Miami has considerable holes at quarterback, safety, pass rusher, offensive tackle, guard, wide receiver, and tight end. They may lose a dominant DT because they mishandled his contract last year. They have no coach or assistants. The remaining coaching candidates out there are unproven. They have a quarterback who is inaccurate and can't lead his team down the field to win a game late, but can beat low end teams. They haven't been able to find a quarterback in 13 years, and their GM has no track record of identifying a top drawer quarterback. They have the worst home field advantage in the league. Miami has struck out two years in a row on their self identified top coaching candidate. Other than that, they are in great shape to make the playoffs even though they have only done this once in a whopping 11 years.
The Ravens are more physical than Miami. They have a better OL. They have a better passing game. They have a better running game. They have a better pass defense. They have more playmakers.
Miami is obviously not even close to being in NE's class. NE embarrasses Miami, year after year. NE is thrilled Miami is in their division. Couple of gimmes a year to pad their record for home field. NE has more young players and more draft picks. They have three quarterback prospects better than anything Miami has trotted out there in 13 years. Their coach gives them a 10 point head start against Miami. NE has an outstanding owner who gets it. He probably does an extra prayer every night that Steven Ross was born for him to embarrass and torture.
The Giants have an excellent coach and are built to win in the playoffs and when it matters. They understand that you need a qb and pass rushers.They are a great organization who hits on their draft picks. Their roster has very few holes. Miami doesn't have any of this.
The 49ers have a coach who wouldn't go to Miami even when the Dolphin owner flew out to see him to beg him to come. They have a dominant offensive line, running game, and defense. They have a better organization than Miami. They fell on hard times and came out of it. Miami falls further and further into quicksand.
They need a quarterback who can lead them to tough wins. They don't have that guy. They need playmakers at receiver and tight end on offense. They need playmakers at pass rusher and safety on defense. They need a re-built offensive line. Their GM has not been able to fix the OL despite 4 years of scouting and drafting. We've seen Ireland part of the process that brought in Joe Berger, Justin Smiley and Jake Grove. Trading away Samson Satele? How about Donald Thomas and Shawn Murphy? Or Marc Colombo? Despite all those whiffs, we are supposed to be confident that all of a sudden Miami can fix their OL, even though they need to address other major holes? That's alot of mis-identification of talent. Its a trend, folks, not a coincidence. What's literally worse, the GM has never found a quarterback that can go win games for you.
I have no idea how anyone can see where the Dolphins are now relative to the top teams and think we are on the verge. I am not sure we have hit rock bottom. Miami is a laughingstock. I can't think of many franchises in the NFL this low.
A fan is a consumer. If a consumer buys a defective product, the consumer pushes back. Here, Miami is so defective its like product liability. Its like buying a toy car and having the car catch on fire. Yet fans of the Dolphins are enablers. They put on a happy face even in the face of the most obvious dysfunction. It enables the franchise to continue in their ways while the owner and even his socially awkward GM make millions.