I'm picking Miami to do better too but last year only a fool would have picked Miami to be better and that's what happened. The NFL is difficult to predict year to year. NE was also beaten up last yera, they lost some guys but if healthy(mainly if Brady stays healthy) I don't see them finishing 2nd. I would say we are retooling not rebuilding. We still have a ton of young talent, we aren't starting over like a Cleveland last year. I'd be ok w/ 7 wins, I think we'll win from 6-8 but 7 sounds about right at this time. Hopefully they can exceed expectations but I want to see major improvement and the development of some young players this year and I'll feel good going into '07.
QB, S, TE, T, CB, WR. All of those positions we are better then we were. But from what I can tell, we could add a probowler at every position and you would still be asking where we upgraded. If you knew anything about football you'd know the players we added are better then the ones we released. It also seems as though you refuse to give a division rival credit, I can't do anything about that. I don't hear you bashing the Pats and they have a team full of nothing special. You can say what you like about Brady, but he can't win games without a supporting cast. BB loves bringing in players that fit with what he likes to do Saban is doing the same. I know there is no reasoning with you because you don't want the the fins to win, thats clear. So you will go out of your way to not see upgrades.
We had a terrible secondary Gus and Sage as QB's a rookie MLB, RB, CB, HC and first year OC, Oline coach and no DC. Ummm what exactly did we have that your team nearly beat???? We won the final six games because Saban is a good coach, he coached Wannys mess from a 4-12 team to 9-7 team in his first season. Now in his second season we have upgraded the entire secondary, QB position, WR position S position and coaching staff. But you don't see it, that's your problem.
I don't mean to harp on this, but everyone were saying the same thing about the Phins before the start of last season. With a rookie HC and much turnover last season, EVERYONE were saying they would not do well because they were in a rebuilding year. And look at what happened. Will the same happen for the Jets or are they in a bigger mess than the Phins last year? That is debatable, and I am not sure. However, if I was a Phins fans I would be hesitant to use this argument when evaluating the Jets (which a few have been doing on this board), considering the state of your team before the start of last season. Like I said, Those in glass houses.....
It's not just the status of the team it's the coaching, Mangini is in his first year as a HC, as was Saban. The difference is Saban is a rare type of coach, he has what it takes to win at any level by selling his system to the players and making them believe in it, thats rare!! Only time will tell if Mangini can do the same, but being an OC and being a HC are two different animals. Example: Mike Mularkey, Greg Williams, Dave Wannstedt, Ray Rhodes, Butch Davis, Wade Phillips, Art Shell just to name a few all of them very respected Coordinators in the NFL, but failures as HC's. Their is a history aswell of Coordinators having success in the NFL as HC's, but it's much tougher. Don't try to use what Miami did as a gauge for the Jets because IMO the coaching isn't even close at this point.
It's funny how Jet fans base all their opinions on Daunte from 6 games of his entire career. Ignoring his three probowls, runnrer up MVP, td/int ratio, and career compl. pct. he also has probably the stongest arm in the league! Then when they do give him credit they basically say he's only one game better then Gus Frerotte. Amazing! As for the roster we one 9 games last year and 6 of the last 6 with one of the worst secondary's in the league. We have not only gotten younger in the secondary but more physical and faster. I guess when you're a hated division rival you'll do anything to avoid the fact that one of your rivals is about to become the division leader and you you shutter at the fact so you find every excuse under the sun to make yourself believe it can't happen. Did you ever stop to think that maybe, just maybe it's the Fins turn to dominate??
You have not upgraded much at all, you are a homer phin fan so you think you've upgraded everywhere. He;s won 3 SBs w/ not much of a cast on offense and 2 of them he did by leading them on a last minute drive to win the game. he's by far the best QB of this generation. he is everything daunte culpepper is not- he's a winner who's not just about pesonal #s. I don't have any problem w/ that, we are doing the same thing but you guys act like you brought in nothing but great players. I would be alarmed if my team had 2 of their biggest FAs come to them b/c their former teams overspent to sign their replacements. Pro Bowl's are MEANINGLESS! So what he has put up great fantasy #s a couple of years and made a couple of PB's? he DOESN'T WIN! The game is about winning, QBs are judged on WINS. The facts are since he took over minny is 4 games UNDER .500 when he starts and 4 games OVER .500 when he is out hurt. Actually it's one game WORSE than Frettoe. Daunte's "great" 2004 season he led Minny to 8-8 while crappy old Gus led Miami to 9-7.
