The Miami Dolphins chased the New England Patriots for more than a decade while the other teams in the division sat back and watched. That all crashed down.
The Patriots' dynasty ended with the departure of Tom Brady, but the Dolphins, who hung on to second place for nearly two decades, didn't take over the reins. The Bills did, and the Dolphins have found themselves chasing them for the last half-decade.
Whatever the Dolphins have been doing, they have been doing wrong. They have seemed to get closer, considering no one else truly was challenging for the division until the Bills stepped up to claim it. Now, the Dolphins are once again expected not to lay claim to a division that only two seasons ago was in their grasp.
CBS Sports ranked all eight divisions based on each division's likelihood of seeing a new division winner in 2025. The Kansas City Chiefs were ranked eighth, meaning they are the least likely to lose their grasp on the AFC West this year.
The Bills were ranked seventh. Honestly, the Chiefs have a better chance of being challenged for the division than the Bills do. CBS, apparently, doesn't think so.
CBS doesn't see the Dolphins as a viable challenger for the AFC East
The ranking does, however, say that while the Bills are likely to hold on to their division domination, they believe the better team to challenge Buffalo is the Patriots.
"The New England Patriots are perhaps best positioned for a leap with Mike Vrabel now commanding Drake Maye and a fortified defense, but the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets don't register as real threats to Buffalo unless Tua Tagovailoa and Justin Fields transcend their respective setups," writes Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports.
On the other hand, Benjamin is right about the Dolphins being tied to their quarterback. Miami has shown little ability to do much when he is not on the field. Zach Wilson was brought in with the hopes of changing the backup situation, but he also has question marks. He hasn't played for over a year, riding the bench as the third quarterback in Denver, and he wasn't great with the Jets.
Once again, the Dolphins find themselves in a situation where everyone is waiting to see if they can change the narrative, as they have yet to do anything more than show glimpses of what they might be capable of if everything works.