Make no mistake about it:  It was a WIN for the Miami Dolphins when the Jets kicked that last-second field goal.  An absolute win.

If we were in position to draft in the 14-17 range, then there is no harm in getting a few feel-good wins in December.  But we’re not in that range.  We are in the 1-4 range, and falling out of that range would be devastating.  We’re simply not going to get a marquee choice at #4, and probably not at #3.

2019 will be an utter unproductive failure if we don’t come out of it with a top pick, and we were oh so close to blowing it.  We still are.  Luckily, Ryan Fitzpatrick played a horrible game, but Sam Darnold was worse, missing wide open guys all day.  It looked like both QBs got the tank message, but not the defenses.

We played well enough to win.  If not for a low snap on a FG, we would have won.  Our defense, with a makeshift secondary of unknowns, continued to fight and held the Jets in check to stay in the game.

So, never mind the scoreboard.  We’ll give this one to Adam Gase, but come April we will have the last laugh.

 

 

28 Comments

  1. How about Tannehill!!! Titans have over 500 yards of offense!

  2. Apparently all Tanny needed was an NFL-caliber o-line and a stout running game.

    1. And not a shitty coach. Does anyone notice that Gase runs every 2nd down, no matter what. He sets up more 3rd and Longs than anyone to my recollection. If we had all of our starters we would have killed the jets. At least Chase Young remains a realistic dream. Must lose to the Giants.

      1. Yep I was saying this for years. He’s not going to carry a franchise but with the right players around him he can win. You would even see it in Miami when the oline was healthy they’d win. Banged up with no running game lose. Gase and philbum obviously didn’t help…

        1. Author

          Yes, he’s certainly excelling this year. Anyone see yesterday? Tanny had a pass tipped at the line of scrimmage, and some fat d-lineman intercepted it. He was running for a pick-6, and some big guy blocked Tannehill away. But Tanny just looped around the blocker and caught up to the interceptor to make the tackle. Tanny never gave up. He just relied on his speed to catch the guy.
          Oh…and most important…the guy who tipped the ball that caused the INT was our old pal, Dion Jordan.

          1. Yeah I caught some of it while sipping on a few rums as I’m on vacation right now in Aruba. They’re definitely moving the ball pretty smoothly although their D is up and down. Titans may be able to take out the patsies as they are sliding.

            1. Author

              Definitely need the Titans to win the division, to drop the Texans’ pick lower.
              I HATE to see the Bills in the playoffs, but our best scenario is for the Steelers and Houston to BOTH miss the playoffs. Let’s say Tennessee wins the division. That means the Bills are one wild card, and either Steelers/Texans are the other…UNLESS some other team comes out of nowhere, which won’t happen.
              Tenn has same record as Houston and Pitt, but Tenn losing all tiebreakers so far and sits home.
              WORSE case scenario is Bills, Steelers, and Texans all make the playoffs, and that is exactly what’s going on right now so far. 🙁

  3. Steelers got another patsy opponent. Our 2020 draft is ruined

    1. Author

      It’s not that drastic, but yes, I see you point. The Steelers pulled a brilliant fast one and duped our dopey GM into giving away Minkah for peanuts as it turns out

      1. Still projected to be 19th which isn’t that bad. They have been beyond lucky Bills should beat them next week.

  4. Giants will Eli as QB most likely- due to Daniel Jones’ ankle sprain….Eli is playing tonight vs. Eagles so he’s going to want to show he’s still a stud-factor (at least I’m hoping) but these two teams have the same love fest that Dolphins and Jets do. To lose the way we did is very, very annoying…Flores tries to keep the team clean from penalties and this one will need to be drilled into their heads-I’m sure they will not want this to happen again!

    1. Author

      You know my thoughts on this, and I wasn’t annoyed at all. It’s all about the upcoming draft to me, and losing a meaningless game doesn’t bother me one bit at this point. WINNING that game woulda bothered me.
      With the Steelers and Texans having winning seasons, their two draft picks are just average. The only way to get an elite selection is to help ourselves, by losing to the Giants next week.
      I’m glad Flores was so passionate after the game, but he comes across as rather stupid for yelling at the on-field refs who were on his side. NY Bureaucrats made the call, not the refs. It was a good call, by the way. Cannot wrap your arm around a man’s neck.

