AFC East is up for grabs, Dolphins begin Jets week (take 2)

Oct. 22 News and Notes 7 comments ---Bill

The Dolphins are in a good spot in both the division and the conference, but they have to put together a winning streak.  A couple of weeks ago, we laid out the Dolphins road map to the playoffs.  They completed the first step, beating the Rams to get to 3-3 entering the bye week.  Now, they’ve got to win 3 of their next 4 and it starts this week against the Jets.  After the Jets, the Dolphins go to Indianapolis, host the Titans, and go to Buffalo.  That’s 4 games in 18 days and these 18 days will go a long way towards determining if the Dolphins are a playoff team or not.

In terms of the division, the Jets game is very important.  Not only could a win by the Dolphins put the Jets season on life support, BUT it would also give the Dolphins a much needed divisional win.  The Dolphins are currently 0-1 in the division, while the Patriots are 2-0.  It’s early to start thinking about tie breakers for the postseason, but these mid-season games are the ones that you look back on later and realize just how important they are.  The Dolphins need a win on Sunday in New Jersey. Period.

The Patriots are going to get their wins, they have the soft part of their schedule coming up.  They play the Rams, Bills, Colts, and Jets before making a trip to Miami.  They might very well go 3-1 in those games, getting them to 7-4.  Although, the Patriots just don’t seem like the Patriots we’ve come to know and hate.  They’re making crucial mistakes are critical times.  Fumbling a kickoff return late in the 4th quarter?  Blowing double digit 4th quarter leads over and over again?  The Patriots are vulnerable and could stumble.  So the Dolphins have to capitalize.

The Jets host the Dolphins next week, then travel to Seattle and St. Louis in consecutive weeks before hosting the Patriots.  Their upcoming schedule will determine their 2012 season.  A loss to the Dolphins and they might throw in the towel.  The Bills?  Are they really a threat in the division?  They have a bye this week then travel to Houston, followed by a trip to New England, host the Dolphins, and a trip to Indianapolis.

These upcoming schedules lead me to believe that the Jets and Bills are facing an uphill battle.  But who knows, at this point 1 game separates first place from last place.  The Patriots aren’t playing like the Patriots and the Dolphins aren’t playing like the same old Dolphins.  This division is truly up for grabs and I can’t wait to see how it all unfolds.  For now, the Dolphins have one thing and one thing only to worry about……Jets week!

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  • Brewbear

    They have got to take it 1 game at a time and play each game for 60 min.We still need lady luck sitting with us.we are just not that good to have very many mistakes.

  • newengfinfan

    Agree with Brewbear, We have to play mistake free and play 60 minutes of football not 55. Of the 3 losses this year, it all came down to 5-6 minutes of mistakes.

    • Miami Jules

      Hey Fin… nice to see you… I also agree with you guys… 1 game at a time and play the full 60… as you may remmebr Fin, I have said this and added the bit about the lat 4th quarter when we have collapsed in the past. We have happily, now reversed our trend. We need to continue that trend reversal and the best way is to play one down at a time without trying to go for the win in one play when it’s late in the 4th and end up 2nd down and long, which, in the past, has translated to 3 and out. The way we played the Bengals and the Rams in the closing minutes of the game, is what we must do to keep winning.

  • Henry

    Okay…what gives with these multiple auto video launches every time I visit this web site. Its really annoying trying to read the article and have 3 videos playing at the same time. I understand the whole advertising revenue thing but this is way beyond.

    GO DOLPHINS !

    • Bill

      Henry, we understand your concern, unfortunately the advertisers populate the ads, sometimes they are banners, sometimes they are auto-play videos. We are in the process of negotiating with new advertisers to limit the auto-play ads

      • Steve

        I agree with the auto play ad comment! I will leave this page out of frustration when they pop up. I have no interest in their products or services….I’m here to read about my Dolphins!

        • http://www.phinnation.com Bill

          Thanks for your comment Steve, we’re hear to tell you about the Dolphins! As I mentioned to Henry, we are working to remove the autoplays so that only banner ads are shown. The autoplays do not happen all of the time, but we understand that they can be annoying, so we are trying to resolve the issue with our partners.