With Week 13 of the NFL season is in the books, there is one team that is No. 1 in the AFC and it's the Miami Dolphins. After a dominating 45-15 win over the Washington Commanders, people have to wonder if the Dolphins should be the favorite to come out of the AFC.

The hype is most certainly real when it comes to Miami and with the question presented if they can make the Super Bowl, the short answer is “yes.” However, there's no doubt there has been critics of this team, but there is one that could be perceived as valid. The Dolphins have not beat a quality team yet.

At the end of the day though, you face what the schedule presents at you and so far, it's led to a 9-3 season, the best start for the team since 2001. Looking at the three losses, it was against the Buffalo Bills and Philadelphia Eagles on the road, and the Kansas City Chiefs in Germany. That's two teams who were previous Super Bowl contenders and the Bills.

On the other hand, the losses for Miami have given the team a chance to be battle-tested for the games later in the regular season and eventually the playoffs. The Dolphins control their own destiny as if they win their last five remaining games, they are locked in for the No. 1 seed.

After two winnable games against the Tennessee Titans and the New York Jets, the final three of the season for Miami are brutal as they face the Dallas Cowboys, the Baltimore Ravens, and the Bills. It's going to be a photo-finish to see how the AFC plays out, but Miami is in a good spot and should be the favorite.

The connection between Tua Tagovailo and Tyreek Hill is unmatched

Tyreek Hill Tua Tagovailoa

With an ascending defense and an ultra-explosive offense, the Dolphins have few flaws on either side of the ball. What's been the most exciting has been the evolution of the connection between superstar receiver Tyreek Hill and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa who has taken a huge leap this season. The relationship between the two MVP candidates has resulted in the best years for them as Hill has 2,000 receiving yards in reach and Tagovailoa is currently at 3,457 yards and 24 touchdowns.

Besides the talent of the two players, head coach Mike McDaniel has been the mastermind in terms of his offensive scheme. He talks about the rapport between Tagovailoa and Hill and what makes them special players after the win to the Commanders last Sunday.

“I think they’re tremendous players, but together the important thing for this team is that you’re seeing the best selves of both players while playing together. For me, I know they’re elite players but working together they’re finding that Tua’s able to be super aggressive in certain windows because he trusts what Tyreek’s going to do,” McDaniel said. “Tyreek’s able to be super aggressive because he trusts Tua’s field vision and knows that if he is putting the ball up in the air a little bit over the middle to just track it and catch it because Tua’s not going to lead him in harm’s way. They’re independently awesome but together they’re even better.”

While the team has been contained before, the Dolphins offense is too explosive to be held content multiple times this season, especially when it comes to their speed. Besides Hill, Miami consists of Jaylen Waddle and running backs Raheem Mostert, De'Von Achane who both have shown to excel in the running game behind an improved offensive line.

Hill having his best season in career

Hill said after the win that he believes he's having his best season. He's credited Tagovailoa on multiple occasions being the most accurate quarterback he's been around, him being the MVP, etc. Through 13 weeks, Hill has caught 93 passes for 1,481 and 12 touchdowns.

“I believe I am having my best season, even if I didn’t have the numbers. I feel like I’m doing a great job of being in the right spot for the quarterback and making sure I’m doing a great job blocking and just understanding this whole offense,” Hill said. “This past offseason, I really had a chance to just look back and just understand my mistakes from last year and I took it head on because I put a lot of accountability on myself. As one of the leaders on this team, I just had to step up and be better. Obviously, the stats looked good last year, but there was a lot of room for improvement for myself. I feel like I can be a whole lot better, so that’s just me believing in myself.”

Tagovailoa says Dolphins are “locked in”

This has been a different Tagovailoa than fans were used to seeing under former Dolphins head coach Brian Flores. There seems to be a bigger trust in the young quarterback from McDaniel. More importantly for Tagovailoa, he's seeing everybody in the team “locked in.”

“Yeah, I think everyone is locked in. I think everyone has started to handle their job. Not more seriously, but everyone’s starting to do a little more. You see guys staying a little longer, watching film together,” Tagovailoa said after Commanders win. “Meetings, you know there are no meetings after practices on third down days, you see a lot of position groups meeting and staying back a little longer. We’re starting to see a lot of guys staying out on the field a little longer as well. I think that’s what Mike [McDaniel] is seeing is everyone knows that we can do something special this year and no one on our team is trying to waste that opportunity.”

As mentioned before, the unsung recent heroes of the Dolphins has been the defense led by coordinator Vic Fangio. The unit started slow, but has picked up the pace, especially when they got back star Jalen Ramsey who is paired up with mainstay Xavien Howard. While losing Jaelan Phillips is a huge blow for Miami's pass rush, others in the unit such as Bradley Chubb, Christian Wilkins, Emmanuel Ogbah, Zach Sieler, and the recently signed Jason-Pierre Paul have shown to be disruptive players in the defensive line.

It's not an easy pathway for the Dolphins, but they are in a prime position to prove doubters wrong despite the major success so far this season. They now prepare to get their tenth win of the season as they take on the Titans in a Monday Night Football showdown.