1) It's MONDAY, NOVEMBER 18. Check out our Miami Dolphins book, 'Fins At 50,' on Amazon. 2) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): NFL Week 11 picks, what's missing from NASCAR finale at Homestead, are Dolphins failing at failing? & more. 3) Join us on Twitter.com/gregcote. Also on Facebook and Instagram.
Our NFL Week 11 picks: Here are our Week 11 picks, including Bills at Dolphins, our Game of the Week (Texans-Ravens, a.k.a. Deshaun Watson vs. Lamar Jackson), upsets and all of the rest. To see them, visit the motherlode of prognostication that I like to call NFL Week 11 Gems.
G10: BUFFALO 37, DOLPHINS 20: AND THERE GOES THE WINNING STREAK: Original post: These teams met last month with Buffs a 17-point favorite. Now the point spread is one-third of that. Shows you what two wins in a row (and five straight weeks of competitiveness) have done for the public’s estimation of the Dolphins. Granted, wins over the Jets and a Colts team without its starting quarterback ain't so great. Still, Miami is now seen as just regular-bad, not historically inept. Hey, progress! A capable Ryan Fitzpatrick and much-improved defense give Fins a chance now, including here, at 2-7, vs. 6-3 Buffalo with Miami a reasonable 5 1/2-point underdog. The bet line sank a full point as money ran toward Miami to cover. Bills tend to fizzle away from home, dropping 12 of past 16 roadies to teams with a losing record. Inaccurate Josh Allen and that offense don’t scare you much. Then again, the Williams have won four of past five in this rivalry, and bring the NFL’s No. 3-ranked defense for both fewest points and yards allowed. Miami will likely need to be turnover-free for a shot to win, but like Fins to cover in a defensive scrum. No, I do not think winning is the new normal for Miami in 2019. But, yes, tanking season has ended. It never existed for coach Brian Flores and his guys, who want to win and now believe they can — the 2020 draft be damned. Cote’s pick: BUF 21-17. See Week 11 Gems for all of our latest picks.
DOLFAN SATISFACTION METER: G10: 44.5%: Results are certified in the latest of the Miami Herald’s Dolfan Satisfaction Meter postgame polls, and they show a dip to 44.5 percent overall approval -- the combination of "very" and "somewhat" satisfied votes -- in the wake of Sunday's 37-20 home loss to Buffalo putting Miami’s season record at 2-8. In its 12th season, the DSM is a continuous weekly gauge of how Dolfans are feeling about the team and its 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. Online voting determines the final result, which is final the morning after one full day of voting. In this case that will be around 6 a.m. today/Tuesday.
2019 DSM game-by-game results
G1: 18.3% following 59-10 loss vs. Baltimore.
G2: 24.6% following 43-0 loss vs. New England.
G3: 27.5% following 31-6 loss at Dallas.
G4: 35.3% following 30-10 loss vs. L.A. Chargers.
G5: 53.5% following 17-16 loss vs. Washington.
G6: 55.2% following 31-21 loss at Buffalo.
G7: 28.8% following 27-14 loss at Pittsburgh.
G8: 76.4% following 26-18 victory vs. N.Y. Jets.
G9: 70.9% following 16-12 victory at Indianapolis.
G10: 44.5% following 37-20 loss vs. Buffalo.
Next poll: Nov. 24 following game at Cleveland.
