After watching this season unfold, and sifting through the insanity that's already happened in this week-old offseason, I'm pretty concerned about my favorite franchise... Stephen Ross is still a relatively new owner in this league, and we've all seen what erratic and irrational owners can do to a franchise (read: Oakland, Washington, Dallas).  He's brought in a bunch of South Florida celebrities for no apparent reason other than he likes to hobnob with the beautiful people and get some press, and the Bill Parcells experiment yielded little improvement overall (and lost us Jason Taylor, I might add).

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First - the prediction... Phins shock the world and go 12-4 this year.  That's right, 12-4.  

Atlanta - WIN

Indy - WIN

San Diego - LOSE

Buffalo - WIN

NY Jets - WIN

New Orleans - WIN

NY Jets - WIN

New England - LOSE

Tampa Bay - WIN

Carolina - LOSE

Buffalo - WIN

New England  - WIN

Jacksonville - WIN

Tennessee - WIN

Houston - WIN

Pittsburgh - LOSE

There, now that's all sorted out and there's really no more room for discussion  - has there been any talk of another Phinsider Fantasy league??

Says he's tired and needs a rest...

"It's not going to happen," Peterson told the Associated Press on Wednesday. "I have a lot of good friends there, but I need to get away for a while. It's been 20 years of making decisions every day and I need a rest."

Good deal.  We don't need the help.  No offense, Mr. Peterson, but Parcells/Ireland/Sparano seems to have the team pointed in the right direction.

We're glad you're a fan of the new owner, and in that respect welcome to the Phins Nation.  Maybe you could join us on the gameday threads!

Thank you Bill Parcells

Thank you Coach Sparano

Thank you Jeff Ireland

Thank you Dan Henning

Thank you Brett Farve for enabling us to land Chad Pennington

I hope there are no substantive changes to this front office and coaching staff, as I trust them completely to make smart off season decisions and improve this team even more.

So let the speculation begin - who stays, who goes, who do we pick up, who do we draft, what positions get addressed?

They need to re-sign Crowder, that's a no-brainer in my opinion.  Not sure what specific free agents they should go after beyond that, but I'd like to see us land a top-notch WR.

As for the draft, I say keep stocking up the lines - get some big men on both sides of the ball.

What do you think?

I think we've seen all that Gruden ahs to offer.  He's an above average coach but his indecisiveness and petty, immature attitude towards some of his players have held this team back.  He seems to make it all about him and not about putting his players in the best possible positions for success.

Shanahan needs a fresh start and would be a perfect fit for Tampa Bay.  Players respect him and he's a proven winner. 

Gruden & Allen - it's time to go.  You were 9-3 and lost the last 4 games and missed the playoffs.  Bring in Shanahan.

Not much to add this New Years Eve, but I was thinking today - isn't it somewhat ironic that two of our biggest and most-criticized off-season moves have landed us in the playoffs and the other teams/players are watching?

I'm talking about two of the most beloved Phins of recent times - Zach Thomas and Jason Taylor.  As much as I love what those players contributed to Miami over the years, Bill Parcells looks like a freakin' genius now in those moves, doesn't he?

Both Dallas and Washington are inexplicably done for the season, while Miami has a divisional championship and at least one home playoff game to show for it...

Thank you Mr. Parcells!

Check it out:

http://fantasynews.sportsline.com/fantasyfootball/story/11072493

Here's the relevant blurb:

It's hard to figure out how Pennington is getting it done, with Patrick Cobbs one week and Ted Ginn Jr. the next. His tight ends have chipped in, and Pennington has played well while the Dolphins have played with the "Wildcat" offense. Pennington said the weekly award following the Bills game was just the start of how he wants to play this season.

"It's something I think is an honor and you're happy about it, but you're not satisfied," Pennington said. "You want to continue to do things to help your team win, and that's the most important thing."

All the Dolphins should play well this week at Denver, so plan on starting Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams, Ginn and Greg Camarillo and Anthony Fasano and David Martin. The Broncos pass defense already was No. 28 with 240 yards per game allowed and 12 touchdowns, and that was with Champ Bailey, who is out with a groin injury. Denver also is No. 30 against the run with 154.6 yards per game allowed and nine touchdowns.

This game has the potential to be high scoring since the Broncos should be able to move the ball against Miami. But that bodes well for Pennington to make throws in the thin air in Denver.

He continues to get better every game, and this week he has the chance to lead your Fantasy team. Look for more accolades to come his way despite his frail arm and ability to just manage games.  He is proving those descriptions are a thing of the past.

Who'd have thunk a Dolphins QB would be the start of the week?  Congrats to Penny on making believers out of the football media!  Go Phins!

After back-to-back wins over the participants in last seasons AFC Championship game, why not start to get optimistic?  Why not let your hopes rise?  Let's enjoy this while it lasts, right?  So here's the rest of the season any my (pulled directly out of my ass) predictions...

