The Miami Dolphins continue to prove that they can compete with the best teams the NFL has to offer.And they continue to come up just short in proving that they can beat those teams.The Dolphins' latest loss, a 39-36 heartbreaker to the Denver Broncos, is further proof to that point. There's no reason to be ashamed over losing to the Broncos, and the Dolphins could still be a threat to make the playoffs.It's hard to buy into them to do much more than that when they continue to fall on their face every time they have a chance to prove that they could make some noise if they get to the postseason.They have the tools to make a runa quarterback who is capable of playing efficient, smart football, along with a defense that really puts the clamps on opposing offensesbut they need to put it all together to win at least four of their final five regular-season games and then do it again four more times in the playoffs.If the Dolphins were only better at closing out games, there wouldn't even be a discussion about their postseason viability. This marks the third game this season which the Dolphins have lost on a score that occurred in the final six minutes of regulation. Without those late scores, the Dolphins could be 9-2 right now.The Dolphins entered the fourth quarter with a 28-17 lead before their defense yielded 22 points in the final 15 minutes of action. And make no mistake: This loss falls on the shoulders of the defense. It certainly does not fall on the shoulders of quarterback Ryan Tannehill.Before Sunday, the Dolphins were an astonishing 16-1 when Tannehill earned higher than a 90 passer rating. On Sunday, they slid to 16-2.Tannehill has played the best football of his career this season. His completion percentage is higher than last season by 6.7 percentage points; his passer rating is higher by 11.7 points. He could threaten to finish with 30 touchdowns and 10 interceptions on the season, which would be a career-high and -low respectively.Tannehill doesn't need to be deadly; he just needs to be efficient. That recipe can work for the Dolphins if their defense is playing at a high level, as it has for most of the seasonand as it did not in the fourth quarter and at different points throughout the game against the Broncos.Sunday's loss was thanks to a defense that not only allowed Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning to complete 80 percent of his passes with four touchdowns and a 135.4 passer rating, but also allowed the Broncos running game to rip off 35 carries for 201 yards (5.7 yards per carry) and four rushes of 20 yards or longer.The Dolphins had shown signs of weakness throughout the game, but those weaknesses really came to fruition in the game's most important moments.The Dolphins had ridden their defense to a 4-1 record in their past five games. That unit is the reason the Dolphins even have a shot at the postseason right now. They need that group to play their best football of the season over the next five games.They need guys like defensive end Cameron Wake and cornerback Brent Grimes to make big plays in big moments. They also need role players like Jimmy Wilson to not be the reason they lose, with two key penalties on the Broncos' go-ahead scoring drive.In the end, the Dolphins played well enough to win for three quarters and not for the most important one.Even with all these issues, the Dolphins' path to the postseason is the same as it ever was. They need four wins to give themselves a chance to play games in January. Two wins against the New York Jets, along with two more wins against the Minnesota Vikings and Baltimore Ravens, appear to be the best bets.The problem is, without an ability to win against the top teams on the road, the Dolphins may still be a year away from really making noise in the playoffs.
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