Warpticon

Mississippi State lost just 17-14 to Auburn last year and that was the Cam Newton-led Tigers. Since then Auburn lost a ton to graduation and is starting quite a few young players (talented, but young) and Mississippi State returned a good amount of players, including QB Chris Relf. I don't know if fiver will agree with this, but Auburn is pretty likely to finish either 5th or 6th in West while Mississippi State could be anywhere from 2nd to 4th (depending on how well LSU and Arkansas do). Also, Auburn should have lost to Utah State last week and it took some crazy luck/clutch play/whatever for them to escape with a win. I never understood why Auburn was ranked so high to start the season at all...I actually think I said something similar, in this thread even, but I don't remember the context. Anyway, Auburn looks like pretty clearly the 5th best team in the SEC West, at best. I would have had MSU over Auburn anyway, but especially after that sad performance last week by Auburn.

Looked to me like he had them even. He ranked the AFC East NE, NY, BUF, MIA, which was what started the whole discussion. And even he had them even, it still doesn't change anything. Didn't he have 6-7 wins for both of them? Seems like you're arguing over nothing. It's a couple of crappy teams. Miami may be relatively crappy, but they have a decent chance at being good. Buffalo doesn't.

Looked to me like he had them even. He ranked the AFC East NE, NY, BUF, MIA, which was what started the whole discussion. And even he had them even, it still doesn't change anything.

You think 6 games is hard to achieve? You can be a flawed team that wins 6 games. They also get to face teams like Miami and the AFC West. That wasn't the point. Did you read the rest of the paragraph? I did. Your question didn't make much sense. He basically has the Bills and Dolphins even and you are mad because Buffalo has some of the same issues that the Dolphins have and should therefore get fewer wins? What's hard about this? I questioned his reasons for putting the Bills ahead of the Dolphins when they all apply to the Bills as well, but the Bills have a far inferior defense.

You think 6 games is hard to achieve? You can be a flawed team that wins 6 games. They also get to face teams like Miami and the AFC West. That wasn't the point. Did you read the rest of the paragraph?

I have the Dolphins at 6 wins. Buffalo at 6-7. But again, there's plenty of examples of 1500 yard RBs with a poor OL. Matt Forte played behind a terrible line last year and cleared 1600. Mendenhall cleared 1400 behind a bad OL, and he doesn't catch the ball at all. I guess it's more of me having faith that Bush will be healthy and the focal point of an offense for the first time in his career. If he gets 180-190 carries, he'll be there. And I don't understand how the defense thing is not a valid reason. They bring back the same guys that only intercepted 11 passes and caused 8 fumbles last year. I understand that some players got some valuable experience last year and could/should be better this year, but it's not going to mean much if they are constantly on the field. In my opinion to have a playoff caliber defense (aka winning team) it doesn't matter if you stop teams from moving the ball. It's how you get the ball back to your offense. The Saints and Colts won recent Superbowls with opportunistic but bad defenses. Nobody has won with good defenses that don't take the ball away. The only teams to make the playoffs last year with less than 15 INTs were the Jets (who also had a great run D), Seattle (by default at 7-9), Indianapolis and New Orleans (fantastic offenses). The top 6, and 8 of the top 10 teams in INTs won 10 games last year. The Dolphins have neither a cupcake division nor fantastic offense. If they get lucky they can pull a "Jets", but that's clearly a longshot. I'm curious why you think the Bills will win 6-7 games, then. As far as I can see, they have all the concerns you have about the Dolphins besides QB play, only worse in most cases. Their line isn't great. They don't produce turnovers either, but they were dead last in run defense last year and 24th overall. Their talent at the skill positions isn't great. What am I missing here? And while there are examples of RBs making yardage behind "bad" OLs, I don't find it coincidental that your two examples have 15+ pounds on Bush. They also don't have an extended injury history and reputation for being pedestrian between the tackles, either. Regarding the defense, yes, they bring back the "same guys that only intercepted 11 passes." Did you miss the part where 3/4 of the starting secondary was second year players? I don't think you can extrapolate much out of past season interception rates, especially when applied to a secondary that is primarily 25 and under. Interception rates aren't very consistent from season to season anyway. Pitt had 12 picks in 2009 and 21 in 2010. New Orleans had 26 in '09 and 9 last year. 6-10 Buffalo of '09 had 28 interceptions in 2009 while 4-12 Buffalo in 2010 had 11. All of these examples are with primarily the same personnel. Beyond that, though, what does how New Orleans won the Super Bowl or how many playoff teams were above some arbitrary cutoff of interceptions have to do with whether the Dolphins place higher than the Bills?

