“You are what your record says you are.”

It’s a now famous quote by former Super Bowl winning coach Bill Parcells, and it makes perfect sense.  Despite having great balance with the 11th ranked scoring offense in the NFL and the fourth-ranked defense overall, the Miami Dolphins are a 5-4 team.

Although Miami looks better than most of their opponents on paper, they are going through the struggles and “growing pains” that often plagues young teams with inexperienced head coaches.

3:13 remained in Sunday’s game when the Detroit Lions’ offense took over possession at their own 26-yard line. The Lions needed a field goal to tie or 74 yards to pay-dirt for the game winning touchdown and all the Miami Dolphins needed was one more defensive stop for the victory to be theirs.

Similar to the scene Miami was presented with at home in Week 6 versus the Green Bay Packers, the outcome was almost predictable as the Dolphins once again let a close game slip through their collective hands; letting Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford lead a game winning drive in the final minutes just as they let Aaron Rodgers accomplish the same in Week 6.

Aside from these painfully obvious games in which Miami has been close but no cigar; their entire run under the leadership of head coach Joe Philbin has been mired with examples of the Dolphins coming up short.

Miami held late fourth quarter leads against Buffalo, Tampa Bay, and Carolina last season, only to be unable to make the necessary plays to preserve the victories when the opportunities presented themselves.

Consistently finding ways over the past few seasons to make it difficult for themselves to reach the playoffs, the week to week inconsistency that plagues the Dolphins can be maddening at times for fans and pundits. Even their own players are frustrated with the highs and lows.

“It’s the same thing I tell you every week,” wide receiver Mike Wallace said after the disheartening loss to the Lions. “We have to find our balance, man. We can’t keep doing this on offense. We can’t be up and down to be the team that we want to be. We have to be able to finish football games”

Over the past two and half seasons that coach Philbin has been the leader of men for the ‘Fins, Miami is 9-11 in games decided by one score. For a team that has been hovering around a .500 record overall during that same time frame, the losing percentage in tightly contested games is the hurdle this franchise just can’t seem to get over. It takes a complete team effort to turn fortunes around and it can’t just be one phase of the game saving the day.

“Definitely, definitely, definitely we have to hold our own weight. I always say we have to be able to hold our own weight,” Wallace said. “We have to be able to kill games. That game should have never even come down to the last drive.”

The Dolphins realize their struggles and aren’t blind to the facts but the team is confounded on what they have to do to maintain some consistency.

“I don’t know, it’s got to be the mentality,” Wallace explained. “We have the talent. We have the guys. I know we want to do it, but we have to do it.”

Quarterback Ryan Tannehill also recognizes their offensive performance, his included, just isn’t good enough to win games consistently in this league. So with a short turn around playing Thursday Night against a Buffalo Bills team they’ve been beaten by three straight times, Tannehill understands the need for himself to step up.

“I hate losing,” Tannehill said when asked of his record against the Bills. “I don’t play to come out and play close games or lose. You play to win. I haven’t played good football. I haven’t played my best football against them. So it’s a big game for us to step up and do that. It’s a night game on national television. This is a big opportunity of course.”

Abundantly talented and wildly inconsistent, Miami has taken on the identity of their head coach and quarterback. Both individuals need to continue to develop, limit mistakes, and motivate their team in order to focus on finding a way to pull out the close ones consistently like playoff bound teams do. Or else Miami will continue to be the average team their below .500 record to date under coach Philbin would entail.

If the Dolphins are ever to become the closers they seek to be, then the leadership by example has to come from their quarterback and head coach.