Most NFL years go as followed: The preseason is dedicated to projecting who is capable of dethroning the New England Patriots. A bunch of key players get hurt. Referees botch a bunch of late-game calls. Four or five teams perform way above or below expectations. The postseason is dedicated to projecting who is capable of dethroning the New England Patriots.

This year looks to be headed down the same path. The Patriots once again look like the class of the league. Starting quarterbacks are dropping like flies. Referees were responsible for this and this. Buffalo is 2-0. Pittsburgh is 0-2. And the Patriots are now +330 to win the Super Bowl.

But this season, something is occurring that is a bit out of the ordinary. The relationship between oddsmakers, bettors, and the Miami Dolphins is something we have never witnessed before.

Take a look…

You can hardly blame oddsmakers for how they’re pricing the Miami Dolphins — this is the NFL, where parity is supposed to reign and bettors have a strong track record of chewing up and spitting out any inflated point spread. But what happens when a team is this bad AND they don’t want to win? We talk all the time about there being a point spread “ceiling” for every team. The Patriots are really good but you won’t see them laying four touchdowns any time soon. With Miami, how high is too high? In the eyes of bettors, +17 at Dallas certainly isn’t.