If you are expecting me to make a pick in Sunday's moved-to-4pm Fins at Jets game...well, you know who I'm going to pick, and for once Street Cred agrees with me! I'd also like the Bills to beat the Pats but heck you can't have everything.

One of the ESPN (I think) pundits said that if the Dolphins won the AFC East it would be poetic justice after their 1-15 last year. Maybe, but IMHO it's a matter of the phlying phickle phinger of phate simply "moving the dash" from 1-15 to 11-5, Omar Kayyam style..."and the finger of fate wrote" or whatever.

And I never thought I'd say this but I really do think if anyone ought to win the Coach of the Year Award it should be--not Tony Sparano--but Bill Bellichick, who actually had to wrack his playbook brains this year to get this oft injured team to the point where they are after everyone else had given up on them after they went 3-2 and the Bills and Jets were leading the division. And another thing: the Pats showed a lot of character this year...I didn't think this was possible (and under Brady, I think, they would NOT have shown this much character. There are times I think Brady is too full of himself and his supermodel girl friends. This year, of course, the too full of himelf QB award is likely to go to Brett Favre. I did not think it was possible to play as poorly as he did in Seattle...snow? Heck, he played in Green Bay!).

Now, tell me again that the Dolphins can't win in bad weather??? Arrowhead Stadium, with the thermometer showing single digits, had the coldest game in Dolphin history, and sever players on the Fins sideline wore scarves over their mouths, while on the field you could see the frigid breaths on both sides, according to the highlights. But the sun was on the field keeping it from freezing and the sweat from congealing, from that beautiful Ted Ginn run out of a reverse...as close as he looked to the sideline he never stepped over it and risked big hits he is not supposed to be able to handle. And to the Chiefs' credit they didn't fold, being ahead at the half 31-24...and putting themselves in a position they might face in the playoffs. Well, they came back in the second half and held tough on defense (3 interceptions and a fumble recovery by Roth (I think)) and Chad did what he had to do on offense--and that gutsy Fasano TD dragging several Chiefs with him to make it 38-31. And they needed this bad weather game in preparation for the Jets--who happened to lose in the Seattle snow. In fact teh home field and the possibly bad weather were the only things strictly favring the Jets this coming game, and I don't think these advantages will mean as much now as before the KC game.

Don't ask me why the Jets appear to have given up (of course, they might win Sunday), but I think maybe Brett Favre has lost his attitudinal edge, or maybe the bloggers who claim he is thinking about retiring for good after this year are just being melodramatic. I mean, really, the Jets did not really deserve to beat the Bills, and had Trent Edwards played, they would not have beaten the Bills, period.

I'll have more to say about the Dolphins amazing turn-around in future posts, but suffice it to say that this season in so many ways is looking more and more like a deja vu of the Dolphins in 1970, and we all know what happened two years later.

And, this one is for you, Bolt Backer 21: the Chargers WILL beat the Broncos and Will win the AFC West. Something has to cause the Broncos to make amends for the fact that they were almost psychotic this year, and I'd never thought I'd live to see anyone beat the Bucs in Tampa Bay this year!

Fate. The Will of God. Call it what you want. Because I am convinced that, with just about a minute left in the Jets-Bills game with Bills leading 27-24 and having possession, only the Will of God could have caused Los(er)man to attempt to throw a pass ALTHOUGH HE KNOWS HES A PASSER OF INTERCEPTIONS TO THE OTHER SIDE as sure as Jauron knows this...though basically they could have just sat on it, or maybe run it.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: You DO KNOW, Bills, you have Marshawn (FOX censored)!

Well, maybe now this ridiculous play calling is THE KEY to why the Bills, 5-1 after the 7th week, have gone 1-7!

