Dolphins quickly become NFL's most hopeless situation

There are a lot of teams in the NFL that are already out of the playoff race this season and facing long roads back to contention. There might not be a single franchise that is facing a grimmer, bleaker situation than the Miami Dolphins. 

The franchise has not won a playoff game in 26 years, the longest ongoing drought in the NFL, and it is going to continue this season. They have mostly been mediocre in recent years only qualified for the playoffs just four times in the past 23 years. 

They have had no recent success, are having no current success, and do not seem likely to have success anytime soon in the future. 

Whatever momentum and shine they may have had from last week's big win over the Atlanta Falcons was completely erased on Thursday night in an embarrassing performance against the Baltimore Ravens in a 28-6 defeat. 

There were zero positives to take away from it, and it is hard to see where a quick fix comes from.

The Ravens beat the Dolphins, and the Dolphins beat themselves

Coming out of halftime on Thursday night, Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel said they were playing against two teams in the first half, referencing the fact they had several self-inflicted mistakes that helped cost them points, stall drives and give points to Baltimore.

They had long drives on offense get bogged down by penalties, forcing them to settle for field goal attempts. They fumbled deep in their own territory to set the Ravens up for their first touchdown of the game, and then turned the ball over two other times later in the game. 

That is a losing recipe against almost any team in football, and especially against a team that is quarterbacked by Lamar Jackson.

But that's only part of the problem for Miami, and it's largely only related to this game. The big picture problem is far more concerning.

Tua Tagovailoa is not the answer

Tagovailoa is far from the only problem in Miami right now. It's just not a good roster overall. But he also does not seem to be part of the solution, especially with a $53M salary cap number. The Dolphins are paying him like one of the NFL's elite quarterbacks — and one of its elite players — and they are not getting anything close to that level of play.

He threw his league-leading 11th interception of the season on Thursday, and just looked like a quarterback that had no answers for anything. 

He lacks elite arm strength, and everything regarding the Dolphins offense is built around timing, their ability for the first read of their offense to get open, and his ability to hit it. When things do not work perfectly, the offense has zero chance to function. 

It has not worked.

Tagovailoa's regression as a quarterback, combined with a gigantic contract that might quickly becoming one of the NFL's biggest albatross deals, is a big reason why this situation feels so grim. It is one thing to not have a quarterback. It is another thing entirely to invest in the wrong quarterback and be stuck with them and have almost no way out from it. 

Eventually head coach Mike McDaniel and probably general manager Chris Grier are going to be dismissed, and it will not be unfair given the roster and team they have built. Whoever comes in to replace them is going to have a mostly bare cupboard to restock with one of the NFL's worst contracts at its most important position. 

At least if you are the New York Jets or New Orleans Saints you can start over this offseason with a new quarterback. It seems almost impossible for the Dolphins to do that.