PITTSBURGH — The Miami Dolphins won the coin toss Sunday and kicked off to the Pittsburgh Steelers, a decision that in retrospect seemed a tad misguided. But then it was not as if electing to receive would have been a wiser choice.

A more prudent, if somewhat unorthodox, strategy would have been doing something else entirely with the football. Hiding it, for example. Maybe beneath the Dolphins’ parkas.

Because without the ball, the Steelers’ offense could not score.

And if the Steelers’ offense could not score, then the Dolphins might actually have stood a chance of winning Sunday’s playoff game at Heinz Field instead of absorbing a comprehensive demolition. The 30-12 defeat, which reaffirmed Pittsburgh as a formidable A.F.C. contender, held less suspense than a romantic comedy.

All of 2 minutes 45 seconds elapsed before Pittsburgh scored on an exquisite catch-and-run (50 yards) by Antonio Brown. That preceded another exquisite catch-and-run by Brown (62 yards), which preceded a scoring rush by Le’Veon Bell, who accounted for all 78 yards on that drive (excluding a 5-yard penalty), all on runs, 10 in a row. It was as if the Steelers kept giving him the ball because they had grown bored of demoralizing Miami through the air.