As a long suffering Dolphin fan, I wrote the season off early, with my excitement reserved for next year’s draft.
But, dammit, they’ve clawed their way back into making tonight’s game interesting. They sit at 6-7, and it’d be nice for them to finish the season with a winning record.
I still think that the team needs a new quarterback in the draft, but I think that McDaniel is actually a good head coach, and he’s getting good play out of his squad. With a new GM for next year, I’d like for him to stick around.
Don’t get me wrong. I sort of expect a shellacking tonight - Tua can’t play in the cold. But I’m still optimistic about the trajectory of the team.
That’s how the Packers did it in 2010. They made it in as the #6 (lowest) seed in the NFC, won three road games in the NFC playoffs to get to the Super Bowl, and then beat the Steelers for the championship
You might be right, it is just that our schedule has been such that we haven’t really played a SB contender other than the Rams and possibly the 49ers.
Thursday will be telling but so will the rest of the season, if we go 0-3 then I would be very surprised if we don’t go one and out, even finishing 1-2 would mean we would probably play in Philly or somewhere in the WC round and our record against playoff caliber teams would make us significant underdogs for that.
Beat the Rams and I still feel we would need to beat either the Panthers or 49ers to get the No 1 seed that would be required to be favorite to win the NFC and possibly the SB, I am struggling to work out where we stand compared to the Broncos and Pats.
They’ll have a much harder schedule next year than this year. The strength of schedule games don’t really matter all that much. Giants have been terrible for the last few years and yet because of divisional matchups they had the hardest schedule in the league this year, their two strength of schedule games notwithstanding.
EDIT: Actually, maybe, maybe not. Chiefs were ranked as having the 6th the hardest schedule in 2025. I’m not sure it’s even mathematically possible to have a “much” harder schedule than 6th hardest.
The point I was making was because you are playing the NFCW next year who have the 3 teams with the best record in the NFC at present the KC schedule might not be “somewhat easier” than it is this season or has been in recent years.
I suppose in theory it should be easier that it would have been had they finished first or second in their division but even will the 2026 Colts play like they did in the first half of this year and be a better team than the Jags, it is also not hard to believe Jowe Burrow leading the Bengals to be the top team in the AFCN next year.
Normally, yes, but that’s only because good teams generally remain good year over year. This year is remarkable in that so many perennially bad teams came out of nowhere to win the division. Who knows if they’ll be good again next year?
Regarding the strength of schedule game versus the AFC South, I mean, throw a dart at a board to predict who will be the best team next season. (Unless they get the Titans out of this, in which case, hell yeah, much easier.)
Similar deal with the AFC North. Any of those four teams could end up being the one you don’t want to have to face.
In general you’re correct, though, of course. I’m still hung up on the fact that the Chiefs had the sixth hardest schedule this year. I can’t reconcile how that’s possible considering that they played the NFC East.
The problem with “toughest schedule” discussions is when you look at the ratings.
For example, you can look at a schedule early in the season and determine it’s tough based on how strong those teams were last year. But then by the time the games start, injuries have depleted them, a couple of them are using backup QBs, etc. Or there is some other reason why they aren’t very good.
The reverse might be true. A team with a rookie QB who struggled in the recent past might look like an easy win, but by the time the game comes around, that QB is rookie of the year and lighting up teams with athleticism, and surrounded by great weapons the team can afford thanks to having a rookie contract.
If you check ESPN’s updated SoS ranks, it looks like they have KC at #3, as of today. The other teams in the top 5 are the Giants, Titans, Houston, and Detroit, so that’s an interesting mix.
Rough luck though. Their schedule is #31 for the remaining games (sure, they have Denver again but also the Titans and Raiders) but down their QB and eliminated from the playoffs.
The luck has been thoroughly abysmal, even before the Mahomes injury.
The Chiefs are still at +60 points for the season with a 6-8 record. Every other team with a positive differential is at least 8-6 at this point.
Their remaining games are Titans, Broncos, Raiders. But they have Gardner Minshew in at QB. They could very easily lose all of those games, but not by a ton of points, and end up at 6-11 with a positive point differential.
A quick search didn’t show me the worst NFL record for a team with a positive point spread for the season, but 6-11 has to be pretty far down the list.
ETA: OK, I found the 2021 Seahawks finished 7-10 with a +29. That’s pretty bonkers. And they were 5-10 after week 15, with a (smaller) positive differential.
ETA2: And the 2008 Packers went 6-10 with a +39. I think that’s the bar.
The KC bad luck is just balancing out the good luck they had last season. Finishing 15-2 with a +59 point differential more bonkers than the Seahawks of 2021. That point differential is significantly worse than two teams in their division, the 11-6 Chargers and 10-7 Broncos were both over +100.
In the last 15 years no team other than the the Chiefs have had 2 or fewer losses with a point differential less than +191. (The 2020 Chiefs finished 14-2 with +111)
Oh absolutely! I don’t think any Chiefs fans are complaining about their team being unlucky. Eventually the kind of good luck they had just runs out. And when you add that to an aging roster, receivers that can’t catch the ball, and some pretty insipid play calling and you end up out of the playoffs.
You talk about a HUGE game tomorrow night! It’s a virtual playoff game. If the Rams win on the road at Seattle, a division title is almost a certainty with the Seahawks relaged to wild card status. On the other hand, if Seattle can come out on top at home, they have a shot at the number one seed in the NFC.
Not quite a play-off game because win or lose both teams will still be virtually certain of making the play-offs and have the potential of winning the super bowl but it is much easier to get to the SB if you are No 1 seed compared to being a wild card team.
The NFCW is crazy strong, I’ve seen some people reckon it has the top 3 in their power rankings, that set me wondering could we see a team finish third in the division but go all the way and win the super bowl.