Greetings! I am not The Phinsider's lead blogger, but I am a regular contributor and would consider myself very informed on the general perspectives and opinions shared on that site and on the team in general.

This Sunday brings another crucial matchup for the Dolphins, as well as the Titans for their playoff chances. Losing would be a huge blow to our shot at making the post-season, and winning would give your team a fighting chance.

Vince Young has a hammy injury, but it is said to be mild; time will tell how that situation plays out. However, I'm not here to ask the questions: you guys are!

If you have any that you would like to be answered, I would be glad to help (alongside any other Phinsider bloggers who catch this post from our site and contribute).

Please don't take this as arrogance, I am simply thankful to the blogging sites who do this over at our home and would like to return the favor to another opponent who I would hope will give us a very competitive matchup for our playoff lives.

Ask away!

It's been a while since the last time I've taken the time to analyze one of our lesser-known or under-proven players in a way hopefully nobody else has. In doing so, I hope to broaden our perspectives and spark debate on a player some Miami fans now see as an after-thought.

You might recall my defending the selection of Patrick Turner, the 6'5", 220 lb. receiver out of the University of Southern California. I likened him to former great possession-receiver Orande Gadsden in a rather long comparison of a few various players (this won't be quite as long, but still lengthy), and as of today, he's far from panning out. I haven't stepped back from that defense, however, and I won't now. Why?

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Without being flamed as posting a FanPost with such a short message:

Rex Ryan is a moronic, pompous, ignorant, arrogant, embarrassing head coach.

Without cussing, this guy is just plain awful to listen to. Zero credit to us. Their defense made Henne look like Marino? How about Chad Henne made their defense look like the Rams of 2009.

What a horrible post-game press conference. Give us an ounce of damn credit when we earn it.

We have the best offensive line in the league, fellas. The best rushing attack in the league. And the best running back tandem in the league.

I no longer care who we're facing on defense. No sacks allowed. Little-to-no quarterback pressure.

We have us a quarterback. We have us an offense. We have us a win against our hated division rivals. Watch the hell out AFC East rivals, we are here to stay.

Can we get some respect?

Yes, we can.

I, as a fan of the Miami Dolphins, enjoy the fact that I received ESPN: The Magazine's 2009 NFL Preview issue on the exact same day as our other 2009 preview: Preseason Game 3, Miami at Tampa Bay.

Since my fellow Dolphins fans share all knowledge, insight, and information they find regarding our beloved team, I have decided to share the wealth back. I will post, as best I can, the analysis provided within this magazine to you all.

But first, I read a couple of interesting tid-bits in the pages preceding..

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Fantasy Football, for many, has become as big a part of the game as any. Some die-hard fans will only follow the NFL in general, or their specific team, because that is where the true game is played. That is where the wins and losses are accumulated, and where the fortunes (or misfortunes) of all 32 NFL teams lie. Some more casual fans, or those who do not have a team they call their own, enjoy fantasy football over the real game because it dictates their own success or failure where there is a general lack of interest in who wins or loses so long as the game maintains its entertainment value. Then, there are combination team-freaks and statistic-freaks who have their favorite team and still enjoy playing a fantasy game based entirely off of numbers. They follow their team to a 'T', yet still prepare for fantasy football months in advance because of how much it pumps them up for football season through the long and monotonous summer days without our favorite sport.

I consider myself the latter: I found myself looking up player names and statistics the day Yahoo!'s Fantasy Football game came out in late May/early June. I cannot wait for my leagues' drafts, and the implications they will have on my chances for a fantasy championship in the '09-'10 fantasy season. Yet, you all know how much I love these Dolphins. They are my only team, always have been, and always will be (regardless of my lack of proximity to the team). It's just my way of building my general knowledge of the game and its players, and my mathematical mind and competitive nature just finds genuine enjoyment with the idea of analyzing numbers better than anyone else in the leagues in which I participate.

So with the permission of The I in the Sky, I would like to produce a weekly fantasy column for the enjoyment of our readers (whether fantasy-minded, reality-minded, or both) or for those who would like to read up on it to better their fantasy game.

finsxfactor, sorry buddy, that title has nothing to do with The Fray. Don't get too excited. It is a mere play on words using "Into the Fray" as the underlying phrase and mixing the abbreviated 'intro' to signify this column's introduction.

