The Miami Dolphins Keep Winning, But At What Cost?

The Miami Dolphins are doing something they haven't seen in a while down in South Florida: winning.

Miami has won four games in a row and five of its last six, its best stretch since December 2023, which is not so coincidentally the last time this franchise made the playoffs.

The Dolphins latest showing may have been their most impressive, a 34-10 beatdown of the hapless New York Jets.

The offense is starting to click, even without a weapon like wide receiver Tyreak Hill, and the defense is getting more physical.

If the Fins weren't the dubious owners of a couple of squandered opportunities to win against teams like the Patriots and the Panthers, there is a great chance Miami would be squarely in the playoff hunt as of this afternoon.

But there's no going back, and the Dolphins will have to hang their hats on the fact that they are inching ever so closely back to .500.

Sure, they are doing it against mostly below-average football teams, save for their win over the Bills a few weeks ago, but they can only play the teams on their schedule.

My question is this: do they even want to win these games?

Being a lifelong Dolphins fan, I can't tell you how many times I've seen this movie.

The Fins start the season like a steaming pile of garbage, only to string a number of wins together and get their fanbase thinking it's the start of something magical.

Then the rug pull comes, as Miami wilts down the stretch to just miss the playoffs while holding a draft pick in the mid to late teens.

Rinse and repeat ad nauseam.

If the Dolphins had just laid down and lost a few more of these games in November and December, they could have been looking at a top-five pick.

Instead, Miami will be bargain hunting come April, with a draft pick that reflects their mediocre finish.

Fins fans will wince as they yet again wonder what could have been with a better start while simultaneously lamenting their signs of life in the later parts of the season that prevented them from drafting a true difference maker.

They'll more than likely keep their ineffective head coach for another year as well, cementing another season in football purgatory.

It's Groundhog's Day in Miami, folks, and Stephen Ross just saw his shadow.