But cornerback Nolan Carroll did get benched. He struggled in the first half. I use the word struggled because the word stunk is so unpleasant.

Carroll was picked on repeatedly, and when he didn’t give up completions he committed penalties. He had two pass-interference penalties and an illegal-contact call in the first half.

And for that he was benched throughout the third quarter.

Think whatever you want about the philosophy of benching an underperforming player during the game, but Joe Philbin obviously believes it’s a tool to turn to whenever he thinks appropriate.

Problem for Philbin is Sean Smith suffered from some sort of cramps in the fourth quarter and had to leave the game. And so Carroll got a second chance out of sheer necessity by coaches.

Carroll responded with a 5-yard holding penalty that gave the Bills their fourth first down in four penalties against him. This is a player who was playing better earlier in the season. He has struggled the past few weeks.

Where is the progression in that?

The facts are the Dolphins aren’t showing grand progression up and down the roster.

Bush hasn’t gotten better. In fact, the Dolphins running game has been stagnant for a month.

Tight end play?

Anthony Fasano? Anything?

He has had four catches the past four games after having 22 the previous six games. That’s not progression.

The run defense isn’t up to the standards of the early part of the season. Miami yielded 120 rushing yards this night, which is twice as many as it gained.

The play of the secondary has fallen off and, worse, it has happened against a couple of mediocre quarterbacks.

This season is not lost. There are still questions about how far Tannehill can progress. We can watch to see how much spunk this team has and how far they are from actually being relevant.

But playoffs? And progression from week to week?

Don’t see it.