      1. Totally agree but I think that the frustration came more from calls like that not being reversed all season. If that was a playoff game I’d be livid but you are right it was best to lose. If the league continues to do replay properly from now on I’m ok with that but they better be consistent.

      2. That was me reversing that call with all that I could muster in the way of wishing. We need to lose out people.

        1. Author

          Me too ! And when Van Ginckel recorded his first pro sack, I was mad and thinking, “Save that for next year!”

  5. Author

    Taco Charlton benched yesterday in favor of Charles Bust Harris. That one still puzzles me.

    1. Wasn’t Dieter out too? If so why he needs reps?

      1. Author

        I saw Dieter out there. I learned later that he didn’t start, but got into the game later.

    2. Taco was left out on the injury report I thought? he never suited up, please correct me if I am wrong

  6. Needed the giants to win tonight and of course they choked a big lead.

    1. Giants, Bengals and Redskins all lost…. it would take a miracle to get Burrow at this point and Chase Young seems like a dream at this stage as well. At this point I’m not sure it really matters… there seems to be a big drop off after those two. Does it matter much if we draft 3rd or 5th? Or even 6, 7 or 8th? I look at most mock drafts and there’s not a surefire “must have” after those two top guys. Maybe if Tua was a “guarantee” to return to form after his injuries…. but….

      1. Author

        The frustrating thing, to me, is that we really DON’T need a miracle.
        We need Flores to be sensible about the future of this organization. He simply needs to take his foot off the pedal.
        My tune has changed 180-degrees since the beginning of the year. I wanted at least one win really bad. I did not want the stink of 0-16.
        Good, so we got the one win, mission accomplished. Now it’s time to settle into a premiere draft position. Mike is right; picking third is a million miles away from 2nd in this particular draft year.
        Ross and Grier have to drill that into Flores’s head. I know I’ve said this too many times, but another win is devastating, not helpful. A win over the Giants is beyond devastating.
        Beating the Giants is a soul-crushing blow that we will feel for decades to come.

        1. Yes most definitely unless they truly want Tua and now that door will be wide open. He will most likely slide a bit to 3-4 or more so they would be safe. Someone would take him before the Pitt pick so they may have no choice to pick him early. What do you think? Although I’d like the DE too…

          1. Author

            From what we see, it’s almost set in stone that Burrow and Young will go 1 and 2, to the Bengals and Giants.
            I don’t see either team trading down, because it’s a steep drop. It’s not like there are several other DEs just as good as Young.
            We don’t have to worry about trading up or down, however. We just need to put Parker and Wilson on IR and rest them. Play a basic game plan the next 3 games. Don’t have to obviously lose. Don’t have to order players to miss tackles and fumble on purpose. Just have to give a game away by playing vanilla. We’ve done that for years without trying, so now let’s do it on purpose!
            Tua is still an option if we pick 3rd. But I suspect Washington will take him 3rd, leaving us with consolation prizes if we pick 4th.

        2. Probably is, even if we laid down I don’t see the Bengals getting another win… so I think Burrow is a dream at this point… Chase we might still have an outside shot at but Flores isn’t going to not give it 110% and that being the case… I just don’t see it 🙁

          1. Author

            Laying down for the Giants is only Part 1. With all the tie breakers, we’d jump to #2 overall on Sunday if we lose to the NYG.
            The second half is laying down for the Bengals as well during the following week. I’ll be at Hard Rock vs. Bengals silently rooting for Cincy!

            1. Another game like the Jets game would be perfect where they may win on the scoreboard but we played them tough on lost on a couple questionable calls or unlucky breaks.

              (granted the Needham PI was PI… but I’ve seen far worse PI calls stand even after review)

Leave a Reply to Drew Cancel reply