by Armando Salguero, The Miami Herald , The Miami Herald

One: The Dolphins, division champions and winners of nine of their final 11 games, are a significantly flawed team. They are capable of surviving, and at times even prospering against troubled teams such as Seattle and St. Louis and Oakland.

But there is a wide, deep gulf between them and superior teams such as Pittsburgh, Tennessee and, after Sunday's 27-9 final, Baltimore.

Two: Don't worry. Bill Parcells is on the job and has promised to stay on the job to fix what is wrong.

"Bill is going to stay," outgoing Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga said after he walked out of a quiet, depressing Dolphins locker room. "He told me [Friday] he was going to stay."

Huizenga is expected to soon sell his majority interest in the Dolphins and Dolphin Stadium to billionaire real estate developer Stephen Ross. The final negotiations could be completed within days and a closing will follow. Huizenga even said he was looking to meet with Ross on Sunday evening to iron out the deal's details.

He didn't have far to look.

As Huizenga was speaking to a huddle of reporters, Ross, flanked by an entourage of tall Secret Service-looking men, walked briskly past on his way out to the stadium parking lot.

"My gut tells me he'll stay," Ross said of Parcells as he speed-walked out of the stadium. "I certainly want him. And I understand what he wants. I think he deserves all the credit.

"Everyone is expecting him and wanting him to come back. I don't think he could find a more welcome home."

CLAUSE FOR CONCERN

Ross obviously has spoken with Parcells about the well-documented clause in the Big Tuna's contract that stipulates he can walk away from the Dolphins within 30 days of the new ownership taking over.

And Ross knows what Parcells wants to make the clause of no effect. But there is still work to do before Parcells puts his signature on a document that guarantees he'll be back in Miami for the 2009 season.

Ross said no meeting is set yet for that guarantee to be completed.

A note to Ross: Get it done. ASAP.

The Dolphins' offseason has begun and, in case you missed Sunday's game, the team has issues to resolve before it can continue the championship ascent it began during the regular season.

The coaching staff worked miracles with an offense whose three interior linemen -- the two guards and center Samson Satele -- must improve or be replaced.

It deserves noting that neither Andy Alleman nor Ikechuku Ndukwe were supposed to be starting guards this season. Both won their starting jobs because of injuries and both responded with desire and urgency. But those traits go only so far against superior talent and experience.

The Dolphins also must upgrade at wide receiver.

GINN: PALTRY STATS

Ted Ginn Jr., for all his improvement and hard work and speed, caught five passes for 38 yards Sunday. That is a pedestrian 7.6 yards per catch, which would be a misleading statistic taken out of context.

But the truth is this loss marked the seventh game this season Ginn's average yards per catch did not climb out of the single digits. And that doesn't sound like a legitimate deep threat to me.

The Dolphins often argue the expectations for Ginn are too high. Well, they wouldn't be so high if another receiver such as, say, Ernest Wilford offered help. But Wilford was inactive for the 10th time in 17 games.

It is also obvious the Dolphins have issues on defense as well as offense.

What little pass rush there was for the Dolphins, as they tried to intimidate rookie quarterback Joe Flacco, came only from Vonnie Holliday. Defensive coordinator Paul Pasqualoni used the usual staple of cornerback blitzes to manufacture some more rush, but by Game 17 other teams know those are coming.

The Dolphins instead need to find more sacks in free agency or the NFL Draft because merely hoping Kendall Langford or Phillip Merling emerges sounds more like a prayer than a plan.

And the list of needs and wants the Dolphins should have this offseason must not stop there. Remember, Miami was dismantled even as Flacco completed only 9 of 23 passes and had a terrible 59.1 rating.

That is how much of a blowout this game really was.

The fans that left with 5:35 to play didn't seem to care about that. Maybe they were already pleased with Miami's turnaround season and, for them, that served as a counterpoint to Sunday's embarrassing result.

But that was not, in fact, the silver lining. That was not the good news coming out of this game.

The good news is the Ravens showed us the Dolphins have much work they must do this offseason. And Bill Parcells has told Wayne Huizenga he'll be around to do the job.

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