Miami Dolphins Twitter was brimming with schadenfreude late Sunday and all day Monday. The only people happier that the Kansas City Chiefs are headed to the AFC Championship Game for a sixth straight time are full-fledged Swifties.
Certainly, it’s a bit strange that a fan base would actively celebrate the success of the team that just bounced them from the playoffs. But negative partisanship is the strongest force on Earth, and the only thing that Dolphins fans hate more than losing is seeing the Buffalo Bills happy.
Miami Dolphins Need To Close Buffalo Bills’ Window
The Bills were certainly not happy after Tyler Bass’ missed 44-yard field goal Sunday, which ensured their postseason ended short of the Super Bowl for the 30th straight year.
Here’s something that will make Dolphins supporters even more gleeful:
The highwater mark for this Bills core might have been in 2020, when they lost to the Chiefs in the conference championship. In the three years since, it’s been losses in the Divisional Round — with the last two coming at home.
And the Bills only got that home game in 2023 because they overcame a three-game AFC East deficit to the Miami Dolphins in the season’s final five games.
So the gap between the two teams has closed, even if the Bills swept the season series.
And considering how ugly the Bills’ 2024 books are — Buffalo is $43.6 million over the cap with nearly $100 million tied up in three players (Josh Allen, Von Miller, and Stefon Diggs) — the Dolphins absolutely should overtake their fiercest rivals in 2024.
MORE: 3 Bold Moves To Fix the Miami Dolphins in 2024
Yes, Miami has its own cap issues, but Buffalo is expected to have the NFL’s oldest roster and very few ways to meaningfully improve the situation.
If the Dolphins do not topple the Bills, this entire rebuild will be a failure. We get into that, plus run through the Dolphins’ 2024 free agents and much more, in the latest PFN Miami Dolphins Podcast.
Want to predict the results of the 2023 NFL postseason with our FREE NFL Playoff Predictor? How about looking into in-depth breakdowns of team depth charts or the NFL playoff schedule? Pro Football Network has you covered with all that and more!