That sure doesn't help. I feel your pain. We're right there with ya. I have yet to start this season off well. I felt really confident going into the first game but was in for a rude awakening. As you know, life throws lemons at you from time to time. We need to get used to that. We play the Bills next week and we have a big test coming up with Houston in the MNF game this Sunday. I'm going to be the optimist and say that we will play better as the season goes on. I think that will be the case but you can never be totally confident when this team is on the field. Re: This is why I've always wanted to be in the draft! I don't have much to add. Our defense plays awful early in the season, then is on fire. How you deal with that is important for making the playoffs and winning it all. If our defense can step up the rest of the year, we win a lot of games and make a good run at it. That's just my opinion though. Re: This is why I've always wanted to be in the draft! Originally Posted by Llloyd2203 I don't have much to add. Our defense plays awful early in the season, then is on fire. How you deal with that is important for making the playoffs and winning it all. If our defense can step up the rest of the year, we win a lot of games and make a good run at it. That's just my opinion though. Exactly what I'm thinking. I am very pleased with the Dolphins so far and so are our fans. I'm a guy who likes to go to sports bars and watch the game(not on tv). If you check out the boards at my local sports bar(I know this because I'm visiting my brother who just moved up from Miami) they are just rabid fans. The Dolphins haven't won a game at the sports bar that I go to in three years, but they are excited about this season. Re: This is why I've always wanted to be in the draft! Originally Posted by Llloyd2203 I don't have much to add. Our defense plays awful early in the season, then is on fire. How you deal with that is important for making the playoffs and winning it all. If our defense can step up the rest of the year, we win a lot of games and make a good run at it. That's just my opinion though. This is exactly what has to happen. Defense must win games for us this year. I don't think we're too far off, we just need to pull away from the defense this week and make sure we stay that way the rest of the way. This time of year you take advantage of your defense, just keep winning and the rest will come. I get it about the "I want to be in the draft" thing, too. That's what it was like for me when I was younger. I wanted to go all the way to the PIT with the Dolphins. I went to all the practices and looked over everything. Even though I never made it, I didn't leave the team until I had a ring. Same thing here. When you come here, you see the team and the facilities and you get inspired by all of the players. It's something that gets you through when things aren't going well. It's nice to hear that fans are happy about what they have here in Miami. Re: This is why I've always wanted to be in the draft! Originally Posted by Llloyd2203 I don't have much to add. Our defense plays awful early in the season, then is on fire. How you deal with that is important for making the playoffs and winning it all. If our defense can step up the rest of the year, we win a lot of games and make a good run at it. That's just my opinion though. I agree with you guys - it's just a matter of time before we see how good this defense really is. We are already seeing glimpses of what this team can do... it's up to the players and coaches now. I'm looking forward to Sunday against Buffalo and see what happens. Re: This is why I've always wanted to be in the draft! Originally Posted by Llloyd2203 I don't have much to add. Our defense plays awful early in the season, then is on fire. How you deal with that is important for making the playoffs and winning it all. If our defense can step up the rest of the year, we win a lot of games and make a good run at it. That's just my opinion though. Definitely agree. It's funny. People are actually buying season tickets again this year. There is excitement, but there's also a lot of caution because we don't know what we have to do to make it. We have that defense though and I think we can do it if the offense plays well. When the defense plays this poorly early in the season I just have a feeling they will step it up. It's all a matter of time. Re: This is why I've always wanted to be in the draft! Definitely agree. It's funny. People are actually buying season tickets again this year. There is excitement, but there's also a lot of caution because we don't know what we have to do to make it. We have that defense though and I think we can do it if the offense plays well. When the defense plays this poorly early in the season I just have a feeling they will step it up. It's all a matter of time. I think the defense has improved over the course of the season. They will continue to improve and the offense will step it up as well. It will be key for us this season to get to 6-2 and stay healthy in the playoffs. We need to take care of ourselves too! I think we have the defense to win the Super Bowl if we get to the playoffs and get hot. The offense has made great strides and we have shown that we can score at any time against anyone. We are very close. The key is for our defense to play better but they are getting better and I believe they will. The AFC is much weaker than it has been in many years. It will be key to run the ball and not put a lot on the defense early because they will be in a lot of passing situations with all these passing teams that will be in the AFC playoffs. With the strength of this offensive line and good play of our RB's we will not be in passing situations as much as last season. If our defense has to step it up and give us a little rest, it can if they play very well as long as we put enough pressure on them and the offense has to keep it together on the road, that's where their biggest problem is -at home. This is why we need to do well this week in Cleveland -that's where they will be good and they will be good against us.