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Predicting how many wins your favorite NFL team will accumulate in their respective upcoming season has been a pastime for die hard fans of the sport for as long as I can remember. There is never an exact science to it, however.

However, before I go any further, this article isn't great. It's not something that should be taken as dogma. I'm not claiming to know any more than the rest of you, and any statistical derivations I produce are merely done as a light-hearted attempt to keep you all sane through this long and deathly boring offseason. Please do not bash my extremely crude use of statistics without taking that into account. I'm just having fun in a time where it's very difficult to do so for us Miami Dolphins fans.

As we all know, there are various factors that go into such predictions, and the slightest change in any of these factors can throw any prediction completely off. An injury to a team's minor or major player(s) can take games away from a team's potential record, whether the injury is short-lived or season-long. Any number of players can regress, or step up, and change the team's dynamic. The introduction of a new style of offense, or a new package (read: The WildCat) can completely turn a team's attack upside-down and give Defensive Coordinators nightmares, adding wins that were unexpected.

Needless to say, there are far too many angles to look at or factors to weigh in this process. ESPN's John Clayton highlights a few of his most basic, yet seemingly accurate "predictors" of success (or the opposite) in this well-written, very intriguing article. He notes that the Seattle Seahawks will bet he most "surprising" team based on his parameters, with the Chicago Bears (surprise, surprise) the runners-up and Cincinnati Bengals right behind in 3rd. Rounding out his top eight are the Green Bay Packers (4), Houston Texans (5), Washington Redskins (6), Buffalo Bills (7), and Cleveland Browns (8).

Interesting to note that the Bills are seventh in this list. Could it be the addition of Terrell Owens? Well, according to Clayton, that's a part of it:

7. Buffalo Bills: This one might be a surprise because I'm going against the formula. The Bills' .570 schedule is the sixth-hardest in the league. Whether they've played hard schedules or easy schedules, the Bills have finished 7-9 for three straight seasons. Their break is "non-common" non-division games against the Cleveland Browns and Kansas City Chiefs, which are winnable. Plus, Terrell Owens should add scoring punch to their offense. He usually takes an offense to an average of 24.0 ppg or better because of his ability to catch touchdown passes. The Bills averaged 21.0 ppg last year. A two-point improvement could put them at 9-7.

Feasible. Likely? Perhaps. Terrell Owens on his own, to me, could very easily add those two extra games to their seemingly perennial 7-9 record. His being double-teamed alone (if defenses decide to) leaves Lee Evans one-on-one with a corner or safety, both of which he has the speed to beat. James Hardy is developing into a decent red zone option with his height, hands, and physicality, and there are a few semi-reliable options Buffalo has to pass to, rounding out what should be a very effective passing game. Throw in Marshawn Lynch (suspension or not) and an underrated back in Fred Jackson, and you have an offense that developing QB Trent Edwards should lead very well. I don't consider 9-7 out of the question at all, and that point about the non-common Cleveland and Kansas City games is a good one.

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A good, solid debate is one of the most prevalent, commonplace, and enjoyable pastimes of bloggers and sports fans alike, especially in today's increasingly e-World. So, it comes as no surprise that there are "experts" and "amateurs" across the internet and in the media who reside on both sides of the spectrum. There seems to be no median; either you believe that Patrick Turner is was a "reach", a bad "value pick" in the third round, or you're in the camp that believes Turner was a good value where he was selected and that he has a legitimate shot to be a relevant and productive receiver. Of course there are extremes that extend past these ends, such as the camps who feel as though he will be a complete bust (such as those who argue he is Mike Williams v.2.0), and those who feel he'll be a very successful player (Orande Gadsden v.2.0 is the classic comparison).

After reading up on the opinions of this fine site's educated bloggers, I decided to make my own judgment and express it with you all. I came into this site mere months ago, knowing nothing compared to what I can honestly say that I know now. Football was nothing but statistics, a fantasy sport I followed and one I loved to watch. Not because I was ignorant, but because I just didn't know enough about the game and the way it works. I had no idea what the difference between the 3-4 and the 4-3 was. Seriously. I had no idea what the strong side was or what it was expected to do; this site has changed that for me.

So while I may not be doing anything but taking up space and subjecting you all to meaningless palaver that may or may not mean anything in the end, it's a way for me to take what I've learned from all of you and convert it into what I hope will be an enjoyable read that sparks even more enjoyable debate.

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