Finsmob Unleashed

So now our schedule is out, and as we can see, it won’t be an easy one. We start off the season with back to back road games, the first against the Los Angeles Chargers who were 10-7 last season and narrowly lost to the upstart Jacksonville Jaguars in their playoff game, 31-30. Then off to play our division foe the New England Patriots. We come home to face the Denver Broncos, who were a huge disappointment last season, but you have to think Russell Wilson will bounce back from an awful season with the Broncos. Then we travel to Orchard Park NY to play our nemesis Buffalo Bills. We did finally beat the Bills 21-19 early last season, but then lost the next 2 clashes, including a closely fought playoff matchup with our 3rd string QB Skylar Thompson at the helm 34-31. None of the 3 games between the Dolphins and Bills were decided by more than 3 points. I feel like we have improved our team, it’s not going to be any easier for them.

Our next home game is October 8th when we host the NY Giants. The Giants made the playoffs last year and upset the Minnesota Vikings in their house 31-24, but then got wiped playing in Philadelphia against the SB participant Philadelphia Eagles 38-7. The Giants will struggle some with the heat early in the season in Miami. We then host the Carolina Panthers, and possibly may face the #1 draft pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, QB Bryce Young. We then face off against the NFC’s Suberbowl representative Philadelphia Eagles on October 22nd at Lincoln Financial field. Like I said, tough schedule.

After the Eagles on the road, we come home to play our division rivals for the 2nd time of the season, the New England Patriots on Sunday October 29th. Despite the fact the Patriots looked pretty bad last season, they finished only one game behind us last season. The Patriots drafted one of the best DB’s in this year’s draft, CB Christian Gonzalez. They’ll need all the help they can get! After hosting the patriots we leave the USA to play an international game and Prime Time Matchup against the defending Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs in Frankfurt, Germany. At long last, after the arduous task of traveling out of the country to face the SB Champs, we get our much needed BYE Week in Week 10.

We come out of the BYE Week to host the Las Vegas Raiders, potentially led by former 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo. The Raiders jettisoned Derek Carr and bring in a similarly talented QB, albeit one with a history of injured seasons. We’ll see how that works out. We then travel to New Jersey to play the NY Jets in another Prime Time Matchup, this one a FRIDAY game at MetLife Stadium. We hit the road again to then face the next to last of our NFC East foes, the Washington Commanders. The Commanders nabbed 2 DB’s in the 2023 NFL Draft, back to back, snaring M’s fave Emmanuel Forbes at #16, and then another CB, Jartaviue Martin 31 picks later. They will have a tough task covering against our offense.

We come for a Monday Night Football matchup against the Tennessee Titans. Will we face our old pal Ryan Tannehill, or will the Titans give the reins to rookie draftee Will Levis, who languished at the draft the entire first round surrounded by beautiful women. My heart breaks for the kid, really. The Jets come to visit us to play the rubber match between us just 3 weeks later from our last matchup. We then host our 3rd home game in a row, and the final NFC East opponent, the Dallas Cowboys.

The last 2 games of our 2023 schedule begin on the road again to face the Baltimore Ravens. Why do we seem to play them every season? Nevermore, nevermore, nevermore. Last season’s game was an absolute thriller though, with QB Tua Tagovailoa finishing off one of the greatest comebacks in NFL history, erasing a 21 point 4th QTR deficit to beat the Ravens 42-38. Our regular season finale will be us hosting the Buffalo Bills. As previously stated, we played the Bills very tough last season, even without our 1st or 2nd string QB.My hope is that we close the gap even more this year, and overtake the Bills. I also hope we face both the Ravens and Bills with our #1 QB, Tua Tagovailoa, completing his first 17 game season. Nothing against newly acquired backup Mike White, but I don’t want to see him in a game this season unless we pull Tua because we have a 30 point lead in the 4th QTR. We need our guy to be healthy, and of course the entire team to stay healthy, especially #72, LT Terron Armstead.

Fest deliberations are most likely underway, votes are being tabulated. This could potentially be the biggest Fest ever, I hope we get lots of people to make it this year. Our team is on the precipice of greatness, we’re close. It’s not easy to make that next step into the elite, but with McDaniel and Fangio, I feel like it’s going to happen. I felt like our defense was better than it played, and I still contend that Zero Coverage Blitz scheme wasn’t viable with the cast of characters we had in place. Fangio is not an all or nothing guy like Josh Boyer was. Fangio is more malleable, flexible in his approach, and he’s the opposite of Boyer, he adapts to who we’re playing and who he has to employ against them. Can’t wait for the season, and of course the Fest!

GO DOLPHINS!!!