« Dolfan Satisfaction Meter: 79.4%; plus Cutler, Miami stun New England 27-17; also, Radio Tuesday, Greg's Lobos news, latest Hot Button Top 10, Stanton trade poll (vote now) & more | Main | Derek Jeter: Grading his performance as Marlins boss 10 weeks into the job. New poll. Vote now!; plus Dolphins-Bills and other NFL Week 15 picks & more »

How does Derek Jeter dare show his face in this town?; plus McShay's mock pick for Dolphins, Cutler's climb in QB rankings, Broncos-Colts pick, David Grisham = idiot, NFL Pix 'n Fantasy results (Go Lobos!), your blame verdict on Stanton trade & more

GREG COTE'S RANDOM EVIDENCE BLOG: MIAMI. SPORTS. AND BEYOND.

1) It's THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14. Am at Friday Page World Headquarters today making my Week 15 NFL picks. Uh oh. 2) Watch for our season-ending college State Offensive Player of the Year (SOPY) results following all of the bowl games. 3) Holiday shopping? Giving all the Dolfans on your list the gift of my book on the club's first half-century. Click Fins At 50. 4) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Dolphins stun Patriots with my 5 takeaways and DSM poll, thanks for the memories Giancarlo with blame poll, Hot Button Top 10 & more. 5Join us on Twitter @gregcote. Also Facebook, Instagram, Periscope and Snapchat.

ICYMI, my column on Marlins trading Stanton: Click Stanton Had All the Power -- And Used It.

Thursday's Broncos-Colts pick: Two bad teams and one awful matchup, but somebody gotta win tonight! Click Thursday Gem to find out who will.

STANTON, GORDON, NOW OZUNA ... HOW DOES JETER DARE SHOW HIS FACE IN THIS TOWN?: Dee Gordon going first sounded the fire (sale) alarm. JeterGiancarlo Stanton being traded was the bombshell that made it a three-alarm blaze. Now Marcell Ozuna is dealt and the flames climb higher. Three of the Marlins' best and most popular players -- gone. Three of the reasons for a local fan to go to Marlins Park and care about this team -- gone. Such high hopes were held for the new ownership group of Bruce Sherman and Derek Jeter. They had to be better than Jeffrey Loria ...right? Be careful what you wish for. You might get it. Recently new Jeter has been courtside at a Heat game (vs. Golden State) and then up in a suite for the Dolphins' Monday night game vs. New England (when he should have been upstate attending the baseball winter meetings instead of hiding from the tough questions). Honestly, I'm surprised at this point that Jeter has the nerve to show up anywhere in public in South Florida. He is now the guy dismantling the Marlins, running the fire sale. His cascade from heroic entrance to Loria 2.0 has been dizzying fast. It may already be too late to win back angry fans, but the new Litmus test is Christian Yelich, the last remaining star of any stature. Trade him, too, Jeter, and you'll never recover in this town. What the "new" Marlins have given away in a pure salary dump:

Giancarlo Stanton: Age 28, 59 homers, 132 RBIs, 1.007 OPS, NL MVP. 

Marcell Ozuna: Age 27, .312 average, 37 homers, 124 RBIs, .924 OPS.

Dee Gordon: Age 29, .308 average, 114 runs, leadoff man, 60 stolen bases. 

Poll result: Most blame Jeter for Stanton trade: We asked who you blame most for Giancarlo Stanton no longer being a Marlin, and offered four choices. Your verdict: 51.9 percent blame new owner Derek Jeter (pictured) for not committing to keeping Stanton and building around him; 31.5% blame former owner Jeffrey Loria for Stanton's huge, back-loaded contract that made keeping him difficult; 15.4% blame nobody because trading big contracts for prospects may prove smart; and only 1.2% blame Stanton himself for agreeing to be traded.

QnelsonFIGHTING IRISH TO FIGHTING FIN? MCSHAY'S EARLY MOCK-DRAFT PICK FOR MIAMI: Todd McShay today offers his 2018 Mock Draft 1.0 for ESPN. He has Southern Cal QB Sam Darnold going No. 1 overall to Cleveland. No Miami Hurricanes make his first round; in fact the only state player who makes it is Florida State safety Derwin James, going 13th to Washington. McShay projects the Dolphins selecting 14th overall and taking Notre Dame guard Quenton Nelson (pictured). Says McShay: "Guard is a glaring need for the Dolphins, who need to protect whomever is at QB and get more push in the running game. Nelson is the most NFL-ready offensive lineman in this class and a road-grader (listed at 6-foot-5, 235 pounds). He's ready to start right away." Makes some sense. But I also think Miami may be tired of using first-round picks on offensive linemen, which they have done four times since 2008. 

