Well, midway through the marathon that is the NFL season, it’s advantage Dolphins and advantage Tua.

The latter is more impressive than the former. It means in the quarterback-leaning NFL, and in the Dolphins’ quarterback-heavy offense, things are trending in the right direction for seasonlong and possibly postseason success.

So, as we acknowledge the Dolphins are the overwhelming favorites at midseason to win the AFC East, we must also acknowledge Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is the overwhelming favorite at midseason to be the AFC East Quarterback of the Year (no, there is no such award).

It’s an impressive single-season path to be on, considering the competition was New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers, Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen, the men who finished 1-2 in the 2020 NFL MVP voting, and New England quarterback Mac Jones.

This was shaping up to be a three-man Battle Royale among Rodgers, Allen and Tagovailoa. 

So far, it’s been nothing close to that. Tagovailoa is the clear leader, and you see that in the standings.

Disclaimer time: It’s important to note we’re only halfway through the season. Things can and will change in many areas. I’ve got to keep repeating that because we know Tua is injury-prone, and we know the Dolphins were 8-3 last year before finishing 9-8.

Having said that, here’s where we’re at right now:

— Rodgers, the future Hall of Famer, never got his season going. He sustained an Achilles injury in his first series as a Jets quarterback. Zach Wilson is the starter and he has five touchdowns, six interceptions and a cringe-worthy 74.6 passer rating, which ranks 30th in the NFL.

— Allen, the All Pro and Pro Bowl selection, is leading a struggling Buffalo team that has a 5-5 record, fired offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey on Monday and could have three or four more losses on its schedule among Dallas, Kansas City, Philadelphia and Miami. Allen has 19 touchdowns, which is tied for the league lead with Tagovailoa, a league-leading 11 interceptions, and a 96.6 passer rating, which ranks 12th in the league.

— Jones, who earned a Pro Bowl berth as a rookie in 2021 (he was originally a second alternate) and helped lead the Patriots to a wild-card berth that same year, was benched last week. Coach Bill Belichick has declined to name Jones as the starter this week. Jones has 10 touchdowns, 10 interceptions and a miserable 80.2 passer rating, which ranks 27th in the league;

— Tagovailoa, who has had well-documented injury concerns in the past, is trending in the right direction health-wise, team-wise and individually. He has 19 touchdowns, seven interceptions and a 106.4 passer rating, which is second in the league.

Most importantly, the Dolphins are 6-3 and leading the division, while Buffalo is 5-5 and in second place, followed by the Jets (4-5) and Patriots (2-8).

Again, it’s way too early to say for certain things will end the way they’re going right now.

But just as we hand out midseason awards, we can make other midseason observations.

Tagovailoa’s tenuous accomplishment is impressive for a variety of reasons. The top three reasons, in no particular order, being his competition, his injury history and his injury-riddled offensive line.

And, let’s be honest, Tagovailoa has the best supporting cast among AFC East quarterbacks.

He has the best coach (Mike McDaniel), the best running game, the best wide receivers, and soon he might have the best defense.

The offensive line, for all the doubts cast its way, has only allowed 15 sacks, third-fewest in the league. 

It takes a village, right?

It also takes a strong individual effort, and Tagovailoa has given that in many ways, including the offseason jiu-jitsu classes that taught him how to fall (tuck the chin to the chest) to help prevent the back of his head hitting the ground and getting concussions.

This is a dream scenario for the Dolphins. This is just the way they drew it up.

They’re the best team in the AFC East, and, so far, they have the season’s best-performing quarterback in the AFC East. 

After Achane was designated to return Monday, marking his return to practice while on injured reserve for a knee ailment sustained more than a month ago, signs have pointed up for him as he was back at drills after the minimum four-game absence on IR.

“I do know that he really wants to play. He’s shown that,” McDaniel said ahead of Wednesday’s practice, Achane’s second since being injured Oct. 8 against the New York Giants. “We feel good about where he’s headed. If he’s ready to roll for this game, he’ll play.”

McDaniel noted that Achane “checked all the boxes” in a light Monday practice, which wasn’t padded with tackling involved and that the rookie phenom “looked like a pro.”

“He’s come a long way in a short amount of time,” McDaniel said. “It feels like he’s not a rookie within the locker room.”

Achane, in four games as a rookie, has 460 yards and five touchdowns on 38 rushing attempts for a whopping 12.1 yards-per-carry average. He also has two receiving touchdowns. In the Sept. 24 win over the Denver Broncos, Achane burst onto the NFL scene with four total touchdowns and 203 rushing yards.

The Dolphins have Raheem Mostert, Jeff Wilson Jr. and Salvon Ahmed at tailback, should Achane not make his return Sunday at home against the Raiders.

