Before the season started, the Miami Dolphins were a team predicted by some to be a playoff team in a difficult AFC – the team had a strong defense, a young QB that struggled in 2020 but could turn into a franchise QB, and a respected coaching staff led by third year head coach Brian Flores. The season couldn’t have started any worse – after a Week 8 loss to Buffalo, the Dolphins were sitting at 1-7, among those having suffered the ignominy of losing to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Talk started to circle around the state of the franchise. Media reports had Coach Flores on the hot seat, had the Dolphins heavily in talks for controversial QB Deshaun Watson and, even aside from that, questions were being asked about the future of Tua Tagovailoa… oh, and they traded their first round pick in 2022 to the Eagles in the Jaylen Waddle trade. A Week 9 win over the Texans barely registered in the public conscience – it was an ugly game which featured NINE turnovers, appearing more like a game between two teams who actively wanted to lose. In Week 10, the 6-2 Ravens came to town on Thursday night, fresh off a huge comeback win over the Vikings. The Dolphins were sure to lose this game, in fact 23 of the 44 pool entrants added confidence to their Ravens selection for this game (for the record, two people chose Miami and five people forgot to select a team). The Miami defense had other plans though, with the score 9-3 Dolphins in the fourth quarter, Xavien Howard recovered a Sammy Watkins fumble and took it back 49 yards for a touchdown, helping to secure the win. They haven’t looked back since, winning the next five games (for a seven game win streak) and are now sitting in the last wild card spot and in control of their destiny. Meanwhile, the team they beat on that Thursday night, the team that started 6-2, now finds themselves behind the Dolphins in the standings and needing outside help to make the postseason. The Dolphins have been helped by an easy schedule (Jets twice, Giants, Panthers, and a COVID-stricken Saints aren’t exactly Murderer’s Row) but the only thing you can control is what’s in front of you and this team has taken care of its own business since Hallowe’en. The final two games are very difficult (at Titans and home to New England), but not unattainable. One thing to note, during his tenure in New England, Bill Belichick is 9-12 in Miami… so don’t chalk up any losses yet. Even more absurd: if they win both their games and the Bills lose both of theirs, the Dolphins win the AFC East (unlikely as it would be for the Bills to lose to the Falcons and Jets at home it’s still possible).
On the other end of the spectrum are the now 8-7 Ravens and the 10-5 Cardinals. The Cardinals (through no fault of their own) clinched a playoff berth, but the NFL’s last undefeated team has lost three in a row and also lost the division lead to the surging Rams. As they have the tiebreaker, the Cardinals could come back and win the division if LA slips, but they have the Cowboys this weekend, so going 12-5 will be no easy task. Fortunately for them, they still have the comfort of being assured a playoff spot – the Ravens, on the other hand, have found themselves on the outside looking in after a 41-21 drubbing at the hands of Joe Burrow and the Bengals. The Ravens have been decimated by injuries, especially to their secondary (which was thin to begin with) and to Lamar Jackson (who was essentially all of the Ravens offense) which have escalated their descent, but they’ll need to fix it immediately as the Ravens no longer control their own destiny – the Dolphins are ahead in conference record and the Bengals swept them – so the Ravens must win out to have a shot at the playoffs. For a team that has lost four games in a row, expecting wins at home to the Rams and in Pittsburgh are far from a sure thing.
APY NFL FOOTBALL POOL RESULTS
Denzil was our top scorer in Week 16, scoring 16 of a possible 20 points to move into 15th place overall, and a tie for second in mini-pool A.
As we have finished 16 of 18 weeks, we are down to our final 32 games in the NFL season. And with just those two weeks left, Jerome has opened up his lead, now three points ahead of Donna P, Will, and Jason G, all of whom have 191 points. Paul sits just outside the top 4 with 190 points, while Salvo sits two points behind Paul in sixth, with 188.
| Name | Total |
| Jerome | 194 |
| Donna P | 191 |
| Will | 191 |
| Jason G | 191 |
| Paul | 190 |
| Salvo | 188 |
| Steve | 187 |
| Neil | 186 |
| Sam | 186 |
| Alessandro | 185 |
| Marcus | 185 |
| Adam | 184 |
| Baldip | 183 |
| Joe L | 183 |
| Denzil | 181 |
| Team Bracken | 180 |
| Molly | 179 |
| Courtney | 178 |
| CSA Red Bulls | 177 |
| Marcel & Aiden | 177 |
| Lourdes | 177 |
| Gary | 176 |
| Predictor | 176 |
| Jay P | 175 |
| Quinn | 173 |
| Jason R | 173 |
| Terry | 171 |
| Darryl | 169 |
| Joe S | 168 |
| Ronda | 168 |
| Matt | 168 |
| Keville | 168 |
| Tom | 167 |
| Des | 166 |
| Justin | 164 |
| Farhan | 163 |
| Nigel | 162 |
| Jason H | 162 |
| Darren | 141 |
| Mark | 132 |
| Donna K | 132 |
| Dwayne | 129 |
| David | 100 |
| Ruby | 19 |
| Average | 163.86 |
MINI-POOLS
Mini-Pool A
In mini-pool A, the Predictor had a horrendous week and his big lead vanished overnight. The leader of mini-pool A is now Alessandro, with 56 points. Behind him, we have a logjam of five participants (four eligible) in second place, and they are: Denzil, Molly, Adam, and the Predictor, all with 54. Quinn is in seventh place with 53.
| Name | Total |
| Alessandro | 56 |
| Denzil | 54 |
| Molly | 54 |
| Jerome | 54 |
| Adam | 54 |
| Predictor | 54 |
| Quinn | 53 |
| Paul | 52 |
| Marcus | 51 |
| Team Bracken | 51 |
| Salvo | 50 |
| Courtney | 49 |
| Joe S | 48 |
| Matt | 48 |
| CSA Red Bulls | 48 |
| Sam | 47 |
| Nigel | 47 |
| Joe L | 47 |
| Ronda | 46 |
| Farhan | 39 |
| Darren | 23 |
| Donna K | 22 |
Mini-Pool B
The action is also tense in MPB, with Neil leading the way with 54 points*. Steve is second with 53 and Baldip and Marcel are in third at 51.
* – Donna P and Will are actually ahead of Neil but ineligible due to being in the money positions in the main pool, as is Jason G, though he is just behind Neil.
| Name | Total |
| Donna P | 57 |
| Will | 55 |
| Neil | 54 |
| Jason G | 53 |
| Steve | 53 |
| Baldip | 51 |
| Marcel & Aiden | 51 |
| Jay P | 50 |
| Tom | 49 |
| Keville | 47 |
| Lourdes | 46 |
| Des | 46 |
| Gary | 45 |
| Terry | 44 |
| Darryl | 43 |
| Jason R | 40 |
| Dwayne | 38 |
| Jason H | 38 |
| Justin | 34 |
| Mark | 26 |
| Ruby | 0 |
| David | 0 |