1) It is MONDAY, DECEMBER 30. Click on Random Evidence for the latest Sunday notes-column package, leading with Dolphins-Jets, and on Drama Not Done Yet for my column from Orlando off Saturday's Canes bowl beating. 2) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Hurricanes-Louisville bowl game, season-ending CSM poll & more. 2) Follow us on Twitter (gregcote), Instagram (Upsetbird), Vine (Greg Cote) and Facebook (Greg Cote).
Canesfan Satisfaction Meter: 16.1%: See blogpost directly below for our final CSM poll results. Figure is lower than I think it should be following a 9-4 season, but I respect the verdict. It reflects the bitter taste of a 36-9 bowl loss. It also reflects that UM once was 7-0 and ranked No. 7 (remember?) for losing four of last six games.
Click on Dolphins Did What They Do: Disappoint for my column from Sunday's season-ending loss. In-game commentary is directly below poll.
DOLFAN SATISFACTION METER: G16/SEASON FINAL: Results are in on the latest and last Dolfan Satisfaction Meter postgame poll, and they show 4.2 percent overall satisfaction -- a season-low approval rating -- in the wake of Sunday's 20-7 loss vs. the New York Jets putting the Dolphins' final season record at 8-8. This is the season-ending poll. 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. Because this was the last poll I asked that extra weight be given to the season as a whole. Polls never close, but results are certified official the morning after one full day of voting. In this case that was around 8:15 a.m. today/Tuesday.
2013 DSM Results
G1: 86.5% (20.3-v, 66.2-s) following 23-10 victory at Cleveland.
G2: 98.8% (71.9-v, 26.9-s) following 24-20 victory at Indianapolis.
G3: 99.0% (78.2-v, 20.8-s) following 27-23 victory vs. Atlanta.
G4: 58.2% (18.8-v, 39.4-s) following 38-17 loss at New Orleans.
G5: 33.5% (4.3-v, 29.2-s) following 26-23 loss vs. Baltimore.
G6: 6.5% (3.8-v, 2.7-s) following 23-21 loss to Buffalo.
G7: 4.7% (3.0-v, 1.7-s) following 27-17 loss at New England.
G8: 50.3% (8.2-v, 42.1-s) following 22-20 OT victory vs. Cincinnati.
G9: 4.7% (3.6-v, 1.1-s) following 22-19 loss at Tampa Bay.
G10: 42.4% (7.2-v, 35.2-s) following 20-16 victory vs. San Diego.
G11: 7.8% (4.0-v, 3.8-s) following 20-16 loss vs. Carolina.
G12: 61.9% (12.3-v, 49.6-s) following 23-3 victory at N.Y. Jets.
G13: 84.9% (28.3-v, 56.6-s) following 34-28 victory at Pittsburgh.
G14: 96.3% (65.-v, 31.0-s) following 24-20 victory vs. New England.
G15: 13.4% (4.3-v, 9.1-s) following 19-0 loss at Buffalo.
G16: 4.2% (2.4-v, 1.8-s) following 20-7 loss vs. N.Y. Jets.
Yearly DSM results:
2013: 4.2% (following 8-8 season)
2012: 29.8% (following 7-9 season)
2011: 34.9% (following 6-10 season)
2010: 3.8% (following 7-9 season)
2009: 31.2% (following 7-9 season)
2008: 96.9% (following 11-5 season/playoff loss)
G16: N.Y. STINKIN' JETS @ DOLPHINS: IT ONLY MEANS EVERYTHING, THAT'S ALL: Final: Tannehill rough day with three INTs and a 42.1 passer rating exemplifies a miserable must-win performance by Miami. Watch for my game column online soon. ...... 4Q: Tannehill intercepted for third time. Done. ... NYJ lead now 20-7 with 26-yard FG with 2:59 to play, set up by Tanny INT. ... Forget about the playoffs. Tannehill intercepted (by old Cane Ed Reed) with 3:59 to play. All over but the cryin'. ... Dolphins down 17-7 with 4:18 left after 35-yard NYJ field goal. Miami playoff hopes on life-support. Priest walking in room. ... Huge gift for Miami as Jets blow 36-yard FG try, wide right. Seemed to go right over upright, a miss by inches if it was really a miss at all. ..... 3Q: Jets driving as quarter ends; MIA playoff hopes in great peril. ..... Tannehill intercepted by Dee Milliner one play after a near-TD into end zone appeared to be catchable but Wallace did not make the play. ... Awful. MIA goes for it on 4th-and-1 from own 48, Charles Clay carries, gets nothing; Jets ball. Dolphins' lack of a running game has become stunning. ..... Half: Miami is getting help in Cincinnati, where the Ravens are down 17-6 at the half. But Miami is not helping itself in Miami in a must-win game. Too little offense. Despite a TD pass Tannehill is only 20-for-22 for 118 yards, and the running game is run-down (again), with 28 yards so far on 13 carries. ..... 2Q: Stinkers up 14-7 three seconds before halftime on Geno Smith pinballing 7-yard run up middle at 0:03. Planes had a timeout left, so not that daring a call. ... NYJ squares it 7-7 on 1-yard run by 300-pound D-lineman Sheldon Richardson. ... Miami 7-0 on Wallace 5-yard TD catch from Tanny. ... Early concern that Hartline knee injury could be serious. His return is called questionable. Don't expect it. ..... 1Q: Dolphins driving, at NYJ 41 as quarter ends. ... Hartline 25-yard catch, but limps off field with tweaked ankle. ... Joe "Red Flag" Philbin wins another challenge for a first down; is now 7-for-8 on challenges this year. ... Oy. Brandon Fields celebrates Pro Bowl selection with 18-yard punt. ..... Pregame: Better than average Dolphins home crowd, but still lots of empty seats in the upper corners -- too many, given the stakes. ... This is when people will try to tell you the Dolphins crowd is "half Jets fans." No, it isn't. My visual guesstimate has it Dolphonics by maybe a 7-1 margin. ..... Original post: Well, being honest here, I am writing this at around 3 a.m. from Orlando, after columnizing off the Hurricanes' awful bowl
show against Louisville, followed by requisite post-game libations. So I hope this makes some sense. I hate the casual, inaccurate use of the phrase "must win" in sports. I love-love-LOVE that today vs. the Jets in the regular-season finale actually IS a must-win for Miami. I love that Miami is in the playoff chase, after last making it in 2008 and last winning a playoff game in 2000. I mean, are we starving over here or what!? All know that Miami must beat the Stinkin' Jets today and then hope either the Ravens lose or the Chargers win. I like all three happening. But that accentuates the fascination here, which is that a Dolphins playoff berth will be all the more special for the trampling of the hated Jets to get it ... while an elimination at the hands of Rex Ryan's grinning face may be just too much to bear for Dolfans already stinging from last week's shutout loss at Buffalo. Must win? Oh yes. Literally, figuratively, and every which way. My pick: Playoffs! Dolphins, 24-20.
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