Miami Dolphins look to keep playoff hopes alive against Jaguars

The Miami Dolphins are hanging by a thread in the playoff race. They’re sitting at 7-7 and will need to beat the Jacksonville Jaguars and get a lot of help if they want to continue playing football in January.

The loss last week to the Vikings was a crushing, near-finishing blow for any playoff aspiration. At 7-7, the Dolphins aren’t mathematically eliminated, but they only have about a five percent chance of the final wild-card spot at this point.

The Miami Dolphins are currently ranked the ninth seed in the AFC playoff picture. The Baltimore Ravens are currently projected the final playoff spot. The Colts and Titans are both on the outside looking in from the seventh and eight spots.

So, it goes without saying that the Dolphins need to win their Week 16 game against the Jaguars. What can we expect from the Dolphins defense against the Jaguars offense?

Should we do the bad news first? Xavien Howard, who has missed the last two games, is still Questionable according to the injury report. Howard practiced every day of practice, but they were all in limited roles, so his status will be a game-time decision. Howard did at least make his first Pro-Bowl, so that’s something to take pride in.

T.J. McDonald is likely out. He’s listed as Doubtful and did not participate in any of the week’s practices. He’s a longshot to contribute on Sunday and it sounds as though other writers aren’t optimistic about his game status either.

Kiko Alonso has also landed on the injury report. He’s working past a combo knee and hamstring injury and is listed as Questionable. My gut tells me he’ll play.

Ziggy Hood and newly-signed Kendrick Norton are both on the injury report too. Hood is Questionable with a hamstring injury but saw some limited participation in Thursday and Friday’s practices. Norton, on the other hand, has an ankle injury and only saw some brief participation in Friday’s practice.

I think a healthy Kendrick Norton could be a boon for a crumbling defensive line. Many fans might recognize him from his time playing at Miami University; it’s always encouraging seeing the Dolphins signing former Hurricanes. Here’s my official “analysis” on the Norton signing.

Some final injury report notes include Reshad Jones still nursing his shoulder injury and Cornell Armstrong battling his ankle injury. Both were FPs for at least two practices this week and both will see the field on Sunday.

OK, now it’s time for the good news… Let’s see. I mentioned Xavien Howard‘s Pro Bowl already. Oh, the throwbacks will be back for their third appearance and that’s cool. I think that’s it. Plus, I’m still flying high from shamelessly plugging my own tweet in the article, so let’s move on to the matchup.

The Miami Dolphins defense will be tested against the 4-10 Jaguars. The first problem will be Leonard Fournette. He’s one of the best running backs the Dolphins will meet up against this year. The Dolphins have one of the worst run defenses in the league so I’m going into this game expecting Fournette to gash the defensive line. I’m predicting around 130 rushing yards for Fournette.

Robert Quinn and Cam Wake will have to play better. They have the ability to kill drives, but Quinn has been frustrating with all the missed sacks and Wake isn’t looking like the defensive end of old. This could go either way.

Jerome Baker and Raekwon McMillan are still learning and are still taking their lumps. I’m expecting more growth for next year for the latter. Baker is a player and I’m excited about his Maimi Dolphins future.

The Jaguars have a pretty good crop of wide receivers–Keelan Cole, Dede Westbrook, Donte Moncrief–but their biggest problem starts at quarterback. Blake Bortles has proven to be a major issue and that’s why he was benched for Cody Kessler a few weeks ago.

Kessler is getting the start again and that’s something the defense will have to exploit if there are any hopes of winning. I hope Xavien Howard does play; his ball-hawking abilities could really be a huge boost for the secondary.

I expect a bulk of the Jaguars game plan to be a ground-and-pound. That would make the most sense. If that’s the case, then the game could get out of hand, but the defense can sometimes play well in fits and starts, so maybe they’ll be able to do enough to keep the score low enough and the offense isn’t overloaded.

This game is definitely winnable. It’s also a must win for the Dolphins’ fading post-season plans. The Miami Dolphins are far from perfect and aren’t a playoff team in reality, but there is still a distant light at the end of the tunnel for a playoff appearance. That light could get a little brighter, well, with a lot of help first, but also by beating the Jaguars on Sunday. And that can be done.