Dear Jonathan,
The Miami Dolphins are not going to win the Super Bowl this year. Chad Henne is a year away at least. For your sake, I hope I eat my words.
Sincerely,
A fan of a team that always loses
And on to my bold and not so bold predictions for the NFL season. Forecasting sports is a lot like forecasting the weather. Everyone is wrong but tries anyway. And like in both, trust your eyes and not the bull.
1. Raiders are a .500 team this year. They would have been last year if the quarterback wasn't the biggest bust in the history of sports (Ryan Leaf is now #2 on this list, mostly because JaMarcus is also the fattest bust in the history of sports). Campbell is decent. The O-Line is improved. Bush will run for close to 1,000 yards. Run DMC will show up this year and not in a cast. And I think the Raiders actually have a dangerous WR corp. DHB will be better. He's about 3,000% better in camp this year than he was all of last year. Louis Murphy is legit. Shit, I'm talking myself into this team. Super Bowl or bust? An idiot can dream.
2. The Dolphins are a playoff team. Duh. The entire AFC East is a playoff team except for Buffalo, who is lousy.
3. That said, the Jets will not make the playoffs. You can see this coming, right? Too many big names. Too many egos. They got worse at RB. They are the favorites. There's no chip on their shoulders. Unless Sanchez makes the leap. Then all bets are off.
4. Or maybe the Pats won't make the playoffs? Nah. Here's what I like about the Patriots: Nothing at all. I hate this team so much. But if you were a Pats fan (and God help you if you are, you root for a douchebag QB), this is what I would like about this team: no one is talking about them. All the attention is on the Dolphins and the Jets and even on how bad the Bills will be and how stupid it was to hire Chan Gailey. Meanwhile, Belichick is secretly videotaping every team right now so he'll know all their plays. Or he's quietly scheming revenge on the rest of the league for the embarrassment his team suffered in the playoffs last year.
5. These teams will be better: Tennessee, Washington (can't get worse), Miami, Oakland (can't get worse), Detroit (ditto), Denver, NJ Giants
6. These teams will be worse: Jacksonville (this team screams 5-11 to me), Philly, Buffalo (Chan Gailey? Really?), Minnesota (slightly, they were really good last year, but anyone really trust Childress? anyone?), Arizona
7. These teams are who we think they are: Indy, San Diego, Green Bay, New Orleans, St. Louis (sad)
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2 comments:
I'll be satisfied with a playoff run, as well. But seriously, there are 5 major question marks, that can go either way, positive or negative because we have the talent at those positions.
1. QB - Henne has the moxy and the physical tools, i just hope he has the intelligence. but watching the games last year, he was never scared, and he never cowered when he made mistakes, and a lot of his mistakes weren't even his fault.
2. RB - can ronnie brown stay healthy? if not, can ricky hold up for another year? what can korey sheets provide (he got a really fast madden rating), and can he make the team?
3. TE - can fasano play like he played 2 years ago? thats all we need.
4. Pass rush - cameron wake is sick, in the very limited opportunities that he had, he got sacks, and pressures, all of which seemed to be really well timed. he can be a force, but the dolphins want to know if he can help in pass coverage/run support. I don't think it matters after they backed stupid-face porter the last couple of seasons.
5. FS - the biggest hole on the team. the secondary will improve, or cbs i think are really talented and each obtained a lot of expereince last year. Chris Clemons is okay. lets hope he is more than that.
I think the offensive questions will be answered positively, my big worry is at free safety. but if we dont allow big plays on the rate we did last year, we are a scary team. comparing the dolphins with any other team, i like our odds.
hopefully though, the injury bug won't hit us like last year. it might have already started with phillip merling and his pregnant-wife beating achilles tendon tear.
I like Henne. I think he's still a year away from making a possible leap into that elite group of QBs, if he ever does make that leap. I also wonder how long Ricky can be Ricky. He's 33. I know he took some years off and the pot and yoga help, but still. And the defense is a question mark.
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