The Miami Dolphins played one of their best games of the season against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday., but that couldn’t stop them from suffering another loss, making their path to a third straight playoff appearance even more difficult.

It’s been done before: a 2-6 team rebounding to make the playoffs, with the 2020 Washington Commanders and 2022 Jacksonville Jaguars both achieving the feat. Both did it by taking advantage of a bad year in their division to win a division title — something that’s not going to happen in the AFC East this year, barring a total collapse of the Bills.

So, yeah, the odds don’t look good at all, and the Dolphins will need to be at least 7-2, or even 8-1, in their last nine games to give themselves a chance.

Many of the team’s fans have already given up on the idea of ​​a late run, in part because of how the Dolphins have performed in their first eight games and also because finishing strong doesn’t really matter. been the Dolphins’ strong suit in recent years.

But the Dolphins themselves haven’t given up, which is why South Florida-based agent Drew Rosenhaus, who has several clients on the team, doesn’t view the Dolphins as sellers this week. Rather, Rosenhaus said during his weekly appearance on South Florida’s WSVN that they could be buyers.

And that shouldn’t surprise anyone.

Does anyone really think the Dolphins are going to trade one of their key players — Tyreek Hill or Jalen Ramsey, for example — because the 2024 season went sideways? Just a few months later, the organization dove in headfirst with a strong commitment to that core with new contracts for Hill, Ramsey, Tua Tagovailoa, Jaylen Waddle and head coach Mike McDaniel.

It’s been a bad season for the Dolphins, but the major problems haven’t focused on the franchise’s cornerstones but rather its complementary pieces.

We can debate the merits of all new contracts in the absence of a single playoff win all day long, but the Dolphins’ real failure in 2024 has been their inability to provide better depth overall. team. The quarterback problem is obviously the most important. And the second and third largest…

The other issues should be obvious, including the defensive line (beyond the superb Calais Campbell, of course) and the safety position. Not even talking about the offensive line because this group was solid.

Because the quarterback’s play was so poor while Tagovailoa was on injured reserve (IR), it’s fair to suggest the Dolphins would be at least 4-4 without his concussion, and that prospect wouldn’t call for blowing up the list. .

As we’ve suggested, the Dolphins could make some trades, but they’d be more likely to be trading someone like running back Jeff Wilson, Jr., who is a regular on the inactive list and whose contract expires after that. season. So if a team in need of a veteran offensive player offered a late-round pick, it might be worth it.

And for all the talk about needing to get Odell Beckham, Jr. more involved in the offense, his snap count only increased to 12 against Buffalo after playing 11 snaps in his first three games. He’s also only signed through 2024, so he would fall into the same category as Wilson.

The trickiest situation involves Campbell, who might be the Dolphins’ best player this season, but who is 38 years old and came to play in Miami because he thought the team could be a contender. If he intends to make this his final season, perhaps the Dolphins will trade him as a favor as he would surely draw interest from around the league.

From the team’s perspective, though, it’s very obvious that trading Campbell would hurt the cause in 2024, and maybe he wants to make it happen in Miami anyway.

Suppose they make a move to acquire a player. In this case, logic dictates that a passer should be prioritized one, two and three because Emmanuel Ogbah is playing with a bicep injury, Chop Robinson hasn’t had enough impact, Mohamed Kamara is a rookie with a lot to learn and to train. Camp sensation Quinton Bell has been just that, a training camp sensation.

The Dolphins may not want to give up on the 2024 season either, as they easily could have won both of their games since Tagovailoa returned to the lineup. Maybe they’ll get some good karma sooner rather than later – like maybe the officials refused to call a helmet-to-helmet hit on an incomplete third down like they did in the Seattle game -LA Rams instead of nailing Jordan Poyer for the offense.

Regardless, the Dolphins will continue to plug this season in hopes of a quick and major turnaround, more than likely with the core that made them so confident this spring and summer.