Hope Still Remains for a Dolphins Playoff Push

Sunday's loss to the Tennessee Titans was as upsetting a loss to the organization and its fans as anyone could imagine. They were dominated in all aspects of the game, from a far less superior team, as soon as Reggie Bush put the ball on the ground, during the Dolphins second drive of the afternoon. While they were punished and beaten down during a Week 1 road loss to the Houston Texans, that one is forgivable, as the Dolphins were still a team trying to gel and it was rookie Quarterback, Ryan Tannehill's first professional game. This loss to the Titans, on home soil, was much more upsetting.

Ryan Tannehill MUST rally the troops and escape Buffalo with a W

However, the Dolphins can't let that loss be debilitating or deflating as they head down the home stretch of their 2012 season. While more dim, there remains a flicker of light for the team's playoff aspirations. It all starts in Buffalo, tonight. 

Tannehill and the Dolphins have to put Sunday's loss to the Titans behind them and focus on finishing the season 5-2, as nine wins should get you into the AFC playoff picture this season. Here's how they can do it. 

The Fish have five winnable games left on their schedule, some may argue all seven are winnable. Beating the Bills twice and the Jaguars at home are absolute must wins. They will face more formidable foes when they host the upstart Seattle Seahawks a week from this Sunday. That said, if we know anything about this year's Seahawks, or any Seahawks team of the last decase for that matter, they are unbeatable at Qwest Field but often hapless when travelling outside of Washington State. 

If the Dolphins are able to win those four games, then a trip to Candlestick Park to play the 49ers and a home and home series against the rival Patriots are the games that remain. From a look at the math, they would need to win only one of those games to be primed for a playoff spot, which they are capable of doing. 

Tonight we'll get a great indication if the 2012 Miami Dolphins are a young team learning to win consistently under the helm of a rookie signal-caller in Ryan Tannehill or an ascending team ready to capitalize on a weaker schedule, similar to the schedule they had during their 2008 playoff push. Time will tell. 

Thoughts Around the League:

-Bill Belichek is the greatest Head Coach of my generation, perhaps the greatest coach of all-time. That said, can we remove the "genius" tag given to him? As a defensive coach, he's had four years to fix a defense that has sit near the cellar of the league, especially in the back-end. While he's acquired some great defenders in the past few seasons with guys like: Chandler Jones, Brandon Spikes, Jerod Mayo, etc, the pass defense remains one of the worst in the league. 

-Michael Vick's days in a Philadelphia Eagles jersey seem to be numbered. If the Eagles cut bait in the offseason, one of the more intriguing storylines is where Vick will land next. I still think Vick has good football left in him. Don't the New York Jets make the most sense?

-If the NFL trade deadline still laid ahead of us, do you think the Pittsburgh Steelers would be on the phone with Miami Dolphins General Manager Jeff Ireland about the possibility of a trade involving Dolphins backup Quarterback, Matt Moore?

-Why do the New York Giants consistently go into hibernation in the month of November under the tutelage of Head Coach Tom Coughlin? 

-Are we really jumping off this Atlanta Falcons bandwagon already? One loss, to a divisional opponent, on the road, and we're abandoning ship like the Titanic. Despite only having a slightly above average defense, the Falcons are still the most formidable team in the league and should still be favourites to hoist the Lombardi Trophy in February. Oh and, Matt Ryan is still the league's MVP and is knocking on the door of the "elite" class of Quarterbacks.

-We only may get to witness it two or three times, but how much fun will this Andrew Luck v. Tom Brady showdown be on Sunday? Luck is everything as advertised and more but Brady is still the King of the Jungle, something has got to give on Sunday.