One guard, Rex Hadnot, returned to his dressing stall from the showers and boomed his greeting, "Hey, Chief!" at a reporter.

The other guard, Chris Liwienski, was as unhappy as anyone, but his weekly disappointment seemed tempered by the optimism that at least one thing is building here—a no-glitz, no-name offensive line that has been the single consistent aspect of this worst team in the NFL.

In the five games immediately preceding this 13-10 loss to Buffalo, the Dolphins had delivered 693 yards off 124 carries for a 5.6 average, and they supplemented that with another 140 yards against the Bills.

"We're building a bond here," Liwienski said.

"And the biggest key is having five guys with the right kinds of personalities who can work with other guys and then having them on the field, week in and week out. We've got a long way to go. We're 0-9. But we're playing hard."

Liwienski and Hadnot, rookie center Samson Satele and tackles Vernon Carey and L.J. Shelton: They've started every game this year and the rising consistency of their work has a lot to do with why castoff running back Jesse Chatman, who has been pressed into the lineup with Ronnie Brown's season-ending injury, was able to run for 124 yards against Buffalo.

The rushing assault began with Chatman running four times on the opening drive for 38 yards, and by the third quarter, he had hit 100.

This could be the most ignominious season ever for the Dolphins. But if they continue to run the ball and keep this line together, it offers more than faint hope for significant improvement in 2008.

There doesn't seem to be much doubt about the potential for further growth with these five players, but there's a great deal of doubt about keeping them together.

"I would like nothing better than to see these five guys come back next year," said Liwienski, who along with Hadnot becomes a free agent in 2008. "But who knows? My contract is up after this season. You have to live in the year."

Hadnot, whose in-line blocking and effectiveness as a pulling guard make him the most valuable of the five, probably will be a high-priority re-signing after this season. And Carey, whose contract is up after 2008, might seek a significant raise and contract extension.

As for the rest of this line, the Dolphins' front office is going to have to make some hard decisions about whether to seek players it considers upgrades or try to keep these five together .

Club executives need to lean heavily on offensive line coach Hudson Houck for advice.

In 25 seasons in the NFL, he's developed dominant rushing games at the Los Angeles Rams, Seattle, Dallas and San Diego, and he seems close to producing something important at the Dolphins.

"He's a teacher of the game," Liwienski said of the boss. "He wants you to understand things more deeply than just I've got this guy and you've got that guy. I've learned more about preparing for opponents playing for him than in any of my previous nine seasons."

As well as the Dolphins are running, that alone doesn't produce more than field goals, and it's particularly difficult to sustain drives when the passing game, already inferior, is further damaged by the trade of Chris Chambers to San Diego.

What will sustain this offensive line as the losses mount up is a vision of how things can vastly improve.

The bond they've formed has been cemented by Thursday night dinners. "Must be 11 of us there, when you count the offensive linemen on the practice squad," Liwienski said.

"I missed the first couple because my wife and 3-year-old son had just arrived, so I needed to spend time with them. I caught a lot of flak for not being there. But I realized right there how much it meant to my teammates. That's how you build a bond."

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(c) 2007 South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

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