However, though Jauron must have told Losman to throw the ball with the game wrapped up (he thought), it was FATE, the Will of God, what have you, that caused to happen what could only be considered the AFC analogy of the terrible 1977 Giants play called "THE FUMBLE" against the Eagles, in which Larry Csonka, of all people!, fumbled the ball with about a minute left in a game they were winning (to finish 3-11 or something), with which the Eagles proceeded to take in for a score and win the game. (Note: After that game, two very good things happened--Head Coach Bill Arnsparger quit and headed back to the comfort of being Don Shula's Defensive Coordinater again, and Csonka pleeded to be returned to his old spot as FB of the Fins in 1978, which helped Miami to return to the AFC East title)

Need I recapitulate? Losman turns to throw and is hit by the Jets Elam, the ball comes loose and "Reefer" Ellis scoops it up for a TD, whereas the Jets, who were behind pretty much all day, win the game.

Yes, we know that Losman is not much of a QB and the Bills will never win with him. But FATE or God caused this, for one reason and one reason only:

Because it is the Jets destiny. The Football of Fate fell into the hands of Ellis, he scores, and this scenario sets up a Jets win that inexorably puts them into position that THEY MUST FIGHT for the AFC East title against a team that they, without realizing, helped immeasurably to put itself into the position to oppose them in that FATEFUL game.

ONLY FATE could have caused Losman's lost ball, and only fate could have caused the Jets this spring and summer to seek out Favre while telling Chad Pennington to not hit his head on the way out the door. And only fate could have caused the ever wise Bill Parcells to scoop up this well qualified but 2007-scapegoat QB to lead a 1-15 team to this edge of the playoffs, and to this game.

Farve beat Pennington in game one of the season in Miami. And, bad weather or not (will FATE supply unseasonably warm temperatures?), Chad Pennington is looking forward to a rematch.

Will Miami get to "move the dash" turning 1-15 into 11-5 and play out Miracle in Miami 2 (Miracle in Maimi 1 was Shula taking a 3-11 team to 10-4 and the playoffs in 1970)?

This game and maybe this season was fated to be.

Now that I've covered the AFC East, what about the rest?

Don' t take my word for it because I generally don't follow the other divisions, but...

I really like underdogs, and, BTD (besides the Dolphins), who is a better underdog this year to make the playoffs than the Falcons?

Thus, I want to Falcons to make the playoffs. That means I DON"T WANT THE COWBOYS! Heck, I'm a resident of Texas and I don't want the Cowboys???? No, because in honor of my late dad I also root for the Giants, who before he died finally had some satisfaction from this bunch, what in the Lawrence Taylor years and now.

Besides, I've always thought the Pokes were overrated. America's Team? Gimme a Break! It is funny (sarcastic) how owner Jerry Jones is belly-aching about Barber and using that as an excuse for his team's giving up that game to Pittsburgh last Sunday. It is always excuses with this bunch! The Dallas Cowboys always seem to think the NFL "owes" them a playoff birth, and then when they get one they tend to screw up early in the playoffs.

Then, who do I like--Bucs or Panthers? I said in an earlier post that if I was just starting out watching NFL games and (being in a non-team market) had to pick a team to root for, it would be the Panthers. I like their balance between offense and defense--not overwhelming offense and not overwhelming defense (too bad the Steelers can't say that, especially now, but the Steelers have always, since 1972, been defense oriented, good offense or not. Now, I think their offense is mediocre at best). I do not dislike the Bucs, however. My relatives live in the Tampa Bay area and thus are Bucs fans. Thus, having to choose, I chose the Panthers not because of Monday night but because the Panthers would be a change.

I tend to want to root for the Bears, but way back in the late 60s under Bud Grant and with Joe Kapp I was a Vikes fan as well. I say the Vikes win out. Something has been eating at the Bears this season...they have not been consistent or effective the way they have been. I have a warm spot in my heart also for Gus Frerotte who played in Miami in their mediocre-before-the-2007-fall year (2005, leading them to 8-8 with a big finale over the Pats). and even if Frerotte doesn't play, Adrian Peterson is amazing and I don't see many remaining teams stopping him including the Bears. Third, I don't trust Kyle Orton, who is better than Bobby Douglass but worse than what's his name (you know who I mean, the guy who won the Super Bowl).