Hunt, who missed the loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Nov. 5 in Germany with a hamstring injury, did not practice Wednesday after McDaniel said he and fellow offensive lineman Robert Jones (knee) are week to week.

McDaniel said Hunt is “like a cat being in water” with how unfamiliar the usually healthy guard is with dealing with injuries.

Hunt worked on the side of Wednesday drills with trainers.

“I could see him playing in this game, I could see him playing in the next game,” McDaniel said of Hunt.

Jones was not seen at Wednesday practice. Without either of them, the Dolphins would likely start some combination of Lester Cotton and Liam Eichenberg at left and right guard.

The Dolphins also worked out a number of offensive guards Tuesday, including veteran former All-Pro Andrew Norwell. McDaniel said that was about the organization getting ahead of different scenarios where they may reach out to a free agent. Miami also worked out fellow guards Colby Gossett and Wes Martin, along with defensive backs Bubba Bolden (a Miami Hurricanes alum), Dane Cruishank and A.J. Moore.

Along with Hunt and Jones, Dolphins not seen during a media viewing portion of Thursday’s practice were tight end Durham Smythe, wide receivers Braxton Berrios and Chase Claypool and fullback Alec Ingold.

The team will release its first injury report of the week later Wednesday.

This story will be updated.

Cracraft, a sound reserve wideout and top run blocker among Miami’s receiving corps, was up against his 21-day practice window the Dolphins opened up Oct. 25 when he was initially designated to return. He was on IR for a shoulder injury suffered Sept. 24 against the Denver Broncos.

To make room on the active roster for Cracraft, the Dolphins waived cornerback Kelvin Joseph.

In three games and a start with the Dolphins, Cracraft had six receptions for 87 yards and a touchdown in the team’s season-opening win at the Los Angeles Chargers.

Cracraft is the fifth player the Dolphins have activated off IR this season, joining cornerback Jalen Ramsey, offensive tackle Terron Armstead, running back Jeff Wilson Jr. and offensive lineman Robert Jones.

Miami has also already opened the 21-day window on running back De’Von Achane, with the possibility he returns to the lineup for Sunday’s game against the Raiders off his knee injury.

NFL teams are allowed to designate eight players to return (the point where they begin practice) from either IR or the non-football injury list, and Miami has used six of those spots with eight games remaining.

Offensive lineman Isaiah Wynn and running back Chris Brooks (IR) and wide receiver Erik Ezukanma (NFI) are players currently on those lists, but the Dolphins could hold off on bringing back either of them this season if more vital players sustain injuries that will cost them weeks but not the remainder of the season. Wynn, though, started Miami’s first seven games at left guard, so if he’s able to return late in the season from his quadriceps ailment, it would be a valuable return.

Joseph was the return the Dolphins got in the preseason trade that sent fellow cornerback Noah Igbinoghene to the Dallas Cowboys. Joseph played in four games this season with Miami, mostly on special teams while getting all 21 defensive snaps at the end of back-to-back blowout games in Weeks 3 and 4, the 70-20 win over the Denver Broncos and 48-20 loss to the Buffalo Bills.

In another wide receiver move Wednesday, the Dolphins signed South Florida-raised speedster Anthony Schwartz to the practice squad.

No, seriously, don’t ask.

The last time the Miami Dolphins looked this certain to win the AFC East in November was 1993, and I asked tough-guy linebacker Bryan Cox how it felt to be 9-2 and staring at more than the division crown.

He stuck up his middle finger, as he often did in conversations, and said, “No one in here better talk like that.”

This was three decades ago and those Dolphins didn’t win another game the rest of the way.

But look around the AFC East right now. Go ahead. It’s all set up perfectly for the Dolphins. The division is them and three lumps of carnage. Remember back in August how the division was considered the toughest in football, how people wondered if they all could make the playoffs?

Now, the 4-5 New York Jets can’t score and coach Robert Saleh said he’d, “plead the Fifth,” on why Zach Wilson is still quarterback. How’s that for leadership at the top?

The 2-8 New England Patriots aren’t just the worst team in the AFC but the impossible looks increasingly probable with Bill Belichick answering weekly questions about being fired.

“I think we’re all disappointed in the season,” Belichick said to the latest such question after a 10-6 loss to the Colts in Germany. “But we’ll keep going here. Seven games to go. Be ready to go next week against the Giants.”

Isn’t it discouraging for a football generation that put up with “The Patriot Way” to see them so bad they’re not even hate-able?

Finally, there’s 5-5 Buffalo. The division champs the past three years sees the window slamming on them. They lost at home Monday night after having 12 men on the field on Denver’s last-second field goal attempt. The kick missed, but the penalty gave Denver a mulligan. The second attempt won the game, 24-22.