10/12 @ Houston - The Miami defense we saw today should have a field day with this offense.  Miami wins, 3-2

10/19 Baltimore - Baltimore's defense is back to being one of the best in the league and I see Pennington getting sacked several times in this one... if they can keep them off balance with the creative offensive packages, then they have a chance... I'm going to say this game brings the Phins back to earth a little bit with a close, low-scoring loss - Miami 3-3

10/26 Buffalo - Buffalo scares me - I think they're probably the team to beat in this division, and the #2 team in the AFC so far this season - but coming off a loss and being in Miami, I'm giving this one to the Phins - Miami 4-3

11/2 @ Denver - This will be a test for our defense, but we should be able to outscore the Broncos with their swiss cheese defense... Miami 5-3

11/9 Seattle - The Hawks are just awful this year.  Should be an easy win at home.  Miami 6-3

11/16 Oakland - Another fairly easy home win against a team in total disarray by this point in the season - Miami 7-3

11/23 New England - The unthinkable occurs and Miami sweeps the Pats, who are in a complete freefall by now.  Miami 8-3 (!!!!)

11/30 @ St. Louis - Another awful team, Miami has a 6 game winning streak and fans are delirious with joy... Miami 9-3

12/7 @ Buffalo - And then comes December and those awful road trips up north... Buffalo gets the split and ends our winning streak - Miami 9-4

12/14 San Francisco - This could be one of the best games of the season - The Niners are a young improving team much like the Phins and will still be in the playoff hunt at this point... I'm giving Miami a 1-point win here - Miami 10-4

12/21 @ Kansas City - Even though the Chiefs are a mess, Arrowhead is still a tough place to play, especially in December... if the snow is falling, we're in trouble, and on Dec 21st, chances are the snow will be falling... Miami drops one, to 10-5

12/28 @ NY Jets - On the road, up north, in December, against a team that will have nothing to lose.  Miami will be playing for a wild card spot, and will pull out all the stops.  Miami wins on a last minute game winning drive for a field goal and locks up the 6th seed wild card spot with an 11-5 record!!!! 

Sparano wins coach of the year, we sign a game breaking WR in the off-season, and win the division next year...

Am I nuts?  Probably... but it's great to have a legitimate reason to be optimistic again...

The defensive performance I saw today was one of the worst from a pro team that I can recall ever seeing.  Arizona is not THAT good a team to slash and gash all over the field against us like they did.  I knew we'd have problems stopping the WR's, but really - that looked like a pro team against a bad college team today.  They could have dropped 50 on us easy if they wanted to.  And the penalties were horrid.  12 men on the field?  Twice? 

My question to you is - are we worse than last years team?  I don't really want to consider it, but after todays game, I'm wondering...

With the news of Cowher saying he won't coach next year, and almost every Phins fan clamoring for a new coach next season, who are the most likely candidates that may be let loose from their teams at the end of the season?  Here's my 'back-of-the-napkin' list of potential firings...

Cincinatti - Marvin Lewis
Kansas City - Herm Edwards
Chicago - Lovie Smith
Carolina - John Fox
San Francisco - Mike Nolan
Arizona - Ken Whisenhunt
St Louis - Scott Linehan

Disclaimer: I have not been following any of these teams very closely and know nothing of their contract status or news reports regarding their futures.  

I think most of those coaches will probably remain with their teams next season, but if any of them became available, should the Phins go after them?

So it would pretty much take a miracle for the Bucs to miss the playoffs this year.  But, nobody's really talking about Tampa.  It's all about Dallas and Green Bay.

And frankly, I'm not sure Tampa is better than either of those two teams, but once you get in the playoffs, anything is possible...

So, how do you think this postseason will play out for our Bucs?

So we get blown out by the 2-9 Jets.  Our best chance to win, we were actually favored, and we lose.  Not just lose, but get blown out.  So, who could we reasonably beat?  I'm leaving out all NFL teams, even Atlanta, because obviously they're all more talented than Miami, and if we can't beat the Jets, at home, then we can't beat anyone.  

Question for the fans:  How important is it to you that the Phins get a win this season?  At this point, being 0-8 and having suffered through all the injuries this season, would you really be all that upset if they lost every game?  In my opinion, I've already moved on to next year, and I want the Phins to be in the best position to bring in quality players through the draft, through trades, and free agency.  So, I don't really care if we go 0-16.  

On the other hand - the players and coaches still have pride and still want to be competitive - so you know they're going to try to win every game.  But, what about you, as a fan?  Do you care?

I hate the Patriots.  I hate Tom Brady.  I hate Bill Bellicheat.  What was the deal with that last drive before the half?  You've got a 35-7 lead with less than 2 minutes before halftime, and you don't run the ball once?  Your receivers are bolting out of bounds to stop the clock?  And, what really pissed me off, you run a FAKE SPIKE play to try to score?

Seriously, what the f**k was up with that??  A fake spike?  The ONLY reason to run that play is to mock the Phins.  

I hope we stomp a mudhole in their asses when we play again up in New England.  I know it's wishful thinking, but I hope they remain undefeated till our next game and we shut their asses out like we did last year.

I hate the Patriots.

Current race:

Dolphins 0-6
St Louis 0-6
New Orleans 1-5
Atlanta 1-5

Which team lands the #1 pick?  (poll below)

And - how do they determine a tie breaker if 2 teams are winless?  (not a prediction, just curious)

(another note - funny thing, none of these teams really need the best player coming out - Darren McFadden)

[editor's note, by Matty I] I'm moving this from the diaries section to the front page because I think it's an interesting discussion that's been started and I'm curious what others might think. Kudos to tenaciouslee for starting this thread! [end note]

So if one of them decides to come back to the NFL next season - should the Phins try to land him?  I know it's not fair to Cam, but hey, it's the NFL - it's not always fair.  Given the track record of those two, it would seem foolish to not at least gauge their interest and talk to them?  And I'd lay good odds that they'll both be coaching next season...