In the AFC North, I don't like the Steelers (because of their playoff rivalry with Miami and Oakland in the 70s...I mean, how can I possibly root for them???), but I have always respected them, don't have much against them now, letting by-gones be by-gones, for one thing because they have the goat of the Cowboys. Yet I still don't really like them, because as I said before they are all defense, and, as I said in another post, they are on TV just about every week and it would be nice to see someone else besides the Steelers on TV (you know, like the Dolphins?). As for the Ravens...I don't see why the Ravens can't overcome the Steelers to win the division and I hope they do. Their win over Miami has to count for something! But the Ravens have good offense and defense, both, I like the rookie Flacco, and the Ravens (who LOST to the Fins last year) are another "resurgent" "underdog", so goooooo Ravens!

In the AFC South which is already decided with the Titans, it would really be cool if the Texans could find their way to overcome the Colts. I don't like the Colts either. No running game..okay, no consistent running game and it's all Peyton Manning, who I am sick of hearing about. But I do like the Texans! Schaub, had he been healthy all year and they didn't have to rely on that god-awful Sage Rosenfels (gosh I wish Miami would have played the Texans with Rosenfels--they would have won easily), would have the Texans in the running and the run-less and often defense-less Colts on the run. NEXT YEAR, TEXANS! Peyton Manning will be wishing he'd stayed in bed Sundays!

The Jags? No comment!

I will say this for the AFC West:  Dear Al Davis: PLEASE SELL THE RAIDERS! When I wasn't rooting for the Fins in the AFC back in the 70s and 80s I was rooting for the black and silver. It has pained me, since that Supe appearance fairly recently, for you, Mr. Davis, to have completely let this team go to pot. And, Dear Chargers: The past is prologue, and you need to start rebuilding that team. LT is a nice guy but he needs help. Antonio Gates? Who? Dear Broncos: Do you enjoy forcing people who bet on you to lose hundreds or thousands because you can't seem to get your act together, losing when you should win and winning when you should lose? Keep that up, and you just might win the Super Bowl! and, Dear Chiefs: I don't care  what you say, do you really think the future is with a guy named Thigpen??

NFC West? Because they're another "resurgent" team (if you can call "resurgent" a team that hasn't been in the playoffs in 33 years!), GO CARDS! A few weeks ago on NFL Network Anquan Boldin gave an interview and was a real gentleman. But look out next year for the Niners, who are "talking spoiler" according to NFL.com. Actually, the 49ers have a history of playing spoiler when they weren't in the playoffs themselves. But it would seem Singletary has them going in the right direction at least and should challenge next year. The Seahawks might also challenge. If nothing else I am impressed by the play of Seneca Wallace.

NFC East: The Gaints have clinched, but can they get past that Plax BS? I mean I have fully expected them to win another Supe, but now I am not sure. If another NFC East team had to make the playoffs I'd go with the Eagles. The Skins are finished, and I wish the Cowboys were--stop hyping these turkeys! Romo isn't Aikens, or even Staubach, and their coach is no Tom Landry. They were lucky to have Bill Parcells when they had him. and yet, I have to thank the Cowboys for four things:

Tony Sparano, Jason Ferguson, Akin Ayodele and Tony Fasano. And, oh yeah, Bill Parcells. Go Dolphins!

In 2007 this division was called the AFC "Least", and I think that almost since the inception of the AFL this division has been consistently one of the weaker ones. From early AFL domination by either the Bills or the Oilers, to AFL-NFL joint era domination by Namath and the Jets, with the rest of the pack nowhere in sight at 7-7 or worse or a lot worse, to almost complete domination during the 70s by Shula's Dolphins which went into the early 80s, then after Dan Marino was exposed as a great thrower but another one of those "A-Rods" in the clutch, the East sorta tried to work itself out, winding up with a great Bills team which owned the AFC for four years, into the 90s. It seems the 90s were rudderless with all four (and yes the Colts were still in it then) teams vying for the top spot, but in the same decade all the teams had bad years as well. It was in this time that, without a TV and with a husband who could care less about football, I pretty much lost track of the NFL until the late 90s, when our son began to get interested in watching football games. Just in time to see New England become the dominant team...ironically, being named the Patriots, right after 9-11!

