The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

I'm thinking about possible outcomes and Week 17 of last year is on my mind. If we lose by 35 points, should we forget about the division this year? If we win by 17 points, should be be talking about Super Bowl? No one wants to lose, but I think hanging in there and losing by 6 isn't the end of the world but I don't know how we can think we can win the division if we get massacred again.

I think it's week 2 and we should temper expectations either way.

House money.
I don't expect to win this game at all.

However, if we win, even by one point, we're in the driver's seat and should expect to win the division.  We aren't a super bowl team, whether we beat the Bills or not, but the stepping stone is being competitive in the playoffs and a victory against the Bills sets that up.

If we contain Josh Allen it will be a victory for us even if we lose a close game. He has torched us and run for so many yards against us that we are basically his bitch. We need to absolutely change that.

I'm really pulling for Josh Allen to have a terrible year.  After one good season everyone is declaring him the next superstar QB.
Between Josh Allen and Baker Mayfield, I can't tell who I dislike more.

It will be a big win but I will not celebrate unless Miami makes the playoffs

So if they win against the Bills in week 2, you are going to celebrate that week 2 victory at the end of the year if they make the playoffs?  Seems a little anti climactic.  If they win this week AND they make the playoffs, you should start a thread called, "Yes!  We beat the Bills 3 and a half months ago!"

I hate him too because I hate the Bills fanbase so much. He had one great year but he also had the best WR in the league. I don't think he will regress to his rookie year but I don't think he will be putting up MVP numbers again.

It's one of 17. We have to win about 10 to have a shot at the playoffs. A win lowers that total to 8 more wins while a loss means it's still at 9. That's it.

I think you'll need 11 wins in the AFC.  10 didn't even cut it for MIA last year.

You could be right. 10 I think will get you very close, 11 will probably guarantee it.

With the extra game, 11 wins is the new 10-6. Last year the AFC was stacked while the NFC was a clown show. These things tend to go in cycles so let's see how it plays out this year. Probably going to see a handful of 10-7 teams not make it.

Even before the extra game, 10 wins guaranteed you nothing.   There have been several teams that have won 10 games (one team even won 11) and were sitting at home come playoff time. 

That being said, they need to get to Josh Allen early and often if they want to win this game and take out the Bills Mafia.

Before the extra game, ask New England if 11 wins guaranteed you anything.

I don't know what 10 wins feels like anymore.

11 wins pretty much guaranteed you a spot in the playoffs, outside of a freak circumstance.  10 wins meant you probably made it in, but you weren't in control of your destiny.

It's actually the thing about adding a game I'm concerned about the most.  I am going to feel out of touch with what the record means.

Typically 9-7 gives you at least a decent shot at the playoffs, which means that you'll probably need 10 now for a decent shot which is what I was focused on. Yeah, probably gonna need 11 or more now to guarantee a spot, but that's not what I was focusing on, just to clear up any confusion on what I was suggesting.

This is from 8 years ago, but I doubt things have changed much.

Yeah, we're not winning the division this year and playoffs are under 10% as of right now. This was a gutless effort against a division rival, far worse than just being outplayed. Needed a minor miracle last week to beat a QB in his first career start and now this. This season can get out of hand.

I am the one who always preaches not to get too excited about one win and not to get too down about one loss.  But today was bad.  Real bad. 

That's because 35-0 at home isn't a loss, it's a massacre. Dropped passes, fumbles, no effort. It's really bad. Saying this mean we are going 1-16 is an overreaction, but saying we may not go .500 after today? That isn't, that's how bad this is.

Las Vegas looking real good too so 1-2 is very likely.

This was exactly what Miami needed. They were not going to win this game, so might as well get embarrased. Come back next week ready to play maybe.

That is entirely possible. If a game like this in WEEK 2 can't get them to wake up, nothing will. Might be slightly different if this was Week 12 ahead of a bye week and we are tired and hurt, but the season just started. You can't be this bad and unprepared and gutless in Week 2. Flores got a hell of a week ahead of him simultaneously shaming his players for today and motivating them.

Especially the O-Line who just got our franchise QB sent to the hospital in the first few minutes. They should be taking the brunt of the abuse this week.

I hope you are right.  But I have to question why they were not ready to play today (if that was indeed the problem).  It isn't like this is game 15 of the season where everyone is physically and mentally beat down.  They weren't coming off a short week.  They didn't have to travel for an Away game today, etc.  If the team is not ready to play in the 2nd game of the season, they have HUGE problems. 

I think this game proved a couple things: The Bills are for real, they have an all around solid team with great coaching.  As long as they can avoid injuries the Bills will be in the playoffs.  For the Dolphins it shows the O-line still has a ways to go before they are solid.  I don't know whether it's just time needed to become cohesive, better coaching, or what; but they better figure it out within the next two weeks.  I think it continues to show the Dolphins secondary is outstanding, and it's a good thing Miami and Howard were able to come to terms over the summer.  The Defensive line seems to be playing decent but needs to get more pressure on QB's sooner.