Kelly: Win masks the fact Chris Grier built a faulty roster for Dolphins | Opinion

If Ja’Lynn Polk had smaller feet the Miami Dolphins’ 2024 season would be circling the drain right now.

The Dolphins got lucky against a bad New England team, a rebuilding Patriots (1-4) team starting a passer (Jacoby Brissett) whose picture accompanies the word mediocre in a sports dictionary.

If Polk’s right heel didn’t touch the back area of the end zone, indicating his reception was out of bounds, Miami wouldn’t have escaped Gillette Stadium with a 15-10 win, and the franchise would be riding a four-game losing streak instead of heading into the bye week at 2-3.

So what Sunday brought was relief, a deep sigh, an opportunity to exhale.

But it certainly didn’t produce an answer, a solution, a fix.

Honestly, Miami’s numerous special teams mishaps (a mishandled snap on a field-goal attempt, a blocked punt), the Patriots’ 7.9 yards per carry average, and New England’s ability to rally 58-yards downfield on offense against the strength of this Miami team in the game’s final four minutes while trailing b five points, provides more evidence that these Dolphins are a B-A-D team.

Letting a victory overshadow how bad Mike McDaniel’s squad has looked this season is like giving a new paint job to a 1990’s Yugo.

“It’s a step in the right direction. It’s a lot better to heal in a winning environment. A lot better to correct and address issues in a winning environment. Once you get to losing there’s a lot of finger pointing and a lot of bad energy can take place,” said left tackle Terron Armstead, who returned from being sidelined one week because of a concussion. “Winning heals.”

Maybe the return of Tua Tagovailoa, who should be cleared for action in coming weeks, makes these Dolphins a respectable team again.

Maybe even a playoff-bound team.

But unless Tagovailoa, who was placed on injured reserve because of the concussion he suffered in Week 2, becomes a world-beater, which is unlikely considering his troublesome habit of shrinking in the biggest moment, or the Dolphins ground game finds its groove - 193 rushing yards against the Patriots is phenomenal - again, and this aged and injury prone roster doesn’t suffer anymore injuries (Jevon Holland broke his hand against New England), that’s unlikely.

And the truth of the matter is continuing to build on this faulty foundation built by general manager Chris Grier is irresponsible because the Dolphins aren’t going anywhere while led by a quarterback who is one more bone-crushing hit from his playing career possibly being over.

This offense is built around a talented playmaker [Tyreek Hill] with the maturity of a 13-year-old, and the foundation of the team — the offensive and defensive line — is fractured and needs to be overhauled.

And I’m not talking about a small overhaul.

One healthy defensive lineman (Zach Sieler) is expected back in 2025, and two starting offensive lineman — center Aaron Brewer and right tackle Austin Jackson — are signed to contracts Miami will honor in 2025.

And those two aren’t even having good seasons to this point.

That’s foundation waiting to topple over.

That’s why Polk’s overturned touchdown, which ultimately led to a win Miami’s defense prevented the Patriots from scoring in the final 29 seconds, is little more than a slight of hand trick executed by some sheisty carnival barker [McDaniel or Grier, your pick].

“Look here” while McDaniel, who had a reputation as an offensive genius before this season, produces one of the worst offenses in the NFL, a team that has scored all of 60 points in five games, averaging 12 points per contest.

“Watch closely” as the defensive front Grier put together is allowing opponents to average a whopping 4.7 yards per carry.

This is a team that has an expensive $50 million-a-year receiver duo in Hill and Jaylen Waddle who collectively average 108.8 yards per game right now.

“We’re fighting adversity right now and we’re trying to overcome it,” tight end Jonnu Smith said after finally putting together a breakout performance, which featured him pulling in five receptions for 62 yards. “From the outside looking in it might look like [a downward spiral], but from the inside looking in we’re just trying to figure out the solutions to the problem, and be action based.”

The problem is that Miami has a flawed roster, and the best solution is to begin identifying someone who can fix it.