I have often thought wouldn't it be incredible if the 2007 standings REVERSED this year? Well, the standings will not reverse this year (although I fantasized about the Pats being last and the Fins being first), but they just might "almost" reverse...the Bills were second last year at 7-9 and they might still wind up 7-9, but that would be good for last place not second. The Pats were 16-0 last year but I can see them in third place by moving the 0 digit behind the 1 digit, then moving the dash behind the 0 and then the 6 (10-6, that is). For as impressed as I was with their win over a scrappy Seattle team, and even if the Cards who have clinched (Congrats Cards!) the NFC West do not play like they normally would which might let the Pats win, I can't see them going 11-5. Either the Raiders or Bills or Cards will beat Matt Cassel. As with the last post this would rightfully be the job of Fate:  I do not want to think the Pats (who I despise but do respect after all) would have to make the decision to let go of legendary Tom Brady! Or Cassel, for that matter (who could, upon Brett Favre's retirement, be picked up by the Jets. If the Jerseyites learned anything from letting Chad Pennington escape to the Fins, it was this:  one good turn deserves another!).

So that even if the Pats do wind up in the playoffs this year, "everybody" knows their time of dominating the AFC East is over, just a matter of telling Bill Bellichick!

Can a case be made for another team to pick up the mantle of domination? First of all, the Pats are NOT going to go into that good night easily. Several defenders are getting old and slow, but if they keep on taking players like LB Mayo in the draft, I can't see the Pats under Bellichick folding, even if they do let Tom Brady go.

As with Miami's dominating teams, it took many years for the Fins to sink to the level of doormat. Throughout the 90s they kind of took turns being either title winner or in the hunt until the last weeks. This was clearly because Dann-o could still throw it well, Shula was still coaching, and every year they drafted just enough good rookies to keep the lineup going. By studying Fins history it becomes clear that cracks in the cement began around 1998-2000: drafts got poorer, management and even ownership was changing; Huizinga had the audacity to take founder Joe Robbie's name off the stadium he built mostly with his own money and call it "Pro Player Stadium" (sounds like Huizinga's company, Blockbuster Video!), which thankfully he later changed to Dolphins Stadium. Also, the round robbin of head coaches...replacing the great Don Shula must have been difficult. It was the little things, like Brian Griese at QB, like alienating Ricky Williams, like terrible drafting from about 2001 to 2007 (more than half the players from this period of time on the 2008 team were drafted by others, including Williams by the Saints). In fact, a handful of starters only! They are (by round and year):

Ted Ginn, Jr. (1st, 2007), Samson Satele (2nd, 2007), Vernon Carey (1st, 2004), Ronnie Brown (2nd, 2005), Matt Roth (2, 2005), Channing Crowder (3, 2005), Yeremiah Bell (6, 2003) and Brandon Fields (7, 2007). Their first pick in 2006, Jason Allen, is okay but still sits behind Renaldo Hill, taken from the Raiders as a FA. In contrast, their 2008 draft sees two starters: Jake Long (1) and Kendall Langford (3), and undrafted rookies include Davone Bess (who has replaced the injured Greg Camarillo) and Dan Carpenter. Philip Merling (round 2) often steps in for Vonnie Holliday or goes in on the 4-3 defense. The rest of the squad are waivers and free agents, a number from good teams like Dallas (Ferguson, Fasano, and Ayodele).

