Post Game Thread- Dolphins beat the Pats

[BradytoMosstoGronk]

16 seconds left.. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS MAKE A TACKLE.

This one's gonna bother me for a long time. Time to close the blinds and turtle up for a few days. This was excruciating, on almost every level.

 

[Guts]

Yeah, that's not exactly comforting. "we're a great team in half our games."

#2 Seed is still within grasp though fortunately

 

[mcmurtry86]

Pats are a great team at home.

On the road not so much at least this season

The talent is the same regardless of where they play. They’re probably better than their results on the road show and worse than their home results indicate. I don’t think data sets of 6 or 7 are particularly predictive. Look at the talent on the roster. It’s just not where it needs to be to predict a good playoff run

We’ve seen worse teams win Super Bowls (against the Pats sadly). So anything is possible. But that defense is a huge liability against any opponent in the playoffs - home or away

 

[BradytoMosstoGronk]

#2 Seed is still within grasp though fortunately

So it's another odd year where we have a good divisional performance, and then the hyde team shows up on the road. It's like knowing the time and date of your beheading.

 

[Uptown]

 

[102 Pat]

Hope you’re doing ok. It’s not good to let the game get to you that deeply. It’s meant for enjoyment. Sometimes it doesn’t work out, that sucks, but life goes on.

Play a video game or something for a while and get your mind off it of and you’ll realize it’s not such a big deal ultimately. Don’t fret

Well said, the loss sucks but life goes on. I kegged a batch of home brew after the game and I'm over the game...well after I get some ribbing from some coworkers tomorrow morning. One's a Lions fan and the other is a Browns fan, lol...

I should add it's times like this to step back and look at the overall picture, many, many fan bases would love to be 9-4 right now and not looking ahead to draft positioning.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

@luuked I don’t think most people are putting this loss entirely on the defense. The offense clearly threw away some opportunities and were completely punchless in the second half. I would look at it more that the offense and defense both played well enough to put the team in a 99.9% likelihood of winning (but not 100%, as neither played to the level we think they could have). The last play should be considered more of a specialized play. I personally don’t put it on the defense. I put it on Belichick and/or Flores. It was basically a special teams type of situational play. But this is a conservatively a win 99 times out of 100 prior to that disaster. The defense played well in the second half and stopped the Dolphins when they needed to...until that personnel/strategy meltdown.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Well said, the loss sucks but life goes on. I kegged a batch of home brew after the game and I'm over the game...well after I get some ribbing from some coworkers tomorrow morning. One's a Lions fan and the other is a Browns fan, lol...

I should add it's times like this to step back and look at the overall picture, many, many fan bases would love to be 9-4 right now and not looking ahead to draft positioning.

Lions and Browns fans are in a different world of suck.

 

[ensoul]

The talent is the same regardless of where they play. They’re probably better than their results on the road show and worse than their home results indicate. I don’t think data sets of 6 or 7 are particularly predictive. Look at the talent on the roster. It’s just not where it needs to be to predict a good playoff run

We’ve seen worse teams win Super Bowls (against the Pats sadly). So anything is possible. But that defense is a huge liability against any opponent in the playoffs - home or away

Good post but the only thing I disagree with is calling this defense unreliable. It's well beyond that. This Patriots defense is doomed and it's not if it's going to fail it's when.

 

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

Tough loss. 33pts should get the job done. So should 7 seconds and one 69yd play to stop. Meh. Anyway...

Many years 12-4 would guarantee HFA. Doubtful it does this year. Just gotta deal with that. Asking for 13-3 every year and pooping on the team when they don't meet that is setting the bar very high.

Regards,
Chris

 

[FCB02062]

This game was ****ing over...up 5, 7 seconds left...miami needed a miracle...and they ****ing got it...last week if clay catches a wide open TD they lose...if the ****ing Patriots can make ONE tackle in four or five chances on the last play, they lose today...maybe it's Miami's year, they've had divine intervention twice in 2 weeks...

 

[crypto]

Haven't logged in here for ages, and this game was upsetting for me as everyone else, and I do think this team is not as strong as it has been in recent years, but I wanted to point out the #1 seed, although unlikely, isn't out of reach.

