What I saw this year was flashes of hope, but largely just "Inconsistency" in all parts of the game.
Indy was a fantastic win. That was my main glimmer of hope, but some of our other wins were quite ugly despite me still being happy for the team. Cleveland in a nailbiter for most of the game. The Falcons without a lot of players, in a nailbiter. Pittsburgh on a fluke music city miracle that Almost worked. The Patriots without Gronk. Cincinatti losing Geno Atkins mid-game. Chargers in a nailbiter. I'm proud that we won them all, but I also realize that squeaking by each week isn't a formula for long-term success.
Losing to a winless TB team, the Bills twice (once after a BYE, once during playoff hopes), the Jets during playoff hopes, the weakened Ravens, getting manhandled by the Saints on prime-time. These losses weren't "bad days" -- they were Miami's winning gameplans getting purely exposed, and all at crucial times.
Last year we were 7-9. The same inconsistent team. All that means is that it took 1 game sooner for us to realize we weren't getting in the playoffs. It's actually Worse this year because we were in the driver's seat down the stretch, and still blew it.
We're not a Bad team. We're excruciatingly Average; an Any Given Sunday kind of team. I understand that greatness can come from humble beginnings, and it's a slow process to the top, but inconsistency has remained from year 1, and may very well continue into year 3. Many areas of this team have actually regressed since last year. This isn't an elite playoffs team in the making until some serious changes to the team makeup and philosophy occur.
If Ross doesn't want this to continue, he needs to do something about it, not just keep handing out extensions like they're Christmas cards.