They won the game, as expected, and although it's good news the Dolphins pulled out this squeaker over the struggling, wounded Seahawks, the real headline is in how we react to that success now.

And more importantly, how the Dolphins react.

You see, although folks weren't exactly yawning over the fact Miami won this game, there wasn't a full-throated celebration that echoed into the South Florida night, either. The Dolphins locker room seemed pretty much business as usual after Sunday's 21-19 victory.

''Good teams find a way to win,'' Dolphins receiver Greg Camarillo said, summing up the afternoon. ``Bad teams find a way to lose.''

These guys have come a long way from that singular, emotion-sapping victory against Baltimore last year -- one lousy win feeling like a religious awakening. They've even come miles from their consecutive upsets against New England and San Diego this season.

`AN ADJUSTMENT'

These Dolphins simply expect to win now. And by succeeding they are changing the landscape of their season by raising mountains of expectations everywhere the eye can see.

''It's an adjustment, I think,'' running back Ricky Williams said after he gained 105 yards, marking his first run past 100 yards since 2005. ``Most of us like being the underdog. But now that we're winning games I think that's going to go away.

``As a team we're going to have to make an adjustment now that teams are going to take us seriously.''

The Dolphins need to make the adjustment because they are a team in transition.

They are going from hunter to hunted. They aren't the team trying to bag an unsuspecting opponent anymore. They aren't sneaking up on anybody.

Teams such as the Seahawks are now trying to sneak up on the Dolphins. And in the next couple of weeks when Miami continues its home stand against the terrible Raiders and the Patriots they stomped in September, we might arrive at that wonderful place where we will be surprised only when Miami loses.

Yup, the shifting expectations are coming in seismic waves.

A few weeks ago a modest .500 record seemed like a trumpet sounded by angels in heaven. A couple of weeks later, .500 sounds kind of hollow, and folks are moving on to the next big thing: The playoffs.

So how long before we reset our expectations again?

Turns out not too long because after this game, nose tackle Jason Ferguson was talking about winning so often that his team won't need help getting in the playoffs.

''We're not just expecting to win a couple of games to get the fans on our side,'' he said. ``We're trying to change something around here. We're trying to make a run. And we got a chance to do that now.

``We're trying to put ourselves in a situation where at the end, we're not relying on anybody else for anything. We're 5-4 and we're trying to get a lot more.''

The Dolphins shouldn't expect to lean on anyone for help because today's NFL is filled with flawed and floundering teams that can nonetheless crash Miami's party and season.

BAD SEAHAWKS

We saw how bad the Seahawks were Sunday when receiver Koren Robinson dropped a touchdown pass. We saw why the Seahawks are 2-7 when they closed the game to two points and then, with momentum on their side and the Dolphins on their heels, Mike Wahle turned a chance to tie the score into a missed opportunity with a false-start penalty before the two-point try.

But even those troubled Seahawks were capable of exposing Miami weaknesses.

The Dolphins' special teams -- last in kickoff coverage, last in kick returns and next-to-last in punt coverage -- were horrible again Sunday. Special teams mistakes cost Miami 13 points.

And other issues also hurt. Ferguson said the defense was ''misaligned'' when Julius Jones ran 33 yards to set up Seattle's final touchdown. And Chad Pennington had an interception returned for a touchdown.

But none of those issues kept the Dolphins from jumping to a 14-0 lead. None kept them from winning. None kept them from doing what we expected them to do.

''Today was a lesson,'' defensive lineman Vonnie Holliday said. ``All week we heard this is a team we should beat. Vegas made us big favorites so they expected us to win. And we did that. We're raising the bar.''

Let's see how high it can go.

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