NASCAR'S GRAND FINALE AT HOMESTEAD: IT'S KYLE BUSCH!: My column from the track: Busch Stars In Emotional, Memorable End to Homestead's Championship Run. Original post: NASCAR's Championship Weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway wraps up Sunday with the main race for the 2019 season title among the four contending finalists Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex. (I leave the "Jr." off the latter's name because we all know by now it isn't his Dad out there). Hamlin seeks his first season championship, while the other three all have won once and recently, since 2014. There is history in this year's race. It will be the 18th and final season that Homestead has the last race and crowns the champion each year. Homestead will continue to be a NASCAR track, but starting next season its race will be held in March on the race calendar. Sunday's Championship 4 is a really good one, yet NASCAR is missing something, which I explore in my latest column. To read, please visit The Best Will Race For Title At Homestead. But Here Is What NASCAR Is Missing And Needs. Despite what I say is lacking the four contenders are all but dead-even in terms of betting odds via BetOnline, with Busch and Truex co-faves at +250 but Hamlin and Harvick in a virtual photo finish at +275. I'm more interested in who ya'll want to win. So I asked, on my Twitter feed. More than 800 race fans voted, and collectively said (your choice is pictured) you hope the one man who's never won it all wins it all:
The People's Choice a sentimental vote:
DENNY HAMLIN: 42%
Kevin Harvick: 23%
Martin Truex Jr.: 21%
Kyle Busch: 14%
Our other most recent columns: After Not Winning Enough, Are The Dolphins Now Failing At Failing? and The Player Who Started the Glory Days in for Canes Football. Also: Canes Lose Hoops Opener, But It's Fans Who Disappoint / Enjoy The Win, Miami. Here's Why Fins Still in Great Shape For Top Pick / After Mocking And Tank-Talk, Dolphins And Flores Deserved This Day / Le Batard On Return To Air, Latest Event / Do Not Waver, Dolphins. It Must Be Tua! / and Disgraced Ref Donaghy Opens Up About Game-Fix Scandal.
HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (UPDATED): WHAT SOUTH FLORIDA SPORTS FANS ARE TALKING ABOUT: Our blog-exclusive Sunday-into-Monday feature is part week-in-review, part look-ahead. Hot Button means what's on our minds, locally and nationally, from a Miami perspective, as the sports week just past pivots to the week ahead. This week's HB10:
1. NASCAR: Homestead crowns Kyle Busch NASCAR season champion: Will the People's Choice (see above) Denny Hamlin finally win a first NASCAR season championship today? Or will Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick or Martin Truex Jr. win a second? Someone would make history as Homestead-Miami Speedway hosted its final season-ending title race before moving to March starting next spring. And it was the driver you love to hate: Busch.
2. DOLPHINS: Streaking Fins (!) lose to visiting rival Buffalo: Suddenly an 0-7 team seen as tanking was a 2-7 team in jeopardy for not getting the quarterback it wants in the 2020 NFL Draft on account of unexpected success. And poor Dolfans weren't sure how to feel in truly weird-ass season. Well, normalcy returned Sunday in a 37-20 loss.
3. HEAT: Seriously, is Miami a top four seed or what?: The Heat aren't letting up at 9-3 (5-0 at home) after Saturday's win vs. New Orleans, showing early indications of making a run at a top-four East seed. Meanwhile Dion Waiters is serving a 10-game suspension for OD'ing on cannabis-laced gummy bears. No I did not make up that last sentence.
4. HURRICANES: UM prepares for Marlins Park game vs. FIU: The Canes and FIU both are off this week as they prep to play next Saturday night at neutral site Marlins Park. It will be only the schools' fourth meeting in football. UM is 3-0 and will be favored this time in the 18-21 point range. We all still recall the ugly brawl in 2007. So play nice, fellas!
5. COLIN KAEPERNICK: Relocated workout takes place for banned out of work QB: Colin Kaepernick has been effectively banned from the NFL since leading the anthem-kneel protest in 2016, but the NFL staged a workout for him Saturday. Or tried to. The NFL called him a no-show as Kaepernick staged a relocated tryout for eight teams near Atlanta. Hmm. What, like, until this, teams had no idea he was out there and available!?
6. COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Tua dislocates hip, 'Bama falls from CFP top four: Tua Tagovailoa's dislocated hip not only ends his season for Alabama but jeopardizes his 2020 draft status for QB-shopping teams like Miami. Meantime, one Alabama bounced down to fifth in the latest College Football Playoff ranking -- now on the outside looking in since only the top four make it. The top three? No problem? But Georgia leapfrogging 'Bama? Breathalyzers for the CFP voters, please.
7. MYLES GARRETT: Browns star suspended for helmet swing: Cleveland's defensive star was suspended indefinitely -- at least through the reminder of this season -- for swinging a helmet at the head of helmet-less Steelers QB Mason Rudolph Monday night. Garrett is lucky. Dudes have been arrested on the street for a lot less violence.
