DaveZdyrko.com

Maybe it’s just my negativity with my sports teams, but I’m starting to think that the Miami Dolphins are headed to a last place finish in the AFC East this season. Maybe I should be a little more confident with the “trifecta” of Parcells, Ireland and Sporano, but I’ve always seen last seasons’ 11-5 record and playoff berth as a bit of an aberration that was a result of an easy schedule, Brady’s knee, and Favre’s INT-parade.

And now Tom Brady looks like he’ll be coming back healthy and with the Cassel trade the Pats have an extra draft pick and a shit ton of extra cap room to shore up that defense. Even if Brady’s comeback fails, I see no reason why Matt Gutierrez can’t come in and play every bit as well as Cassel did last year. The guy has yet another year in the Pats’ system and he performed infinitely better than Matty C did in the pre-season. Cassel is just another Steve Bono, Elvis Grbac or Scott Mitchell. The Pats didn’t lose much by losing him.

The Jets should also be better this year. And that’s not just because losing Favre at this stage in his career might be addition by subtraction. With him at the helm, the Jets would all too often abandon their solid running game because they had the old gunslinger back there and it was what they were supposed to do. Leon Washington was running all over the Phins, but they went ahead and threw the ball 40 times with Favre and he was picked three times and that’s why Miami won. What scares me is that the team’s defense, which was already solid, has been substantially improved with free agency additions, trades and having a new head coach in Rex Ryan who coached some amazing Ravens D’s.

And, now, with the addition of T.O., I think the Bills also leapfrog the Phins. Sure, he could also blow that team up but he usually does well in his first season with new teams. Not to mention the fact that our secondary was ass last season and couldn’t stop any team that had a good WR. Lee Evens, for one, has been a Dolphins killer and now he has T.O. lining up opposite him with the always dangerous Roscoe Parrish (from the “U”) in the slot. We don’t have a starting caliber CB opposite the aging Will Allen and our safeties are more known for their run support than pass defense. Even if we draft some CBs, rookies tend to get burnt a lot even when they do come out of the gate strong.

Combine all of that with the fact that we’re looking at what might possibly be the toughest schedule in the NFL and I see a recipe for disaster. 9-7 is likely our best case scenario, but 6-10 or 5-11 seem much more likely at this point. That said, I still love the direction of that the “trifecta” is taking this team and like that they’re trying not to overpay free agents and appear to be concentrating on the all-important draft. I think they’re grooming this team for long-term success and I’m a huge fan of that. I think the team and organization is on the right path; we’re just likely going to hit a speed bump on that path this season record-wise even if we’re on a rise as a team. Look out for us in 2010 and 2011!