Make no mistake

[Pappy13]

This game wasn't that close. It was all Buffalo in the first quarter. Waddle drops a bomb that was right on the money and had another get poked out by terrific defense on a ball that was a little short. X got beat easily on a long pass play. Buffalo receivers caught anything close to them. 1 handed grab by a TE for a TD. Another that was scooped off the ground for a terrific catch. Anytime no one was open, Allen ran for a 1st down. Allen didn't have to be terrific because all his team mates were. Thompson got zero help. Offensive line never opened up any running game. WR's couldn't get open and dropped passes when they did. TE's did nothing to help. Tua wouldn't have won this game, Thompson had no chance.  

Why am I saying this? Because don't fall into the trap that Miami played them tough. They get credit for not getting blown out but the game was never really in doubt. Buffalo let their foot off the gas after they get an early lead and let Miami back into the game, but if they don't it's a blowout. Even after Miami takes a lead, Buffalo comes right back and goes up by 10 easily. Yeah Miami is without their best players, but even if they had them, it wouldn't have mattered, Buffalo was just better in every facet of the game and Miami was outmatched. Miami didn't make it close, Buffalo let them stay in it with poor play whenever they got complacent much like the Chargers did with Jacksonville.

Miami has a LONG way to go to get anywhere close to where Buffalo is and simply getting healthy isn't going to be enough. They need everything. Offensive line help. A TE that can both block and catch. Defensive backs that can cover. Linebackers that can get into gaps and stop running backs before they get started and can cover TE's and RB's out the backfield. Special teamers that can tackle. Punt and kickoff returners. Defensive ends that can get to a QB all by themselves.

Don't get me wrong, this team would compete in many other divisions, but in the AFCE they don't. Buffalo is in another league and Miami isn't that close. They did their best this year and I'm encouraged by what I saw this year, but they have a long way to go to catch Buffalo. Miami is going to have to take the money they spent on players that didn't help them this year Gesicki, Bridgewater, Chubb, Jones and find upgrades all over the field. Thompson was in over his head, but I believe he should be the backup to Tua next year. We can't afford to pay 3 QB's again next year, we don't have that luxury, just stick with Thompson as Tua's backup because he's cheap and if Tua misses more than a couple games next year, you have to replace Tua you can't stick with a QB that can't stay on the field. Upgrade the rest of the team and you won't need heroics from a QB to win a game. There's enough weapons on offense, upgrade the offensive line, the defense and the special teams and you'll have something special. Tua would be great with a good team around him, but if Tua can't stay on the field then find a replacement that can.

[Spider-Dan]

This is the same kind of logic that people used after the game in week 3.  "Look how many yards the Bills got!  Look how much time of possession they had!"

You say the game wasn't close but then proceed to list all the unforced errors the Dolphins made.  You think it "wouldn't matter" if they had their starting QB, SS, CB2?  It "wouldn't make a difference" if they had the RB that gained 136 yards against them in BUF 6 weeks ago?  The game "was never really in doubt" when MIA had a third-quarter lead and Josh Allen was turning the ball over on almost every possession?  Miami "isn't that close" to Buffalo after beating them in Miami and losing on the road by 3 points twice?  OK, man.

I don't know what the goal of this post is.  "Don't be encouraged, this team is still trash"?

[dolphins4life]

There are so many unanswered questions for next year.

I say go all out to sign Brady

[DenverFinFan]

This is the same kind of logic that people used after the game in week 3.  "Look how many yards the Bills got!  Look how much time of possession they had!"

You say the game wasn't close but then proceed to list all the unforced errors the Dolphins made.  You think it "wouldn't matter" if they had their starting QB, SS, CB2?  It "wouldn't make a difference" if they had the RB that gained 136 yards against them in BUF 6 weeks ago?  The game "was never really in doubt" when MIA had a third-quarter lead and Josh Allen was turning the ball over on almost every possession?  Miami "isn't that close" to Buffalo after beating them in Miami and losing on the road by 3 points twice?  OK, man.

I don't know what the goal of this post is.  "Don't be encouraged, this team is still trash"?

I’m a pessimist in the common and philosophical sense and I feel pretty good about the Dolphins after this loss. Maybe I’ll be proven an idiot once again for believing but this was FAR better than I would have expected.

[DenverFinFan]

There are so many unanswered questions for next year.

I say go all out to sign Brady

Nope. I’ll be gone for the year if this happens sorry. I can’t cheer for the cankerous blight that is Brady.

Miami can ditch Tua for anyone else and I’ll stick around but I am out of that devil comes to South Beach.

[bsmooth]

There are so many unanswered questions for next year.

I say go all out to sign Brady

Why, so you can finally get a Brady jersey you have wanted for years?

[Spider-Dan]

A very observant tweet:

"3 games vs the bills. 1-2 with all 3 games being decided by 3 points or less

The gap has closed."

For the record, the outcomes of the previous three games against BUF were a 15 point loss, a 35 point loss, and a 30 point loss.

[DenverFinFan]

A very observant tweet:

"3 games vs the bills. 1-2 with all 3 games being decided by 3 points or less

The gap has closed."

For the record, the outcomes of the previous three games against BUF were a 15 point loss, a 35 point loss, and a 30 point loss.

Yep, damn right. We’re a few bounces from sweeping Buffalo 3-0.

With Flo we got blown out every time .

[dolphins4life]

Why, so you can finally get a Brady jersey you have wanted for years?

Because he is the LOAT

[Dolfanalyst]

Take a look at yards per play differential to determine which team was dominant, aside from the random fluky nonsense.

[DenverFinFan]

Take a look at yards per play differential to determine which team was dominant, aside from the random fluky nonsense.

Fluky nonsense IS this game. Your MLB math shit has importance but like many things it fails to account for human variables.

[Dolfanalyst]

Fluky nonsense IS this game. Your MLB math shit has importance but like many things it fails to account for human variables.

Say more about how fluky nonsense “is” the game.

[Sunstroke]

There are so many unanswered questions for next year.

I say go all out to sign Brady

Just because of you, I am sincerely hoping that Brady decides to retire after this season...

[DenverFinFan]

Say more about how fluky nonsense “is” the game.

It is. The game comes down to “individual” play all the time I think Giants fan get that.

No shit good quarterback play and pressure on the QB leads to succes I don’t an analyst to tell me that. Sometimes and quite often something else prevails.

No one gave Miami a chance we were syooosed to get blown out but even in a loss this was the BEST playoff game since I’ve been a fan in 1997

[Dolfanalyst]

It is. The game comes down to “individual” play all the time I think Giants fan get that.

No shit good quarterback play and pressure on the QB leads to succes I don’t an analyst to tell me that. Sometimes and quite often something else prevails.

No one gave Miami a chance we were syooosed to get blown out but even in a loss this was the BEST playoff game since I’ve been a fan in 1997

If you examine a hundred games at random in which both teams scored in the 30s and one of them beat the other by about 3 points, you'd find a very small percentage of them in which one of the two teams benefited as much as the Dolphins did today by plays with a large random component.

You don't have a very lowly 3.3 yards per play and score 31 points very often.  The scoring under those circumstances is typically more along the lines of about 10 points.  The Dolphins benefitted today from a tremendous number of non-replicable plays.