FOXBOROUGH, Mass. _ In the end, the season that would never end ended up being too short.
Give the Dolphins another 16 games, and they might be a playoff team.
No. Seriously.
Because with the way they closed the door on the wildest season in recent memory _ by pulling off the upset of the year and possibly ending the Patriots' dynasty _ nobody should want to face them.
Think it's hyperbole?
Ask Bill Belichick, who because of Sunday's 27-24 loss to the Dolphins, will have to play on Wild Card weekend for the first time since 2009.
Ask Robert Kraft, who watched his team lose at home to the Dolphins for the first time since 2008.
Ask oddsmakers, who watched the Dolphins win as a two-touchdown underdog.
And any conversation about whether Ryan Fitzpatrick should return for the 2020 season should have been silenced with his 13-play, 75-yard, game-winning touchdown drive, capped by a five-yard touchdown pass to Mike Gesicki with 24 seconds left.
Fitzpatrick went 28 of 41 for 320 yards and had a rushing and passing touchdown. DeVante Parker capped an incredible season with 137 yards on eight catches.
As a result, the Dolphins will pick either fifth or sixth next April, depending on the outcome of the Jaguars-Colts game.