Miami is going to take the divison with ease. The Pats miss the playoffs, Jets go 6 wins, and Bills go 4 or 5.
That is the biggest load of crap I have ever heard. When Saban came in people doubted him because of his lack of experience on the NFL level and because he youth. EVERYONE predicted that Miami was in a rebuilding process and no one thought they would have a winning season, When the season started last year, you had no idea if Saban would be able to sell is system to NFL players. You had no idea that he was a "rare type of coach" that could sell his system to any type of player, how could you, how could anyone he had not been a HC in the NFL yet. Hell we still don't know for sure, it was only one year. That is an absolute moronic statement. It is revisionist history. The fact of the matter is NO ONE knew what to expect from Saban, no one knew if he would translate into a good NFL HC. NO ONE expected them to have a winning season. EVERYONE pointed to Saban being a young first time HC, the Phins having many holes, and them being in a rebuilding process. And the same things, and the same doubts are being said about Mangini now. It is convenient to forget all that now, and use the same arguments people were saying about the Phins against the Jets now. Glass Houses.... The Phins a year ago and the Jets now are the same EXACT situation. BTW, Mangini was a DC not a OC.
Pal, Your barking up the wrong tree....reread the post before you go on a homer rant. I said if he plays BETTER THAN POSTERS AROUND HERE THINK...THE DOLPHINS COULD WIN 10 GAMES. If you dont feel his stats took a dump lately...well...thats the definition of a homer...what you dolphin fans accuse all posters around here of being. Did I ever stop to think that maybe...just maybe its the fins turn to dominate? NO...dominate? No..theres nothing on that roster that tells me that phins can dominate...not a franchise qb...a franchise offensive line...or the defense. The roster tells me that if the pats start to fall...the dolphins could step up and win the division...thats it. Thats honest...and pretty fair. There is nothing on that roster that im "shuttering" over...not one thing. The pats have made me shutter....even break a couple remotes. The Steelers made me nervous. The Dolphins roster doesnt make me nervous at all. Is it better than the Jets? Are the dolphins right now in better shape than the Jets? YEP. So take your homer stuff somewhere else.
And there's absolutely no reason the Dolphins roster should make anybody nervous at this point. In 2 years there's no telling who is going to be the likely playoff team in this division. But for next year it's still the Patriots. I actually think the Jets and the Dolphins are probably favored to be the better teams in the division in a couple of years, but that's mainly because both teams have new hungry regimes in place and both teams are going to be drafting a lot earlier than the Patriots in the next year or two. The Bills are the only hopeless team in the division right now and that's mainly because they have not tumbled to the fact that Tom Donahoe is a bad GM yet. That puts them at least a season or two behind the rest of the AFC East.
Does the Pats plane go down or something? Thats the only way they miss the playoffs with the schedule they have. They'll make the playoffs with ease, clinching by early December. Saban was a DC 11 yrs ago in the NFL. He already has more experience as a DC than Magini does, never mind his college coaching experience. Most pundits thought he'd be fine as an NFL coach - thats why teams have been trying to get him to make the move for years. You can't compare the two staffs, not a bit. Saban, Mularkey, Capers >>>Mangini, Shotty Jr, and Sutton. That said, the Jets could reach .500 if the players (& coaches) make the transition quickly.
