There was once a time when the Miami Dolphins were perceivably within striking distance of the Buffalo Bills in the AFC East.

Scratch that. They once had the Bills on verge of falling short of the division crown and booting them from the playoffs all together.

The year was 2023, and Miami had a three-game lead in the AFC East with five weeks remaining in the season. The Dolphins were given a 99 percent chance of winning the division at that point.

But a nightmarish blown two-touchdown lead late on a December Monday night sparked the downfall in 2023 that was capped by a home loss against the Bills to surrender the stronghold once held on the division that year.

The Bills have won five consecutive AFC East crowns. The Dolphins haven’t won the division since 2008.

And optimism isn’t high that the Dolphins can turn it around and take the AFC East in 2025.

Buffalo showed no signs of letting up in 2024, winning the division by five games. The Bills finished 13-4 and the Dolphins 8-9, missing the playoffs overall after back-to-back wild-card appearances in 2022 and 2023.

Buffalo kept most of its roster from last season intact, and what really matters in western New York, anyway, is that Josh Allen, the reigning MVP who usually torches Miami, is still behind center there.

But the Bills made additions to their defense with defensive lineman Larry Ogunjobi, linebacker Michael Hoecht and brought back veteran cornerback Tre’Davious White while drafting cornerback Maxwell Hairston. Offensively, they gave Allen a big-bodied wide receiver in Joshua Palmer, a St. Thomas Aquinas High alum.

If Buffalo again does as it has done, that leaves the Dolphins again vying for a wild-card spot in the AFC. The last couple of seasons started with the New York Jets more of the next division foe to watch over the New England Patriots. The Jets were eyeing a resurgence under aging but future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers. In 2023, Rodgers tore his Achilles four plays into his season, and he wasn’t quite back to his old form last year.

The Patriots were big spenders in free agency and added former player Mike Vrabel at the helm. Vrabel, by the way, was coaching the Titans that started that Dolphins downfall in 2023.

New England signed wide receivers Stefon Diggs and Mack Hollins, defensive lineman Milton Williams, edge rusher Harold Landry, cornerback Carlton Davis, tackle Morgan Moses and tight end Austin Hooper among offseason signings.

If Vrabel instills his culture, the old Patriots Way, this team could be a challenger for a wild-card spot and second in the division.

The Jets went from Rodgers to Justin Fields at quarterback, while now bringing in Aaron Glenn as their new coach. It looks like New York will try to complete a soft reset while holding on to key young pieces like cornerback Sauce Gardner and wide receiver Garrett Wilson.

They could be looking at picking high in next year’s draft to find their next franchise quarterback, unless Fields surprises folks as he’s now on his third NFL team after never breaking out as a first-round pick of the Chicago Bears.

If the Dolphins are indeed vying for one of the AFC’s wild-card spots, beyond the Patriots, they’re probably also competing against whoever doesn’t win the North between the Steelers, Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals; the Los Angeles Chargers and Denver Broncos in the West, assuming the Kansas City Chiefs win the division; and possibly the Indianapolis Colts, assuming the Houston Texans top the South.

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