Miami Dolphins postseason chances improved with Bills win
By Brian Miller
The Miami Dolphins are in the hunt for the division and while the Buffalo Bills again hold a 1/2 game lead, the Dolphins’ next six weeks will determine the AFC East winner, not the Bills.
Miami holds its own destiny for the AFC East division title. They own the tie-breaker with the Bills right now and no matter what happens on Sunday against the 49ers, the Dolphins at Buffalo will likely determine who takes the division should Miami enter that weekend one game back.
The playoffs are indeed six weeks away but teams are jockeying for division titles and seeding.
Currently, the AFC looks like this.
AFC EAST
- Buffalo, Miami, New York Jets
AFC North
- Ravens, Bengals
AFC South
- Titans
AFC West
- Chiefs, Chargers
Eight teams are vying for 7 post-season spots but several teams are holding on to mathematical probabilities. In the East, the Patriots are 6-6 and remain two games behind the Dolphins and one game behind the 8th-seed New York Jets.
In the North, the Browns are 4-7, three games behind the 8th seed. The AFC South also has two teams with four wins, the Jaguars and Colts, and the AFC West has the Raiders also with four wins.
Miami, after the Thursday night game, dropped to the 5th seed, they don’t play until Sunday.
Miami’s biggest competition right now will be the Chargers who they will play Sunday night after the NFL flexed the game in week 14. The Chargers are one game out of the playoff seeds with six wins. For Los Angeles, the next two weeks are critical.
Moving forward down the stretch, Dolphins fans can root against the AFC East teams, naturally, and as long as the Dolphins continue to win, it really won’t matter what the Ravens or Bengals or even the Titans do at this point. Home-field advantage and home games can be ironed out in the final three weeks.
Luckily for Dolphins fans, rooting against the Patriots, Jets, and Bills is a 365 days year duty and that doesn’t change now. The Jets will play the Vikings on Sunday and the Patriots already lost. Now we can root for the Raiders against the Chargers, the Cowboys against the Colts, and against the other four-win teams.
Miami is in a good position even though they face the toughest part of their schedule. They hold a four-game lead on several fringe teams and a two-game lead against two teams sitting just outside. The margin of error isn’t big for the Dolphins but the path is far better than it has been since Adam Gase was the team’s first-year head coach and even that season didn’t have a path like this one.
On Sunday, root for the following:
- Eagles over the Titans
- Broncos over the Ravens – Ummm, yeah, I know
- Bengals over the Chiefs – This would be a huge win
- Dolphins over the 49ers – Of course
- Vikings over the Jets – As if you would root for the Jets any day (except when they play the Bills and Patriots)
- Raiders over the Chargers – It is a division game after all
- Cowboys over the Colts
- Lions over the Jaguars
Next. 3 Bold predictions for 49ers game. dark
Miami holds tiebreakers with the Ravens, Browns, Patriots, Bills, and Steelers. The Dolphins also currently have a 2-1 division record and a 6-2 conference record. The Bengals and Jets hold head-to-head tiebreakers over the Dolphins. Miami will face four teams currently in the playoff chase down the stretch in the AFC, the Chargers, Bills, Patriots, and Jets as well as the 49ers on Sunday who currently lead the NFC West by one game, 7-4, over the Seahawks.