A matchup decades in the making

Pull up a chair and sit on the edge of it, folks. This one could be worth the wait — and, thanks to everyone from Cam Cameron to Steve Ross, it’s been quite a wait.

The Miami Dolphins play the Buffalo Bills on Sunday in either the biggest game of the NFL weekend or the biggest game at Hard Rock Stadium since it was called Dolphin Stadium three name changes ago.

Take your pick for how big this game is. And round up the kids while you’re deciding. It’s time this next generation knew. This is what Dolphins weekends once were always about, if you can remember back to yesteryear when Dan Marino was a player and not a consultant or the 1970s was an era and not a sit-com.

Big games. Big rivals. Big hoo-hahs. Big consequences, too.

The horse is admittedly ahead of the cart of consequence. It’s just Game 3 in, as linebacker Jerome Baker says, “a marathon of a season” — though the marathon is a sprint if you’ve watched the Dolphins run.

But there’s been a generational void of consequence involving the Dolphins. And these Dolphins want in. They don’t want to be the next edition with their nose pressed against the glass. One of first-year coach Mike McDaniel’s pet phrases to his players is, “We know we’re going to be special,” and that can fit a timeline of this Sunday or next season.

“It’s something we’re believing,” defensive tackle John Jenkins says. “You can see it coming together.”

Winning is the magnet in that regard, not just bringing the locker room together but fans willing to believe again, too. A 2-0 start with a ho-hummer against rival New England and an epic comeback at Baltimore have changed some minds.