Patriots (9-4): at Steelers, vs. Bills, vs. Jets
Chiefs (11-2): vs. Chargers, at Seahawks, vs. Raiders
Chargers (10-3 assuming they finish off Cincy): at Chiefs, vs. Ravens, at Broncos
Texans (9-4): at Jets, at Eagles, vs. Jaguars

Of these four teams, and I'm just looking at strength of schedule here, the Texans probably have the best chance of winning out. But the Patriots hold the tiebreaker, so Houston is a nonthreat as long as the Pats win out. And I think the Pats will, as horrible as they looked today, because the Pats haven't lost to the Steelers since 2011 and the Bills and Jets at home should be a cakewalk. Yeah, yeah, "any given Sunday," but gun to my head I'd bet on the Pats finishing 12-4.

That leaves the Chargers and the Chiefs. Look at their schedules. There is a very real chance that the Chargers beat the Chiefs in Kansas City, as hard as it is to win at Arrowhead. Would I bet on it? No, but it's possible. There's also a very real chance that the Chiefs lose in Seattle. Recall that the Chiefs beat Oakland by only a touchdown (granted, the Raiders were playing at home).

Basically if (1) the Pats get their act together and do their job over three games that they SHOULD win, (2) we catch a lucky break with a good Chargers team winning in Arrowhead Stadium, (3) the Chiefs lose in Seattle, and (4) the Chargers lose in Baltimore, the Pats have home-field advantage. Again I don't actually think this is the most likely outcome, and I'm not trying to gloss over the extreme concerns we should have about the Pats after watching today's abomination of a game, but it's not as farfetched all the doomsayers here and on Reddit are suggesting.

It's also perfectly possible that the Chargers snipe the #1 seed and then we don't have to go through Arrowhead no matter how the chips fall because barring a Brady injury there is zero chance we lose out and miss the division title.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

16 seconds left.. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS MAKE A TACKLE.

This one's gonna bother me for a long time. Time to close the blinds and turtle up for a few days. This was excruciating, on almost every level.

7 seconds left. Seven.

 

[TomPatriot]

LMAO, you compare the Ravens' D to ours? Mahomes will hang a 60-burger on our D at arrowhead

I wasn’t comparing the Chiefs and Pats defenses. The NFL changes from week to week. The Chiefs defense looked better than their offense today and the Chiefs defense isn’t very good. Upsets happen and the Chiefs are not exactly invincible.

 

[ivanvamp]

16 seconds left.. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS MAKE A TACKLE.

This one's gonna bother me for a long time. Time to close the blinds and turtle up for a few days. This was excruciating, on almost every level.

It bothers me but honestly, I am almost laughing about it now. The issue for me isn't that Miami won. It's not that they won on a miracle play. It's that they won on a play where half the Patriots didn't even seem to put in much of an effort. THAT is INEXCUSABLE.

And I think that will get corrected for the Steeler game.

The Patriots will go into Pittsburgh and win by 10+, then beat Buffalo and the Jets and finish 12-4 and the #2 seed. From there, where this loss might really bite them in the ass is going on the road to KC in the AFCCG. I don't think they would win that game. But let's not worry about that now.

 

[Triumph]

This debacle needs a name.

Miami Miracle

Curse of Nick Saban - He lost a championship basically the same way.

South beach surprise.

 

[dannydyn]

I wasn’t comparing the Chiefs and Pats defenses. The NFL changes from week to week. The Chiefs defense looked better than their offense today and the Chiefs defense isn’t very good. Upsets happen and the Chiefs are not exactly invincible.

Only reason why their offense didn't look that great today is because they faced the #1 defense. Our defense is a far cry from the Ravens D.

 

[TomPatriot]

This debacle needs a name.

Miami Miracle

Curse of Nick Saban - He lost a championship basically the same way.

South beach surprise.

ButtTackle?

 

[TomPatriot]

Only reason why their offense didn't look that great today is because they faced the #1 defense. Our defense is a far cry from the Ravens D.

And the Ravens offense is a far cry from the Pats offense. And . . . the Pats beat KC this year.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Only reason why their offense didn't look that great today is because they faced the #1 defense. Our defense is a far cry from the Ravens D.

They miss Hunt