hambone1818
2nd Team Getting Their First Start
- Joined
- Oct 28, 2007
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I often browse other teams message boards the week before a game, get the temperature of the fanbase and what they're talking about. I noticed something the past two days that had me thinking about the Bills, and as I thought further it seems Miami--the team and the fans--are approaching this game similar to our Week 2 opponent:
1. Team/fans riding high after victories; for the Bills they were an 'offseason winner' with Rex, Shady McCoy, Harvin and finding Tyrod Taylor, then they trounced what was seen as a SB contender in Indy (how quickly has that win gone from 'incredible' to 'meh, everyone beats up on them'???). 'We want Brady chants, they were READY for New England! I'm seeing similar confidence from Dolphins fans...Tannehill completed 25 straight! Suh and Wake are unstoppable! Coach Campbell is a hulk warrior genius! They beat up on league also-rans, but they beat them up. This team and their fans are confident.
2. Offseason winners! Both teams were seen as dark-horse SB contenders, for reasons I mentioned above (McCoy, Harvin, Taylor; Suh, Cameron, Stills). Everyone wants to Pats dethroned and all three AFCE teams became sexy picks to do it, certainly Miami got most of the love but Buffalo was right there with them, teaming D mastermind Rex with a young and dominant defense. Miami lost some shine early on but they're once again being talked about like a legit contender, as Buffalo was after smoking the Colts.
3. Coach brings 'intangibles'; Rex Ryan is exactly who he was in New York: bombastic, funny, arrogant, and his bluster reaches DefCon4 when it comes to the Pats. Meanwhile Dan Campbell is the closest thing the NFL has to an inspirational drill sergeant. Full pads when they sleep to keep 'em tough, footballs with little spikes on them to toughen up the hands, no water during practice until blood has been drawn. The players LOVE these types of coaches (at least for a while), but does any of it amount to 'good game-planning, discipline and execution?' In the case of Rex it's decidedly a NO...we'll see with Campbell.
4. The Team; can't forget the teams themselves. Fearsome D-lines, quality secondaries. Tannehill a work in progress but showing promise in fits and starts, Taylor was unproven but opened eyes in the pre-season and had a fantastic first game. Quality run games behind decent O-lines, and decent WR crews. They look to be constructed in similar fashions, with the Pats in mind: get pressure up the middle against Brady, try and stop the Pats passing game any way necessary, and have a quality rushing attack to keep the Pats off the field.
Just thought it was interesting. The Pats had a horrific, forgettable 4th quarter against the Bills but otherwise beat the snot out of that team, on their field, when all of Buffalo turned out in their puke-stained finest to belch as loud as they could. How's it gonna play out this Thursday, in New England, when the 'smack 'em in the mouth, then punch 'em in the throat' mentality of the new-look Dolphins brings all their confidence to the Defending Super Bowl Champion Patriots house?
Just thought it was an interesting parallel, anyone else seeing it the same as I am? I don't think this Fins team can be taken lightly, not by a long stretch; and on a short week, Pats banged up, anything can happen. But I think the Patriots once again prove that smart coaching, discipline and game-planning, 'do your job', will once again win out.
1. Team/fans riding high after victories; for the Bills they were an 'offseason winner' with Rex, Shady McCoy, Harvin and finding Tyrod Taylor, then they trounced what was seen as a SB contender in Indy (how quickly has that win gone from 'incredible' to 'meh, everyone beats up on them'???). 'We want Brady chants, they were READY for New England! I'm seeing similar confidence from Dolphins fans...Tannehill completed 25 straight! Suh and Wake are unstoppable! Coach Campbell is a hulk warrior genius! They beat up on league also-rans, but they beat them up. This team and their fans are confident.
2. Offseason winners! Both teams were seen as dark-horse SB contenders, for reasons I mentioned above (McCoy, Harvin, Taylor; Suh, Cameron, Stills). Everyone wants to Pats dethroned and all three AFCE teams became sexy picks to do it, certainly Miami got most of the love but Buffalo was right there with them, teaming D mastermind Rex with a young and dominant defense. Miami lost some shine early on but they're once again being talked about like a legit contender, as Buffalo was after smoking the Colts.
3. Coach brings 'intangibles'; Rex Ryan is exactly who he was in New York: bombastic, funny, arrogant, and his bluster reaches DefCon4 when it comes to the Pats. Meanwhile Dan Campbell is the closest thing the NFL has to an inspirational drill sergeant. Full pads when they sleep to keep 'em tough, footballs with little spikes on them to toughen up the hands, no water during practice until blood has been drawn. The players LOVE these types of coaches (at least for a while), but does any of it amount to 'good game-planning, discipline and execution?' In the case of Rex it's decidedly a NO...we'll see with Campbell.
4. The Team; can't forget the teams themselves. Fearsome D-lines, quality secondaries. Tannehill a work in progress but showing promise in fits and starts, Taylor was unproven but opened eyes in the pre-season and had a fantastic first game. Quality run games behind decent O-lines, and decent WR crews. They look to be constructed in similar fashions, with the Pats in mind: get pressure up the middle against Brady, try and stop the Pats passing game any way necessary, and have a quality rushing attack to keep the Pats off the field.
Just thought it was interesting. The Pats had a horrific, forgettable 4th quarter against the Bills but otherwise beat the snot out of that team, on their field, when all of Buffalo turned out in their puke-stained finest to belch as loud as they could. How's it gonna play out this Thursday, in New England, when the 'smack 'em in the mouth, then punch 'em in the throat' mentality of the new-look Dolphins brings all their confidence to the Defending Super Bowl Champion Patriots house?
Just thought it was an interesting parallel, anyone else seeing it the same as I am? I don't think this Fins team can be taken lightly, not by a long stretch; and on a short week, Pats banged up, anything can happen. But I think the Patriots once again prove that smart coaching, discipline and game-planning, 'do your job', will once again win out.
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