Welcome Back

On Monday night I was entrenched deep in enemy territory, sitting in the 100's section of MetLife Stadium watching the Miami Dolphins flounder against the New York Jets. While this game was on the road, it felt almost like a home game, with us Dolphins fans taking over the stadium, thanks largely to the work of the brilliant fans behind @DolFansNYC with their #METLIFETAKEOVER. While I am still buzzing from the fourth quarter comeback victory, I have been slow to blog as I manage my own personal life. I had to post my thoughts tonight however, on the world of sports and on the state of the Dolphins franchise, as we await a virtual playoff game against the Ravens tomorrow.

Birds V. Fish

Tomorrow there will be a showdown in SunLife when the Baltimore Ravens come to Miami. The winner has the drivers seat on the road to the playoffs, while the loser is a long-shot. But can the Dolphins pull out a victory? Well, they almost did last year in a game that came down to a missed Sturgis 57 yard field goal. All in all, I think both of these teams are improved and it is going to come down to whose weaknesses get exploited the least. The Dolphins run D has been gashed the last two weeks, while the Ravens pass defense is bad... very bad. I think the Dolphins have the most potential to fix their issues. They have, in the past, been fine against the run. The personnel is the same, its just a matter of making tackles and shedding blocks. The Dolphins secondary has to be ready as Flacco has the potential to make mistakes. This game is going to come down to the wire, but I am going to go with the Dolphins taking the game 32-24.

Coaches?

Today I read a piece making the argument that Stephen Ross should extend Joe Philbin now. The argument being the need for consistency in Tannehill's development. I understand that argument, but I can't get behind it. I have been saying since the end of last year the only way you keep Philbin and his staff is with a playoff birth. This year 10 wins might not be enough, anything less than 10 wins should be grounds for a firing. We have all seen the talent of this team. We all remember the games they gave away. At this point 9-7 doesn't show enough progress to merit keeping the staff for another year.

Playoff Bye

Should the Patriots lose in San Diego tomorrow and assuming the Dolphins beat the Ravens, then the game in Foxboro  would be for the division lead. In fact, if the Pats lose tomorrow and the Dolphins win out, then they would be in play for a possible 2 seed! Now, we know this is a highly unlikely scenario, but man its fun to dream.

Hot Stove
 

I love the New York Yankees signing of Andrew Miller. I think the combination of Delin Betances and Miller is going to be formidable, but the real excitement would come if they could bring back David Robertson. Three big arms at the back end of the bull pen was the key to making the World Series this year and it would drastically improve the Yankees. As for the Trade for Didi Gregorious... I just can't wait for that Sterling home run call: A BB for Didi! Glorious GREGORIOUS!

Send me your Sterling homerun calls on twitter.