Click on Bigger Than Just A Win for my column off last night's Dolphins game.
DOLFAN SATISFACTION METER: G8: 50.3%: Results are certified in the latest Dolfan Satisfaction Meter postgame poll, and they show 50.3 percent overall satisfaction in the wake of Thursday night's 22-20 overtime victory vs. Cincinnati putting the Dolphins' season record at 4-4. The DSM, in its sixth season, is a continuous weekly gauge of how fans are feeling about the Dolphins and their direction. Right after each game I invite you to share your overall degree of satisfaction. Criteria for voting is your own, but I suggest fans consider the most recent game's performance and caliber of opponent, season as a whole, direction the club is heading and your overall degree of optimism -- all in the context of reasonable expectations. Polls never close, but results are certified official the morning after one full day of voting. In this case that will be around 7 a.m. Saturday.
2013 DSM Results
G1: 86.5% satisfaction (20.3v, 66.2s) following 23-10 victory at Cleveland.
G2: 98.8% satisfaction (71.9v, 26.9s) following 24-20 victory at Indianapolis.
G3: 99.0% satisfaction (78.2v, 20.8s) following 27-23 victory vs. Atlanta.
G4: 58.2% satisfaction (18.8v, 39.4s) following 38-17 loss at New Orleans.
G5: 33.5% satisfaction (4.3v, 29.2s) following 26-23 loss vs. Baltimore.
G6: 6.5% satisfaction (3.8v, 2.7s) following 23-21 loss to Buffalo.
G7: 4.7% satisfaction (3.0v, 1.7s) following 27-17 loss at New England.
G8: 50.3% satisfaction (8.2-v, 42.1-s) following 22-20 OT victory vs. Cincinnati.
Next poll: Nov. 11 following game at Tampa Bay.
G8: DOLPHINS 22, CINCINNATI 20 (OT): Final/OT: Finally, a victory! Miami ends four-game skid (sorry, I'd earlier written five) with 22-20 triumph on Cam Wake's third sack of game, dropping Cincy's Andy Dalton in end zone in overtime. Defense rose up when needed, Ryan Tannehill had zero turnovers and Lamar Miller rushed for 105 yards. A quality win over a strong Bengals team. Moire than that, a desperately needed win by Miami. ..... Halftime: Strong Halloween night performance so far by Miami. Team has 142 yards rushing and a 6.5 average and Ryan Tannehill has a 91.7 passer rating. That sounds like it should be worth more than 10 points. But when the defense is limiting the Bengals to 141 total yards, that's enough for a 10-3 lead. ..... Original post: Have the Dolphins ever had a tougher week than this short one preparing to play a very good Bengals team tonight? Have the Dolphins ever seemed less ready for a prime-time national stage? The four-game
losing streak after a 3-0 start is the hub of the despair, of course. With that has come severely shaken confidence in coach Joe Philbin and more ominously in young quarterback Ryan Turnoverhill Tannehill, who has 14 turnovers himself (nine INTs, five lost fumbles) in seven games. Wait, there's more! One offensive lineman, Mike Pouncey, is served with a subpoena in the Aaron Hernandez murder case, an issue made bigger by the club's refusal to comment on it. Another lineman, Jonathan Martin, has left the team under emotional duress, reportedly after ribbing from teammates, fellow linemen, that was not received well in the team's lunchroom Monday. There are additonal reports of growing tension within the lockerroom and on the coaching staff -- the picture of a team fraying and in jeopardy of ripping apart. Otherwise, it's all good! No team in the NFL needs a win more desperately right now, and that includes winless Jacksonville and Tampa Bay. (Yes, the state's three NFL teams are a collective cesspool at the moment). Now here's the strange thing: I like the Dolphins tonight. Despite the losing streak, the turmoil and all of the off-field stuff. Miami needs this so much more than Cincy does. The Dolphins are not as bad as they appeared in the second half in New England last week. And I think Miami will be able to run the ball on a Bengals defense mssing middle linebacker Ray Maualuga. Now let's see if I'm nuts or a genius. My pick was: Upset. Dolphins, 24-20.
UPSET BIRD DAY: WEEK 9 NFL PREDIX: The Dolphins have already played and yet the NFL has the
temerity to continue with its schedule. Miami's win last night, by the way, ended a combined 25-game losing streak by the state of Florida's three teams: A current 13 straight L's for Jacksonville, eight for Tampa Bay and what had been four straight for the Dolphins. Click on Week 9 Gems for all of our latest NFL picks, and on King Sport Halftime Awards for our midseason trophy outlook. (My week got off to a great start last night. I picked Dolphins in an upset, 24-20. It was 22-20).
DRUGGIE COACHES RESIGN AT FAU: Put on Earth to make Dolfans feel better about their team, FAU football is rocked by the sudden, scandalous resignations of coach Carl Pelini (pictured) and offensive
coordinator Pete Rekstis for using unspecified illegal drugs. A university source told me it was marijuana, but that is not officially confirmed. As bad as the drug use here is the hypocrisy: Coaches preaching to their kids to do the right thing and represent while they do the opposite. I don't know that Pelini will survive this to have any coaching future beyond perhaps a pity-hire by his more prominent coaching brother Bo. Maybe the shamed Pelini can develop an acumen for used-car sales? (BTW, anybody else think Dopin' Carl looks like an older Kenny Chesney?)
Poll result: Heat will repeat. Repeat. Heat will repeat: I asked for a yes or no and 83.4 percent said yes. Not surprising, maybe, coming in a Miami Herald blog. But the vote was virtually the same (83.6) in Florida, where a higher concentration of Heat fans might be presumed.
Click back. Will be updating/adding to this latest blogpost...
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