And then there is the gift from the rival Jets: Chad Pennington, without which Miami simply would not be in contention, all else being equal. In fact I will state categorically here: Chad Pennington is the "reincarnation" of Bob Griese. Griese was never the pretty boy bomb thrower a-la Namath or Stabler or Staubach or Marino; he was a dink and dunk QB with an occasional bomb to Warfield just to let opponents know he could do it. Same with Chad to Ginn or Bess. Griese was the epitome of "field general" because he called many of his own plays and had a calming effect on the other offense players, especially the next generation of Dolphin champs (Delvin Williams, Andra Frankin, Nat Moore, Jimmy Cefalo). Pennington plays a similar role with the youngster linemen, Ginn and Bess, and new FB Lou Polite, who has done well picking up 4th and 1 type plays.

Still, it is too early to tell if Miami will regain the dominant position it used to have. As I said, the Pats will not just die. No telling with the Bills: clearly with having gone 5-1 after 6 games this team does have talent and reasonably decent coaching, but I think Trent Edwards's head injury did a number on this team. The Bills defense is big and is fine, in my opinion.

That leaves the Jets. I have said it all year: as foes Favre, so go the Jets, including on defense. Everyone and his uncle who watches the NFL has wondered if the Jets really are for real having gone 0-2 since beating the Pats and Titans. These two games were monumental. Clearly the Jets peaked around these two games and after, something has taken the wind out of their sails. They were uninspired against the Broncos and downright bad against the Niners. The Broncs of course are trying to sew up a playoff birth, and you know the Broncos...they lose when they should win and win when they should lose. It is the Niner loss that is most telling. Now we have Laveranus (spelling?) Coles griping that Favre doesn't use him enough. We have Thomas Jones not looking quite like the world beater he was in the big games, and we have Favre himself looking as if he was still playing the Packer in December, you know, not quite ready for the playoffs. And Gang Green is Gang Greenhorn!

It won't get easier for the Jets, with games in Seattle (Jets are 0-3 on west coast), vs. Bills (if Edwards plays in this game this week, the Bills will play considerably better than they did against Dolphins in Toronto), and finally, the whole enchilada vs. Fins in New York. This game WILL decide the AFC East, and, to hear "everybody" say, only one AFC East team will make the playoffs because the Colts and Ravens are on a roll. In fact this game is so important, CBS is considering putting it on in their evening slot on December 28 nationally, which would make it the first time all year the Fins will be on national TV!

While the Pats have the Raiders, the division-clinching Cards, and finally the Bills (as I said the Pats will likely lose one of these games...I just don't know which one) in successive weeks, the Fins have the Niners, then the Chiefs and the Jets. Folks are saying "Beware of the Niners." The same Niners who have beaten the Bills then the Jets in the last two weeks. I think the Miami players and coaches certainly do not consider the Niners an easy gimme win at all (as expressed on miamidolphins.com and in the Miami Herald)...further, except for that aberation (the Pats blowout loss), Miami's D has been very stingy on points as well as yards. In fact, except for that Pats game, the Dolphins have been the epitome of consistent:  good offense (without all the scoring, as some TDs have been called back via penalty, vs. the Rams, Bills, and Raiders), and very good defense, top 10 in league (despite giving up all those points vs. Pats), and very very good at not turning the ball over (plus 12 differential). So that while the Niners faced a Bills team wondering what the fruit and a Jets team that still hasn't recovered from their peak weeks over Pats and Titans, they will not be facing a similar type of team this Sunday in Miami. They are facing a team which is working toward the playoffs at the right time on Dolphin Alumni Weekend. And Shaun Hill will be facing a secondary that has almost worked wonders since they let Matt Cassel run wild over them. Then the Fins go to KC Arrowhead; the Chiefs offense plays well, but Thigpen may not have his way, and the Chiefs defense should pose few problems for Pennington and Co. (Note: as the Fins get more confident and consistent, they have seldom used the Wildcat. This is a good sign they are thinking playoffs.) And, if they beat the Jets in New York in the cold, they will have proven they could play in any weather, a pre-condition for playoff caliber status.

One final note: whereas two weeks ago everyone was picking the Jets to win the division, more and more sports pundits are changing their minds. Wanna hazard a guess as to who they are picking now?

