No brave talk here, season is done

When it was over, whenTampa Bay celebrated with a meaningless touchdownas the clock ran out, severalMiami Dolphins stood on the field, bent over, as if they couldn’t believe the day they’d justwitnessed.

Butwe could. Anyone who haswatched this team for the past 15 years has seen some version of Sunday before, many times, thoughmaybe not with thismany turnovers (five) or penalties (17) that confirm a team in full disarray.

We knowwhat Sunday meant, too, this 30-20 loss to a decidedly bad Buccaneers team. It meant a season that’s been listing since the opening kickoff in September is officially sunk. It’s done. It’s justwhere the fingers get pointed and howthe draft position is affected fromhere on out.

Maybe, looking back, the seasonwas sunkwhen starting quarterbackRyanTannehill tore his knee for a second time in August. Certainly, looking back, it spoke of locker-room problemswhen running back JayAjayiwas traded to Philadelphia.

But the Dolphinswho haven’t assembled one complete game this yearwould have to assemble good, full games to the end to resuscitate this year. That’s not happening. Just like nothing is getting fixed as this year moves on, either. Five turnovers? “We’ve got to catch the ball,” Dolphins coachAdam Gase said.“We’ve got to hold onto the ball.”

Seventeen penalties— one off the franchise record?

“Pre-snap stuff— it’s just ridiculous,” Gase said. “That’s something thatwe made a big emphasis on thisweek on both sides of the ball. Obviously, we didn’t handle it very good on offense.”

And the defense? Well, it had one drive to claim the day. Tampa Baywas on its 25-yard line. Tie game. Three minutes left. Get a stop here, hand the ball back to the offense and hope for the season can live for another