No true NFL fan wants to hear another NFL fan whine and cry about how a few key plays or a few less injuries here or there could change the entire season.  Fact of the matter is that it takes a miracle to avoid narrow defeats and tears, bruises, and breaks to key players for a full 17 week season.  It is, on the other hand, okay to discuss the ramifications for your football team based on these occurrences.  You won’t see any tears here…just thoughts on how the Dolphins will keep on winning.

Last week we watched a Miami squad go into the Panther’s den and beat another desperate team.  At the beginning of the game the Dolphins were down a starting corner, quarterback, running back, and tight end.  By the end of the game you can add two centers and a defensive tackle out of the line up.  The key question is how can a team without these key elements continue to be in games.  The answer is depth.  Who are the Colts without Manning?  The Jets pass defense with Revis?  The Cowboys without Witten?  I know these are just three examples, but the results are usually catastrophic with the loss of a starter at any one of these positions, let alone four.  This team is built around movable parts where players are versatile and can come off the bench and perform.  If you aren’t willing to switch positions or seem ill-equipped to step off the bench, you can probably say good-bye to your time spent in south Florida.

We see what can happen when injuries stack up as shown by the Dolphin’s predicament at center in the 4th quarter at Carolina.  With Berger’s injury following Grove’s injury, the Dolphins had to pull Nate Garner from right tackle.  We next witnessed a fumbled snap and Carolina’s interior lineman getting extreme penetration.  Garner did his best but the

phins were on life support until Ricky sprung his long touchdown run (could it be because the line was getting too much penetration and lost its gap assignments?).  Sometimes it takes a little lucky or a big play to get a team through a game with backups for backups in the game.

What makes matters even more insane is the waiving of linebacker Matt Roth.  Admittedly he has been a pain (both literally and figuratively) all year after sitting out of training camp with an illness turned into groin injury turned into groin soreness that top medical professionals couldn’t even identify.  Or maybe he was disgruntled about position, playing time, money…who knows.  I trust our leadership in their decision making, but it seems scary when so many players are being carted off the field.  Hopefully Cameron Wake can get some more playing time.

The phins limp up to Buffalo this week to take on the Bills who are coming off a close loss to a Jacksonville team that I just can’t seem to figure out.  I guess we will see how good the Jags are in a few weeks.  For now it’s Ryan Fitzpatrick and gang.  This guy scares me more than Trent Edwards; I’ll blame it on his Ivy League IQ and the fact that he and T.O.

connected for almost 200 yards last week.  The weather forecast calls for partly cloudy weather and temperatures in the mid to high 40’s.  This far surpasses the potential lake effect snow and blustery temperatures in the single digits that oftentimes envelop Northwestern New York this time of year.  I’m predicting Fasano and Grove to play in this game so the Dolphins will only have to focus on the loss of Jason Ferguson.  It’s time for the big talkers at linebacker (Porter, Crowder) to put up or shut up in another AFC East must win.  It’s also time for Pittsburgh, Houston, Baltimore, and company to stop looking in their rear view mirror and realize the Dolphins are side-by-side in the sprint, or shall I say “swim”, to the playoffs.