Several games go in favor of the Miami Dolphins on their bye week

Dec 12, 2021; Tampa, Florida, USA; Players warm up prior to the start of a game featuring the Buffalo Bills and Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 12, 2021; Tampa, Florida, USA; Players warm up prior to the start of a game featuring the Buffalo Bills and Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

The Miami Dolphins didn’t play today but as the AFC games came to a close, the Dolphins saw several games fall their way as they hope to make the post season.

Miami entered the day 6-7 and theoretically alive for the playoffs. While they were not in danger of being eliminated, teams who were only a game and a half ahead of them could have moved two games up. Even in the chase for the Wild Card.

On Thursday the Dolphins watched the Steelers drop to Minnesota and in the early games on Sunday, the Dolphins were able to enjoy watching the Chiefs pummel the Raiders. The Raiders, who do hold a head to head tie breaking advantage over the Dolphins, dropped to 6-7.

In Cleveland, the Browns led most of the game against the Ravens but in the end held on to pull out a two point win, 24-22. The loss by the Ravens has them now at 8-5 but they have an extremely tough schedule ahead and may be without starting QB Lamar Jackson who left the game with an ankle injury. Miami owns the head to head tiebreaker with the Ravens.

Staying in the AFC North, the Bengals rallied late to take the 49ers into overtime but with only minutes left in the extra period, the Bengals couldn’t hold on. A win would have put them in first place in the North but instead, they are now only one game ahead of the Dolphins.

We expected the Titans to beat the Jaguars and they did but in Tampa Bay, the Buccaneers knocked the Bills around for three quarters until Josh Allen was able to rally the Bills to a comeback in the 4th quarter. After stalling on their first OT drive, the Bills watched Tom Brady lead the Bucs down the field for the winning touchdown.

The loss is the 2nd in a row for the Bills and they now stand one game ahead of the Dolphins as well. The downside is that three of the four remaining games for Buffalo are against teams well below .500. The Panthers, Falcons, and Jets with the Patriots the only team above .500.

After all the games today, the Dolphins still remain on the edge of the playoff picture. They are the 13th team and the last remaining AFC team still in the hunt. That being said, the Raiders are in the 12 seed with the Steelers at 11. The Steelers have only 6 wins but they have six losses as well because they tied the Lions.

The Broncos, Bengals, and Browns all remain one game ahead of Miami with seven wins and four games to go. The Bills and Colts, both at 7 wins as well, are the two WC teams as of today.

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