Of course it took my mother-in-law a minute to get the joke.

And speaking of jokes and bills, I probably had more Bills in my hand than Bills that showed up seriously to play football in Toronto against the Sparanos, er, the Dolphins Sunday. As I expected, Losman played poorly, Marshawn (Fox censored) and Lee Evans were barely noticeable, but the Bills D played reasonably well considering they were on the field most of the game...kinda like the 2007 Fins were!

With Trent Edwards out I expected a Miami win, but I really thought the Buffalos would keep it close (or that Miami would rout the Bills...but for some ridiculous reason this doesn't seem as if it is possible, after all, the Bills aren't the Patriots, and, therefore, there is no hatred here. I wonder if the Fins hate the Jets? We'll find out in a few weeks! Will Chad get some level or revenge?)

I've been trying, as an AFC East watcher, to figure out what has happened to the Bills this year. I figured earlier in the season that (what with the Fins in a tailspin going 2-4 after big wins vs. Pats and chargers) that if Miami couldn't win the division I would have no problem with the Bills or even the Jets doing it (ABP: anyone but Patriots!)

Since CBS or anyone doesn't have the wisdom to try to put the Fins on national TV this year (quite frankly I am sick of them putting on the Steelers, who it seems are on every week!) owing to their 1-15 last season, even though thanks to the Wildcat the Fins are one of the more innovative teams this year, and owing to their "resurgence" as the NFL Network keeps saying, I have to rely on video highlights. Now the pundits keep saying Edwards can't figure out a 3-4 Defense (now whose fault is that? Edwards or his coaches?), but it was Losman who lost it. It would be convenient to blame Edwards' injury and Losman's lack of starts, but even though Losman did not play well, who called that stupid pass play at the Maimi 3? The one Allen intercepted? You know, Bills, you do have Marshawn (FOX censored) and you do have other runners in case he is covered. so why in the blue blazes did you have Losman throwing it, on the Miami 3?

Fate, maybe? I wonder. Now the Bills contracted for 10 million dollars per game to have games held in Toronto. I would like to know who decided what team would play the Bills there this weekend, and when it was decided. But don't you think it is a bit precipitous to have chosen the only AFC East team that does NOT play well in cold climates in December? The Fins haven't won in Buffalo in December in may years, and have a 2-7 recent record for games played in December in cold weather. You should have heard the crew on NFL Network's AFC Playbook Saturday night joking about how the Fins get an automatic ten points for NOT having to play the Bills in the cold! Ten points is just enough to cover that Pennington-to-Fasano TD pass and Carpenter's 50 yard field goal!

Gee, when the Fins play the Jets in New York in early January, will it be unseasonably warm? What will Fate come up with, since this WILL be the game that decides the AFC East?!?

Because the Bills are out of it. The Jets have the Bills (a win likely), the Seahawks (will the curse of the west coast continue?), then the Fins at home. The Pats have it easier with the Raiders (if they can beat the Hawks in the last minutes in Seattle, they can beat the Raiders who looked horrible thursday night vs. Chargers in Oakland), then the Cards in NE (since the Cards have clinched they won't be playing their hardest so the Pats should win), and then the Bills. The Fins have the Niners at home on Dolphin alumni weekend (which is the same event that Fate "caused" the Fins last year to get it up enough to actually beat the Ravens in OT...meaning the Niners, who are playing THE spoiler role of the year, will be prevented by Fate from winning, and besides, Frank Gore is hurt and may not play), then the Chiefs in KC (a likely win even if it is cold, because the Chiefs Defense is bad enough to cover for Tyler "world beater--NOT" Thigpen and TE Gonzales' good play, then the Jets in New York.

I will not predict a winner of the Jets-Fins finale. But consider this:

Earlier in the season matchups, the Jets beat the Fins, the Pats beat the Jets and the Fins beat the Pats.

Recently in late season, the Jets beat the Pats and the Pats beat the Fins.

Does this mean Fate dictates the Fins beat the Jets?