JaycutlerBRADY'S LEAD NARROWS, CUTLER CLIMBS / HERALD NFL QB RANKINGS / WEEK 14: The Steelers’ Ben Roethlisberger rode a 506-yard performance to a season-best 58.30-point game to win Week 14 and climb to fourth place overall in the Miami Herald’s NFL quarterback rankings. Patriot Tom Brady maintains the overall season lead but his margin has slipped to less than 18 points over second place Drew Brees of the Saints — who is officially now in the passing lane with three weeks to play. Meanwhile, the Dolphins’ Jay Cutler (pictured) climbs three big spots to 21st overall off a solid 39.15-point game Monday night. This is the 20th season of our Passer Success System (PASS) rankings, which began in 1998. Our formula is simple and unchanged since its inception, factoring accuracy, yardage, TD-interception ratio and team result. Most major ranking systems such as the NFL’s and ESPN’s are complicated and percentile based, allowing QBs who miss half a season to still win a title, while our system is cumulative, rewarding players who are consistently productive and avoid injury or benching. [Click here to see the latest QB rankings online].

The Top 20 plus Dolphins entering Week 15:

RK LW Player, Team                    WK14      Season

1    1  Tom Brady, NE                   13.65      473.20

2    2  Drew Brees, NO                 33.55      455.45

3    3  Alex Smith, KC                   21.40      414.35

4    8  Ben Roethlisberger, PIT      58.30      409.20

5    6  Matthew Stafford, DET       49.05      407.15

6    7  Carson Wentz, PHI              32.55      386.80

7    4  Russell Wilson, SEA             16.55      383.35

8    9  Philip Rivers, LAC               31.95      381.55

9    5  Kirk Cousins, WAS               10.55      376.00

10 10 Jared Goff, LAR                  21.95      365.40

11 12 Case Keenum, MIN              24.00      362.15

12 11 Matt Ryan, ATL                   13.05      354.90

13 13 Josh McCown, NYJ              -0.70      336.30

14 14 Derek Carr, OAK                 14.55      317.10

15 16 Dak Prescott, DAL              40.60      313.20

16 18 Blake Bortles, JAC              33.40      294.05

17 15 Andy Dalton, CIN                  6.05      281.35

18 19 Joe Flacco, BAL                  21.45      278.65

19 19 Cam Newton, CAR              12.85      276.00

20 20 Eli Manning, NYG                24.40      274.95

21 24 Jay Cutler, MIA                   39.15      249.00

39 38 Matt Moore, MIA                  DNP         72.05

Bubble: Cutler, MIA, 249.00. Week 14 Best: Roethlisberger, PIT, 58.30, season high (44-66, 506, 2-0 in win). Week 14 Worst: Bryce Petty, NYJ, minus-4.30 (2-9, 14, 0-0 in loss).

'PASTOR' AND REAL-LIFE GRINCH DAVID GRISHAM IS A REPREHENSIBLE MORON: I have nothing against religion but believe it to be a very personal matter
Davidgrishamand do not appreciate aggressive evangelism, whether it be Jehovahs knocking on my door or this example from a mall in Amarillo, Texas, where a self-described pastor from Alaska's Last Frontier Evangelism started telling little kids there is no Santa Claus. Have you heard this? What a moron David Grisham is. What a reprehensible idiot. Little kids waiting in a line to sit on Santa's lap and this stranger starts crapping all over their childhood because he feels Santa is getting too much credit at the expense of Jesus. Or something. Angry parents started confronting this selfish Grinch. I almost wish somebody had decked him. I'd been in the long line of those volunteering to pay the bail. You can find the story and the wildly incriminating video this nut took of himself here. The off-his-rocker lunatic also is pictured.

NFL PIX 'N FANTASY: WEEK 14 RESULTS: Every week in the blog I tell you know how I did the previous NFL weekend with my Miami Herald predictions and with Fripix Lobosmy Greg's Lobos team in the LeBatard Show fantasy league. WEEK 14: Herald picks: Mixed bag. Went upset crazy and got hammered straight-up with only an 8-8 mark, but was a nifty 9-5-2 against the spread, with two games off the board. Hit outright upsets wins by the Falcons, Panthers, Broncos and Eagles, and also had three other 'dogs-with-points in Jaguars, Ravens and Dolphins. Greg's Lobos: Thriller! The playoffs began with a Lobos miracle: 24.6 points from Jarvis Landry Monday night and a 120-117.4 victory over No. 1 seed Chris. Man! We made the final four and face Allyson in a semifinal this week. #GoLobosGo

Revisit our blog often because we update and add to our latest posts throughout the day.

Twitter @gregcote

Comments