I think they could very easily be much, much better offensively. They're not running a hyper-conservative offensive system that castrates the team's QB and top receiver. They have added significant speed at all the skill positions. My biggest question mark is really the offensive line (particularly the right side...what were these morons thinking by signing Marc Columbo, let alone starting him, let alone moving a 7-year starting tackle to guard to start him?!), but it's a huge one. If it holds up, there's room for a massive jump. If it doesn't, it could just as easily fall apart. I think the Dolphins defense will be terrific, though, and has a legit shot at #1 in the league. What Bush having a good year doesn't mean the Dolphins will be good. Go ask Frank Gore. Okay...so why do you think the Dolphins will finish in the cellar while getting 1500 yards out of Bush? QB play, OL from the C to the RT, despite the defense being strong they are on the field a long time and don't create turnovers, tied for 10th toughest schedule in the league which is even harder if you think the Cowboys and Texans will be better than they were last year. Yeah, I don't get any of those except schedule. QB play may not improve, but they've won 7 games the last two seasons (should have won 8 last year) and been 7-6 after 13 games both seasons with the same QB they're playing now. Reason not to improve? Possibly. Reason to regress? don't see it. OL is my biggest concern with the team, easily. I'm not arguing that OL isn't a concern. I just don't see how you can view OL as such a concern that it pushes Miami to the bottom of the division AND have Bush getting 1500 yards from scrimmage. That's really the #1 part that makes no sense to me. There's no way in hell he gets close to those numbers if the OL is bad, much less bad enough to make them a cellar dweller. "The defense is good but doesn't create turnovers" is a strange reason to downgrade a team, especially when that defense trended sharply upward until the last game and was starting a rookie and four second year men. And the schedule is definitely tough, but it's not significantly tougher than last year's was. Last year they played 8 games against playoff teams; this year they play 6 games against teams that made the playoffs last year. Still, the schedule is the easiest part of the reasoning to understand. I just can't see them winning fewer than 6 games without an absolute implosion, and I doubt Buffalo wins more than that.

I think they could very easily be much, much better offensively. They're not running a hyper-conservative offensive system that castrates the team's QB and top receiver. They have added significant speed at all the skill positions. My biggest question mark is really the offensive line (particularly the right side...what were these morons thinking by signing Marc Columbo, let alone starting him, let alone moving a 7-year starting tackle to guard to start him?!), but it's a huge one. If it holds up, there's room for a massive jump. If it doesn't, it could just as easily fall apart. I think the Dolphins defense will be terrific, though, and has a legit shot at #1 in the league. What Bush having a good year doesn't mean the Dolphins will be good. Go ask Frank Gore. Okay...so why do you think the Dolphins will finish in the cellar while getting 1500 yards out of Bush?

I think they could very easily be much, much better offensively. They're not running a hyper-conservative offensive system that castrates the team's QB and top receiver. They have added significant speed at all the skill positions. My biggest question mark is really the offensive line (particularly the right side...what were these morons thinking by signing Marc Columbo, let alone starting him, let alone moving a 7-year starting tackle to guard to start him?!), but it's a huge one. If it holds up, there's room for a massive jump. If it doesn't, it could just as easily fall apart. I think the Dolphins defense will be terrific, though, and has a legit shot at #1 in the league. What

When it rains, it pours, I guess. Ole Miss lost its top two backs in the opening game. Arkansas lost its #1 and #2 rushers from a year ago before the season started. Dennis Johnson, who missed almost all of last year, missed game 1 with a hamstring injury.

Assuming Boise makes it past Air Force, San Diego State, and TCU Man, reading that makes me so sad. That conference could have been amazing, with TCU, Utah, and BYU still in it and Nevada and Hawaii possibly joining.

Disagree. They're wonderful. Helmets are ugly, but uniforms are great. BTW, IU is going to lose to freaking Ball State. The helmets wreck everything. I can't look past them. They make everything else look like kool-aid and blood soup.

Joe Adams is one of my favorite players in the 2012 draft. I think he will be one of the 5 fastest WRs, and he's a great route runner. As a WR, he reminds me of Devin Hester.....if Hester was as good as everyone hoped he could be. Adams can move, no doubt, and he's better in traffic than you'd expect. He doesn't have great size, and the Sugar Bowl didn't help his stock any, but I think he's definitely a player who can make an impact at the next level. I see him as a probable second rounder if he has the season I expect him to.

Tyler Wilson doesn't step up into the pocket as much as I like, but he can sling that football, and he's got pretty nimble feet to boot. Wow, Joe Adams just had his second punt return for a touchdown on the day.

Wow, these Georgia uniforms are a travesty.

Notre Dame horribly overrated at the start of the season? Go figure. Seriously, though, this is yet another example of how dumb preseason polls are.

That suggests you were comfortable with Jefferson, which...why?

Man, the right side of Miami's OL is horrible right now. If they don't do something about that, it's gonna be a long season. Chad Henne looks great, though.

LSU is probably better off without him. Yeah, I'm sure they can find somebody to throw more picks than touchdowns on their roster somewhere.

Can't forget Bryan Cox. The 12 year old in me still laughs at the fact that, at one point, the Dolphins started Cox and Beavers at linebacker.

I am way more annoyed than I should be that this quote refers to Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston, and Tony Siragusa as a "pairing."

For me, it's Florida State @ 5, Nebraska @ 11, Auburn at 19 (ahead of Mississippi State, even) that I don't get.

This is his 3rd time with the Dolphins. I am aware of that...not sure what your point is.

Jason Taylor signs with the Dolphins. I'm confused...why did they let him go in the first place?

Not a good reference on whether the injury affected his power. :lol: