Is the Jets a must win game?

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

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. 

[mecadonzilla]

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.

[dolfan13]

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.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

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.     

[MikeO]

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!

[mecadonzilla]

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

[Spider-Dan]

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.)

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

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!

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. 

[yuppi]

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

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

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. 

[yuppi]

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

[Phishfan]

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.

[Brian Fein]

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. 

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.

[MikeO]

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.

[Pappy13]

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.