8. INTER MIAMI: Inaugural opener set, roster takes shape: Major League Soccer announced expansion Inter Miami would play its inaugural home opener next March 14 vs. L.A. Galaxy in the new stadium at the old Lockhart site in Fort Lauderdale. Team has eight players entering Tuesday's expansion draft and hopes to sign its two high-profile "designated players" along with a head coach before the end of the year.
9. PANTHERS: Luongo back; Cats needs more from replacement: Retired goalie Roberto Luongo is back with club as a special adviser to the GM. Meanwhile, Florida is even at 10-10 despite his replacement, Sergio Bobrovsky, entering the weekend ranked 47th in goals-against average (3.57) and 48th in saves percentage (.880). Um, there are only 31 teams in the NHL.
10. MLB: Baseball hands out the major hardware: MVPs Mike Trout of the Angels and Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers and Cy Young winners Justin Verlander of the Astros and Jacob deGrom of the Mets led MLB's trophy's parade. Shut out of all the major individual honors and settling for the World Series trophy: the Washington Nationals.
Missing the HB10 cut: Colombia, minus James Rodriguez, beat Peru 1-0 Friday before 36K at Hard Rock Stadium. Soccer and Miami = true love ..... No.1 Kentucky men lost at home to Evansville in a a huge upset. If the same results happened in March Madness, Evansville would be on a Wheaties box and have a nun ..... His network fired Canadian hockey announcing legend Don Cherry for anti-immigrant comments, and (surprise!) many in the whitest sport on Earth rose to Cherry's defense ..... The cheatin' Houston Astros should be penalized heavily for their video espionage in sign stealing. That they at least lost the World Series is proof there is a God ..... Big time in men's tennis. ATP Finals end Sunday in the U.K., then starts the Davis Cup in Spain, where Rafael Nadal leads the favored host nation ..... Tiger Woods, in an Australian radio interview, hinted he is looking at playing senior golf. Asked if he'd play into his 50s, Tiger, 44 next month, said, "The golden carrot of getting out there when you’re 50 is you get a cart, right? So that would be nice" ..... No. 17 Canes women's basketball (2-0) hosts Quinnipiac Sunday ..... The Portland Trail Blazers signed the ghost of Carmelo Anthony ..... Update: Countdown now 2,408 days (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in soccer's 2026 World Cup.
Other select recent columns: Why Is NBA Doing Business With Human Rights-Violating China In First Place? / Riley Introduces Butler -- 'Cause the Heat Don't Tank / Why Dolphins, Even Epic-Bad, May be Closer to Major Turnaround Than Canes / Turning Its Back on Kaepernick Enters Year 3 As NFL's Ongoing Shame / Quit Whining! Yes Dolphins Are Tanking, And Yes They Should / Dolphins' Ross Cannot Be Surprised By Major Fallout Over Trump Fundraiser / Le Batard on Miami Radio Turmoil: 'We Were Evicted' / Buoniconti: Hall of Famer, But Even Greater Off the Field / It Is Megan Rapinoe's World Cup -- On And Off The Field / An Era Ends As Panthers' Luongo Retires / O.J. Can Tweet What He Wants, But How He's Seen Is Not Up To Him / Inter Miami Aiming High With Barca's Suarez / End The Illogical Shame and Honor Schnellenberger / Why Tiger's Masters Triumph Is About More Than Golf / Transgender-Athlete Firestorm A Necessary Debate / Across the Rio Grande to the PGA Tour / From Dark and Empty to Top Of the World: Dan Le Batard at 50.
APSE-HONORED WORK: The Associated Press Sports Editors 2018 writing awards ranked us a Top 10 national sports columnist in the major-outlet category. Thanks, APSE. Here are the five nominated columns that earned the honor: At Doral, an annual tradition since 1962 is replaced by silence, and by what's missing / Marlins' Jose Fernandez statue is divisive yet has a chance to serve a greater purpose /NFL has moral obligation to help Buonicontis and Kiicks while it limits future suffering / What led to El Clasico Miami began with Joe Robbie's unlikely, accidental love of soccer / With 59 home runs, Stanton still had a magic season. Just hope this wasn't goodbye.
Revisit our blog often because we update and add to our latest posts throughout the day.
Twitter @gregcote
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