by people's reactions.  It reminds me of the great Inigo Montoya line from the Princess Bride, "You keep using that word.  I do not think it means what you think it means."

A "must win" implies that failure is not an option.  Hence, it is a MUST.  A loss is certainly not optimal, but not a season destroyer...especially since there will be another game against this team in December.  That game will be more of a "must win" in all likelihood.  The Fins could lose this and continue on and win the rest of their games.  Would this game still have been a MUST then?  The notion is ridiculous.  There aren't many teams facing anything close to a MUST WIN situation in week 3 and none of them are 2-0.  

It would be an important win for sure, perhaps even vital, but not a must.  Maybe we're arguing semantics here, but by any stretch of the imagination this is not a MUST anything in week 3 for the Dolphins.

hey i get it... must win can only be the very last or second to last game of the season or in the playoffs. no matter how early you play them, where you play them, what kind of injuries they have, what your record is, can't possibly be a must win because you are still mathematically not eliminated from the playoffs.

I can go back further than the very last game or second to last game.  I would say in 2008 the last 4 or 5 games for the Dolphins were all must win.  But there is no such thing as a must win week 3 game, particularly if you are 2-0.     

Tell that to the 2008 Pats who won 11 games and didn't make the playoffs. Their Week 3 loss at home to Miami is what cost them the tiebreaker and cost them the division and a home playoff game.

ALL DIVISION GAMES ARE MUST WIN!!!! Especially the ones at HOME!

So one of the other 4 losses had nothing to do with it?

Great point, mecadonzilla.

If you want to use '08 NE as an example, any of the games that they lost could be considered a must-win, not just the division games.  (And for the record, NE finished with the same division record as MIA did; the tiebreaker they lost was conference record.)

Nope.  That game didn't cost them the division.  Had they won anyone of the other 4 games instead, they would have won the division. 

The "must win" that they lost was in fact week 13 against Pittsburgh. 

It is in fact way too early in the season to be talking about must wins. 

every game is a must win. take it a game at a time.

Then you don't understand the concept of must win.  A "must win" game is one that if you lose, you can forget about the playoffs, the season is effectively over. 

if you take it a game at a time you never get to that point.

I think there are varying definitions of "Must Win". Playoff contention isn't the only factor that makes a game "Must Win" guys. Get over your personal definition and expand your view a bit. A team can have a "Must Win" game at any point of the season depending on individual situations. If you really want to nit pick, no game is a "Must Win" because the world will continue on regardless of who wins or loses.

Your definition.

To me, a must win is a game that I don't get taunted after a heartbreaking loss, and can smack talk my Jets-fan friends.

Its about WINNING THE SUPER BOWL. Not making the playoffs.

And if you want to win the super bowl the best odds are to win your division and home field advantage. To get to that step, you can't lose home division games against teams with half their key guys OUT. Hence this is MUST WIN.

Well personally I think most of you are confusing "must win" with "need to win".  Yes the Dolphins need to win the game to makes things easier on themselves, but if they don't there's no reason why they can't still achieve everything they set out to achieve unless they set out to be undefeated this year and I don't really think anyone had that as a goal for this year.

MUST WIN means literally, you MUST WIN or your season is devastated.  There is no other definition.  Period. 
If it didn't mean this, another term would be used instead. 

I guarantee Sporano and the rest of the coaching staff isn't calling this game a MUST anything.  You can't blow your load on absolute terms by week 3 or your team will A) pack it in if they lost because you told them the game was a MUST and they just blew it or B) your team will be psychologically worn out because you've been labeling games as MUSTS all season long.

Fans have a bad habit of labeling games as MUSTS that really aren't.  I promise neither the Dolphins nor the Jets see the first of their match ups this way.  Absolute terms should be saved for when they are necessary, otherwise they lose their meaning.

I don't stand by the literal definition of must win.

In a 7 game series, if you're down 0-2, is game 3 not a must win?  Of course, it's still possible to win the series, but in my book, that's a quintessential must win.

Every game in the NFL is a must win game unless it's week 17 and you have home field wrapped up a couple weeks early. 

You want to beat the Jets and Patriots at home.  The last game of the year is in NE.  We're at the Jets late too.  Two good football teams on the road, late in the year and anything can happen. 

They're division opponents.  You want to beat them up because of the tiebreaker you may need later. 

Here's my thinking (and I might be wrong, of course):

I don't think we're as good as we think we are.

We were supposed to beat the Bills, but the game was closer than it should've been.
We were supposed to lose to the Vikings, but that win (as great as it was) may be more telling about the Vikings, than about us.

I also think that I was surprised by the Jets in week 2, and it looks like they're going to be contenders in the AFC East.  Because of their recent misfortune, I think that if you're planning on winning your division, that this game is one that you need to win.  If we can't win at home, when they're short-handed, then we can't expect to take them on full-strength on the road.

I don't think that makes it a must win, because there is room to catch-up later.  ...but we need to win this game if we're going to be the kind of team that's going to make a playoff run.

Yes it IS a must win, but that's because the odds of coming back from 0-3 in a 7 game series are astronomical.

You don't even have to "come back" from a 2-1 record.  You can't compare the 2.

Exactly.  It's a "need to win" game, but it's not a "must win" game.

Amen

If this is the case then why even ask, or respond, to the question????

So the other 4 games they lost that year didn't matter?  If they would have won all of them, then they still wouldn't have made the playoffs?  I doubt that.