There are people out there like Sterling Sharpe whom I respect who are picking the Fins to win the AFC East, rather than the Pats. I hear them talking, and realize it's shrewd pre-season positioning: Make a bold prediction like that in May, and if it comes true, you're a genius. If it doesn't, who remembers? No one is better positioned to evaluate the relative standing of the Pats and Fins than Jets fans. We play both teams twice a year and hate them equally as much, so you know you will get a fair and intelligent comparison. Saying we hate the Fins so we don't give them the same breaks we give the Pats is ridiculous. If we could bash Bellicheck's coaching, or Brady's pocket presence, we would. We can't. They are evil, but good. The Fins, by contrast, have a weak coach and a team of solid players that has yet to gel into anything substantial. We can't beat them, no, but that's how we know the Jets were so bad in 2005.
Really, I guess you know more then Saban, I guess you should be coaching since YOU thinik we didn't upgrade much!! Oh, wait you're the homer who hates the fins so you see nothing but every single Dolphin move is either staus quo or a down grade!!! Gee what are the odds a Jet fans thinks this way??? I'd say 1-1!!! Ummm, Brady is a system QB, he doesn't do anything special except play the game the way BB tells him to. His biggest asset is understanding the system he plays in. BB is the man that deserves the credit, not Tom Brady. You are trying to hang all the credit on Brady and the credit belongs to BB and coaches. Brady was just part of the machine. It's funny how everyone takes away from what Marino did because he didn't win a SB when Marino was ten times the player Brady is and He never won a ring because he never had the "TEAM" Brady has. You obviously don't understand what it takes to win three SB, QB is key, but so is Coachin RB,TE,Oline,Dline,LB's,Secondary and Special teams. Refresh my memory again....how many of those positions does Brady play???? Gee, I don't know what posts you're reading, but I have clearly written time and time again....we have improved over what we had, please show me where I said any of them were great!!! I will say Daunte is a great upgrade, but that's as far as I'll go with the word great. Probowls are meaningless??? Clearly a dumb statement. 8-8....true, but uhh, when did everything a team does or doesn't do belong soley to the O??? Care to guess what the D was rated that year or is that Daunte's responsibility too??
Thats right, what was I thinking, how could I say Saban was "RARE TALENT" with nothing to base that opinion on other then wishful thinking??......except the fact that he's never had a losing season as a HC!!! Or the fact that he took a pitiful LSU team and won a Ntional Championship against an outstanding Oaklahoma team that just destroyed every team they faced up until the National Championship game against Saban's LSU squad!! Or the fact that every team looking for a HC wanted Saban for several years before he chose Miami, I know I know, that doesn't matter. Or how baout the fact that Saban took the worst ranked D in the League in Cleveland and in just three season had them ranked # 1, hmmmm?? BTW what league do the Cleveland Browns play in??? I could be wrong, but I believe it's the NFL!!! Lack of experience at the NFL level??? How about after the fact with some serious weaknesses on both sides of the ball Saban did something that hasn't been done in Miami since the early days of Shula and that's win every game in December?? Also because "EVERYONE" predicted Saban would not have a winning season that....means....WHAT???? The reason 90% of Fin fans and, WH, Dan Marino, Don Shula and half a dozen other coaches around the league were saying what a special guy Nick Saban is kinda tells you there is "SOMETHING SPECIAL" about Saban. But you thought he was jsut another coach, wow I'm surprised you can even find a web site much less understand it if you think Saban wasn't something special, all it takes is just a little research!! Did you ever read his book??? I'm gonna guess no, because you don't know squat about Saban.
Besides Tom Brady what on the Pats roster tells you they can dominate???? You say I went on a homer rant, well so did you! Only a Jet homer would believe Culpepper is only one game better then Gus. Just because the Fins don't have an earth shattering roster doesn't mean they can't dominate, it's about having players that fit the system and players believing in the system. BTW no team in the league has a roster full of superstars, the ones that win it all have a roster full of well coached players that believe in the system their in, that's why Miami will ascend to the top of the AFC east this year. I can try till I'm blue in the face to explain why the fins will be a much better team, but you're a Jet fans as most here are because it's a Jet site, but I didn't start this thread I'm just trying to shed some light on the fins near future. Being that you're a Jet fan and you don't want any team in the division to win but the Jets. You'll refuse to believe the Fins will be the team to beat, that's fine you'll just have to see it with your own eye's ....and you will.
