You might want to go re-watch the Bills game, in Buffalo. That team went up there to win and showed up.
People only seem to remember how brutal the week 2 game was. The second game in Buffalo was nothing like the first. The Dolphins were turning the corner long before that game, the Jacksonville and Atlanta games should've been wins. That was a young team learning how to win. If either of those games were scheduled in December we likely win each game by 21+. The Dolphins team that arrived in Buffalo last year for the Halloween game was not the same that got steam rolled week 2. Miami went up there to win that game.
We played pretty well at Indy as well. Carson Wentz and Jacoby Brissett had similar stat lines but two COMPLETELY different performances. Wentz was a handful from the get go, wiggling out of sacks and throwing with extreme precision for 4 quarters. Brissett couldn't accomplish a thing until the 4th quarter, we scored some late TD's to give us a glimmer of hope but they quickly closed the door on us after a second 4th quarter TD made it look respectable. Indy should've won by 3 TD's given the difference in output from their QB and RB vs ours.
Then the Jacksonville debacle. Which doesn't hurt as bad as if Jacksonville would've just crushed us. We simply never thought we'd lose that game, everyone let up. Learning how to win is a thing in the NFL and we were just getting there. Its upsetting that Urban Meyer's team didn't give up but Flo's actually did, not as shocking after the season when we learned of the large discord between the QB and the HC.
The 2021 Miami Dolphins actually featured two completely different teams within one roster.