Dolphins have time to gain their footing

LONDON — Patience is gone and perspective is limited, but do yourself a favor and take a breath today. Stop banging your head over the Dolphins’ second feeble offensive performance in three games. Take a view through the wide-angle lens of the NFL’s quarter-pole (for most teams): The Rams, led by

are on pace to threaten the record for points in a season. The Patriots, led by

are on pace to threaten for the most points ever allowed by a defense in a season.

The Jets, who are built to tank, can’t even do that well. They’re 2-2.

Do you expect Goff ’s offense to break all scoring marks? Belichick’s defense to remain this historically awful? If so, then bring the full avalanche down on

and an offense that’s a final-play touchdown against the Jets from being shut out in consecutive weeks and a field-goal miss against the Chargers from being 0-3.

The numbers indict everyone. Six points in eight quarters? Eleven penalties and 11 first downs in London? An offense averaging 8.5 points in an age of offense?

The only other team to be shut out in any game through four weeks was Cincinnati in its opener against Baltimore. The Dolphins weren’t just shut out Sunday. They were shut out by a Saints defense that ranked 31st of 32 defenses entering the game. Is this who the Dolphins are? Or is everything still shaking out at the quarter-pole?

Buffalo leads the AFC East. COMMENTARY Kansas City’s

was the league’s top-rated passer.

The Dolphins’ average of 8.5 points a game would be the lowest since Tampa Bay scored 7.4 per game in 1977.

After last year’s 1-4 start, Gase built the Dolphins’ offensive identity around

Defenses have fully caught up now, with Gase saying they have taken away the outside zone runs Ajayi loves. The Dolphins, for whatever reason, can’t do anything else. Attack with speed?

ran around end for 16 yards Sunday, but it was called back by a holding penalty. He had one other carry.

Throw downfield against the one-safety schemes?

threw one deep pass Sunday. The Dolphins’ scaled-down diet was screens, flat passes, short routes — basically, the check-down fare that in previous regimes left you scratching your head.

Maybe they don’t have time for more. Cutler, after all, was sacked four times Sunday. Or maybe this is all Cutler can do. goes deep. It’s not time to make that switch. But that time is coming if this doesn’t improve quickly.

Here’s the added problem: The Dolphins are done with the soft stretch of the season. They’ve played three teams with losing records when they met. They don’t play another team with a losing record the rest of the way.

Buffalo leads the AFC East.

The New York Giants are 0-4.

The Dolphins defense is tied for eighth in points per game allowed. Will all this hold up? “No,” Gase said when asked if he’d ever gone through a stretch like this.

Maybe not. But this team has. They were 1-4 last year. They stayed the course. They’ve played three games, looked sickly in them, but this is a time for solutions rather than blame.

“I think it’s as simple as this: We understand what we have as a group,” defensive tackle

said. “And obviously we’re not playing our best football in any — offense, defense or special teams, we’re not playing our best football at all.

“I hate to bring up old stuff,” defensive end

said. “But last year, it was situations where people wrote us off, panicked. It was: The sky’s falling, oh, no. And obviously things went differently because the group of guys we had. The guys who believe in one another and continue to work and continue to work. And make sure at the end of the day you get your job done.”

Those are veteran defenders talking. They know that with an average offense this team is 3-0 right now. As it is, it’s lucky to be 1-2. There’s time yet. But the offense needs to find its way out, and quickly, or all the patience and perspective will be looking to next season.