“Absolutely, absolutely,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said when asked if it was one of his most inexplicable losses. “We practiced that two or three times this week — the substitution from dime to field-goal block. At the end of the day, we didn’t execute it. So, it’s inexcusable.”

It’s the kind of inexcusable that gets a coach fired, and McDermott made sure it wasn’t him. He fired offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey on Tuesday. The Bills lead the league in turnovers. Quarterback Josh Allen looks liked he’d fumble a handshake. So Dorsey goes.

You know what all of this means: The Dolphins have a chance to fill a power void unlike in any season in two decades. They’ll also have a tough time quieting the talk about not beating a good team before the playoffs considering there’s only two such games left on the schedule — Dallas and Baltimore.

So what? Should they apologize for beating up on no-account teams and having the inside lane down the stretch against a tin-can AFC East teams?

New England won that way for 17 years.

This isn’t to say the Dolphins have a victory lap to the division title. There’s any-given-Sunday opponents like Las Vegas, Tennessee and Washington. There’s two games left against the Jets’ defense. Buffalo isn’t dead, but all signs point to it being so when in comes to Hard Rock Stadium for the regular-season finale.

Say this, too: Overconfidence shouldn’t be a Dolphins issue considering the latest game against Kansas City and the fact they have done nothing more than beating up on lesser teams. There’s accomplishment in that. Just not satisfaction.

Coach Mike McDaniel seems to tinker more with X’s and O’s than the souls of his players, but there probably will be a moment in the second half of this season to tug at their souls. McDaniel, the history major, can say how this franchise hasn’t won a division title since the 2008 season or grabbed a home-field playoff advantage since 2000.

He can tell of Don Shula reciting three goals to his Dolphins team each year in training camp: Win the AFC East, get the home-field advantage and win your way to the Super Bowl.

Or maybe Cox’s middle finger would just suffice to all questions about the good position they’re in. There’s work to be done. But there’s an fertile opportunity considering the fate of the fallen AFC East.

When this season began it looked like there was no pushover in the division. Now three teams are pushovers. The Dolphins just need to give them a good shove.

Latest line: Dolphins are favored by 12 points

Dave Hyde, Sports Columnist (Season record 6-3): Dolphins 33, Raiders 17

A bye week to rest. A backup quarterback to play against. And a Raiders team that already got the short-term boost that the firing on an unpopular coach can bring with two straight wins. The Dolphins, 12-point favorites, can start a stretch of easier games in good style. The Raiders are just 1-4 on the road.

Chris Perkins, Dolphins Columnist (Season record 5-4): Dolphins 34, Raiders 17

The run game should be featured because of rookie running back De’Von Achane’s expected return, and look for the defense to continue its ascent now that many of the key players are healthy. This figures to be another comfortable home victory for the heavily favored Dolphins.

David Furones, Dolphins Writer (Season record 7-2): Dolphins 31, Raiders 16

Las Vegas appears to have been rejuvenated under interim coach Antonio Pierce after the firing of Josh McDaniels. But one thing is edging the Giants and Jets. It’s another to come down to Miami Gardens, where the Dolphins are 4-0 this season and have won 16 of their last 18. The Dolphins are refreshed coming off the bye week and win a game they should.

Kathy Laughlin, Sports Editor (Season record 7-2): Dolphins 38, Raiders 20

The 6-3 Dolphins are rested, determined and playing at home, where they have not lost this season. The 5-5 Raiders have one road win this season, and that was by one point against the 4-5 Broncos. The Dolphins’ only danger here is overconfidence.

Keven Lerner, Assistant Sports Editor (Season record 8-1): Dolphins 30, Raiders 17

The Raiders have found new life under interim coach Antonio Pierce, who took over for the fired Josh McDaniels three weeks ago. Pierce’s commitment to the running game has paid dividends. Josh Jacobs, who led the NFL in rushing last season, has thrived as of late as Las Vegas improved to 2-0 with Pierce at the helm. But both of those wins came at home and were against the woeful Jets and Giants. The true test of how good the Raiders really are will come against the AFC-East leading Dolphins.

Steve Svekis, Assistant Sports Editor (Season record 5-4): Dolphins 27, Raiders 10

A rejuvenated 5-5 Las Vegas team plays its first road game under new coach Antonio Pierce. While the Raiders have multiple All-Pro players in Maxx Crosby and Davante Adams, the Dolphins defense will likely tee off on rookie quarterback Aidan O’Connell, who will be making his fourth NFL start. The Silver and Black are vulnerable against the run, having averaged allowing 156.5 rushing yards per game over Vegas’ past four contests.