Yesterday was a good day for the Miami Dolphins. Probably the best day the franchise has seen in a while.
The San Diego Chargers lost their second in a row to drop them to 4-5.
The Indianapolis Colts, and Tennessee Titans were upset victims, losing games to the winless Jaguars and the Tavon Austin led Rams.
The Bills lost. The Raiders lost. The Bengals lost. The Jets, Patriots, and Browns stood stagnant at home, neither gaining or losing ground.
If you're keeping count, that's six teams currently competing with Miami for the sixth and final playoff spot who either lost or didn't play yesterday.
On top of that, losses by Cincinnati and Indianapolis brought Miami to within one game of them if they win tonight, with the Dolphins already having beaten both earlier this season.
What does all of this mean? A win tonight by the Miami Dolphins would put them in a tie with New York for the final wild card spot. With seven games to play. With two of those coming against those very Jets.
The playoffs are a very real possibility in Miami right now. That January pipe dream is alive and well as of today, and your Miami Dolphins can kick it into high gear with a win tonight. All is well, right?
Wrong. Very, very wrong.
If you watch TV, listen to the radio, or read the headlines, you'd think the Miami Dolphins were already eliminated from postseason contention.
You'd think they were the winless team playing tonight. You'd think THEY were the underdogs tonight.
It seems to me that all of this off field drama has clouded league-wide judgement of the product Miami puts on the field.
Is it great? No.
Is it a Super Bowl contender? Probably not.
But is it playoff worthy? Does it still possess a pretty decent QB? A running back gaining nearly five yards a carry? An upper echelon receiving core, a front four in the top half of the league in sacks, and a secondary led by a top five CB?
Wait, so you're telling me that Ryan Tannehill, Lamar Miller, Brian Hartline, Mike Wallace, Cameron Wake, Randy Starks, Jared Odrick, Paul Soliai, AND Brent Grimes are still playing?
Then yes, it's ABSOLUTELY playoff worthy.
And yes, this team should ABSOLUTELY beat the winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers tonight.
Yet, on a national landscape, this game is already over. The drama of the past week will be too much. There's no leadership, no control, no direction.
On ESPN, you had Mark Brunell not only saying Miami would lose, but that Mike Glennon would out perform Ryan Tannehill.
On NFL Network, you had a collective agreement from Steve Mariucci, Heath Evans, and Darren Sharper that this season was unsalvageable, and, starting tonight, the Miami Dolphins would begin their full blown implosion.
Between ESPN.com, and CBSSports.com, you had a whopping 16 analysts pick the 0-8 Tampa Bay Buccaneers to win tonight's game.
Only five picked the 4-4 Miami Dolphins.
Now, before I start getting hate mail from loyal Tampa Bay fan, yes, I realize you're better than your record says you are. Yes, I saw you almost beat Seattle last week at their place. And yes, you almost beat the Saints earlier this season, a team who blew Miami out of the water last month.
But, on the field, the Miami Dolphins are the better team. You are what your record says you are, and right now that logic favors Miami.
But let's put this game tonight aside, because that's not really my point here.
My point is this:
With half a season to play, the Miami Dolphins are smack dab in the middle of a playoff race. And with all the losses yesterday, and a win tonight, this team could very well be in the drivers seat for January football not 12 hours from now.
But you wouldn't even know it after the week that was.
Right now, the off the field Miami Dolphins are all people can talk, read, and write about.
But the on the field Dolphins? The actual product?
They're nothing but an afterthought.
[My Gameday keys to the game, and prediction, will be coming up later, so check back periodically throughout the day]
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