MIAMI GARDENS — The Miami Dolphins played Baltimore last week, and they play Buffalo this week. Those two AFC opponents, which have a nine-game winning streak against the Dolphins to go along with their 9-2 record, drive home the failure of Miami’s recently-abandoned “win-now” era.

Here’s hoping these two opponents, Baltimore and Buffalo, provide a guiding light for the Dolphins’ current rebuild.

The Ravens and Bills can offer the Dolphins lessons in the value of being able to win in more than one way, the importance of the trenches, the role of physicality, and the significance of being able to win on the road.

The Dolphins’ next incarnation should prioritize all of those things in the same fashion that Baltimore and Buffalo have prioritized them.

The Dolphins (2-7) must make major changes in strategy and philosophy. They must prioritize physicality over speed. They must reward accomplishments over gaudy statistics. They must build a better run game and a better defense.

Most importantly, the Dolphins must make good decisions. For example, the contract extensions given to quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and coach Mike McDaniel in 2024 weren’t good decisions. 

Baltimore and Buffalo have won in a fashion the Dolphins can emulate — substance over flash.

And when you consider neither the Ravens nor the Bills measure up to Kansas City, the reigning AFC bully, it illustrates how far the Dolphins are from being a team with a chance of making noise in the playoffs. Sadly, Baltimore and Buffalo are out of the Dolphins’ league.

Go beyond the obvious differences at quarterback among Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson, a two-time MVP, Buffalo’s Josh Allen, the defending MVP, and Tua, who has one Pro Bowl selection.

Go beyond the obvious difference at general manager among Buffalo’s Brandon Beane, Baltimore’s Eric DeCosta and Miami’s ex-general manager Chris Grier.

Let’s even move beyond the obvious differences in coaching among Baltimore’s John Harbaugh, Buffalo’s Sean McDermott and McDaniel.

This recently-concluded “win-now” era — that was marked by acquiring high-priced veterans such as wide receiver Tyreek Hill, left tackle Terron Armstead, cornerback Jalen Ramsey and edge rusher Bradley Chubb, among others, as well as defensive coordinator Vic Fangio — should have produced a Dolphins team that was as good as Baltimore and Buffalo, at the very least.

It didn’t.

The Dolphins, since that “win-now” era began in 2022, have gone 1-7 against Buffalo, and 1-2 against Baltimore. 

The Dolphins don’t have a playoff win or a division title, let alone an AFC Championship appearance. Baltimore and Buffalo have all three.

The Dolphins wouldn’t have been able to be as good as the Chiefs, who has been to the past three Super Bowls and won two of those. But the Dolphins should have been as good as the Ravens and Bills.

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That’s my frustration with that short “win-now” era, a movement that I supported 100 percent and have no regret about supporting. 

It was wise for the Dolphins to move away from their step-by-step, year-by-year rebuild that started in 2019, and shift things into high gear. They had the right coach, McDaniel, and a good enough quarterback, Tua. But they had the wrong idea. They needed more physicality and less speed. They needed to reward accomplishments, not numbers.

Consequently, the Dolphins, relative to the talent collected, resources used and expectations, came up short.

In this rebuild let’s hope that the Dolphins don’t reach in hopes of acquiring a one-size-fits-all, quick fix quarterback that’s selected among, say, the top five picks in the NFL draft. The Dolphins don’t have to play to the crowd and force a quarterback selection just because they have, say, a top five pick.

Buffalo selected Allen with the No. 7 pick in 2018.

Baltimore selected Jackson with the final pick of the first round in 2018.

But let’s go beyond the quarterback. Baltimore and Buffalo can both run the ball. Baltimore plays strong defense. Buffalo has a strong offensive line. And they both win on the road. Since 2022, Baltimore is 19-10 (.655) on the road in the regular season and Buffalo 17-11 (.607). Miami is 11-20 (.355).

Last week and this week can teach the Dolphins a lot of lessons for their rebuild. Here’s hoping they learn a few things.

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